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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
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+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #50737 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50737)
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Confederate Military History - Volume 5 (of
-12), by Ellison Capers
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-
-
-Title: Confederate Military History - Volume 5 (of 12)
- A Library of Confederate States History
-
-Author: Ellison Capers
-
-Editor: Clement Anselm Evans
-
-Release Date: December 21, 2015 [EBook #50737]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Alan and the Online Distributed Proofreading
-Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
-images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
- CONFEDERATE
- MILITARY HISTORY
-
-
- [Illustration]
-
-
- A LIBRARY OF CONFEDERATE
- STATES HISTORY, IN TWELVE
- VOLUMES, WRITTEN BY
- DISTINGUISHED MEN OF THE SOUTH,
- AND EDITED BY GEN. CLEMENT
- A. EVANS OF GEORGIA.....
-
-
- [Illustration]
-
-
- VOL. V.
-
-
- [Illustration]
-
-
- Atlanta, Ga.
- Confederate Publishing Company
- 1899
-
- [Illustration]
-
- COPYRIGHT, 1899,
- BY CONFEDERATE PUBLISHING COMPANY.
-
- [Illustration]
-
- TABLE OF CONTENTS.
-
- PAGE.
-
- CHAPTER I. Spirit of Secession--The State Militia--Charleston
- and the Forts--The Violated Agreement--Major Anderson
- Occupies Fort Sumter--South Carolina Occupies Pinckney
- and Moultrie--The Star of the West--Fort Sumter
- Surrendered--Carolinians in Virginia--Battle of Manassas 4
-
- CHAPTER II. Affairs on the Coast--Loss of Port Royal Harbor--Gen.
- R. E. Lee in Command of the Department--Landing
- of Federals at Port Royal Ferry--Gallant Fight on
- Edisto Island--General Pemberton Succeeds Lee
- in Command--Defensive Line, April, 1862 29
-
- CHAPTER III. South Carolinians in Virginia--Battle of
- Williamsburg--Eltham's Landing--Seven Pines and Fair
- Oaks--Nine-Mile Road--Gaines' Mill--Savage Station--Frayser's
- Farm--Malvern Hill 43
-
- CHAPTER IV. The Coast of South Carolina, Summer of 1862--Operations
- under General Pemberton--Engagement at
- Old Pocotaligo--Campaign on James Island--Battle of
- Secessionville 76
-
- CHAPTER V. General Beauregard in Command--The Defenses
- of Charleston--Disposition of Troops--Battle of
- Pocotaligo--Repulse of Enemy at Coosawhatchie Bridge--Operations
- in North Carolina--Battle of Kinston--Defense
- of Goldsboro 94
-
- CHAPTER VI. South Carolinians in the West--Manigault's
- and Lythgoe's Regiments at Corinth--The Kentucky Campaign--Battle
- of Murfreesboro 111
-
- CHAPTER VII. With Lee in Northern Virginia, 1862--The
- Maneuvers on the Rappahannock--Second Manassas Campaign--Battle
- of Ox Hill 120
-
- CHAPTER VIII. The Maryland Campaign--The South
- Mountain Battles--Capture of Harper's Ferry--Battles of
- Sharpsburg and Shepherdstown 140
-
- CHAPTER IX. Hampton's Cavalry in the Maryland Raid--The
- Battle of Fredericksburg--Death of Gregg--South Carolinians
- at Marye's Hill--Cavalry Operations 165
-
- CHAPTER X. Operations in South Carolina, Spring of 1863--Capture
- of the Isaac Smith--Ingraham's Defeat of the
- Blockading Squadron--Naval Attack on Fort Sumter--Hunter's
- Raids 188
-
- CHAPTER XI. South Carolina Troops in Mississippi--Engagement
- near Jackson--The Vicksburg Campaign--Siege of
- Jackson 203
-
- CHAPTER XII. South Carolinians in the Chancellorsville
- Campaign--Service of Kershaw's and McGowan's Brigades--A
- Great Confederate Victory 213
-
- CHAPTER XIII. Operations in South Carolina--Opening of
- Gillmore's Campaign against Fort Sumter--The Surprise of
- Morris Island--First Assault on Battery Wagner--Demonstrations
- on James Island and Against the Railroad--Action
- near Grimball's Landing 223
-
- CHAPTER XIV. Second Assault on Battery Wagner--Siege
- of Wagner and Bombardment of Fort Sumter--Evacuation
- of Morris Island 235
-
- CHAPTER XV. The Gettysburg Campaign--Gallant Service
- of Perrin's and Kershaw's Brigades--Hampton's Cavalry
- at Brandy Station 257
-
- CHAPTER XVI. South Carolinians at Chickamauga--Organization
- of the Armies--South Carolinians Engaged--Their
- Heroic Service and Sacrifices 277
-
- CHAPTER XVII. The Siege of Charleston--Continued Bombardment
- of Fort Sumter--Defense Maintained by the Other
- Works--The Torpedo Boats--Bombardment of the City--Transfer
- of Troops to Virginia--Prisoners under Fire--Campaign
- on the Stono 291
-
- CHAPTER XVIII. South Carolinians with Longstreet and
- Lee--Wauhatchie--Missionary Ridge--Knoxville--The Virginia
- Campaign of 1864--From the Wilderness to the Battle
- of the Crater 310
-
- CHAPTER XIX. The Atlanta Campaign--Battles around
- Atlanta--Jonesboro--Hood's Campaign in North Georgia--The
- Defense of Ship's Gap--Last Campaign in Tennessee--Battle
- of Franklin 328
-
- CHAPTER XX. The Closing Scenes in Virginia--Siege of
- Richmond and Petersburg--Fall of Fort Fisher--South Carolina
- Commands at Appomattox 346
-
- CHAPTER XXI. Battle of Honey Hill--Sherman's Advance
- into South Carolina--Organization of the Confederate
- Forces--Burning of Columbia--Battles of Averasboro and
- Bentonville--Conclusion 354
-
- BIOGRAPHICAL 373
-
-
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
-
- FACING PAGE.
-
- BEE, BARNARD E. 392
-
- BONHAM, M. L. 392
-
- BRATTON, JOHN 392
-
- BUTLER, M. C. 380, 392
-
- CAPERS, ELLISON 1, 409
-
- CHARLESTON, DEFENSES (Map) Between pages 296 and 297
-
- CHESTNUT, JAMES 392
-
- CONNOR, JAMES 416
-
- DRAYTON, THOS. F. 392
-
- DUNOVANT, JOHN 392
-
- ELLIOTT, STEPHEN, JR. 392
-
- EVANS, N. G. 392
-
- FERGUSON, S. W. 416
-
- GARY, M. W. 392
-
- GIST, S. R. 416
-
- GREGG, MAXCY 416
-
- HAGOOD, JOHNSON 416
-
- HONEY HILL, BATTLE (Map) 356
-
- HUGER, BENJAMIN 409
-
- JENKINS, MICAH 416
-
- JONES, DAVID R. 416
-
- KENNEDY, JOHN D. 416
-
- KERSHAW, J. B. 409
-
- LOGAN, J. M. 416
-
- MCGOWAN, SAMUEL 409
-
- MANIGAULT, A. M. 409
-
- PERRIN, ABNER 409
-
- PRESTON, JOHN S. 416
-
- RIPLEY, ROSWELL S. 409
-
- SOUTH CAROLINA (Map) Between pages 372 and 373
-
- STEVENS, C. H. 409
-
- VILLEPIGUE, J. B. 409
-
- WALLACE, W. H. 409
-
-
-[Illustration: ELLISON CAPERS]
-
- SOUTH CAROLINA
-
- BY
-
- BRIG.-GEN. ELLISON CAPERS.
-
-
-
-
- INTRODUCTORY.
-
-
-The writer of the following sketch does not attempt, in the space
-assigned him, to give a complete history of the various commands of
-Carolinians, who for four years did gallant and noble service in the
-armies of the Confederacy.
-
-A faithful record of their names alone would fill the pages of a
-volume, and to write a history of their marches and battles, their
-wounds and suffering, their willing sacrifices, and their patient
-endurance, would demand more accurate knowledge, more time and more
-ability than the author of this sketch can command.
-
-He trusts that in the brief history which follows he has been able to
-show that South Carolina did her duty to herself and to the Southern
-Confederacy, and did it nobly.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
- SPIRIT OF SECESSION--THE STATE MILITIA--CHARLESTON AND THE FORTS--THE
- VIOLATED AGREEMENT--MAJOR ANDERSON OCCUPIES FORT SUMTER--SOUTH
- CAROLINA OCCUPIES PINCKNEY AND MOULTRIE--THE STAR OF THE WEST--FORT
- SUMTER SURRENDERED--CAROLINIANS IN VIRGINIA--BATTLE OF MANASSAS.
-
-
-From the time that the election of the President was declared, early
-in November, 1860, the military spirit of the people of South Carolina
-was thoroughly awake. Secession from the Union was in the air, and when
-it came, on the 20th of December following, it was received as the
-ultimate decision of duty and the call of the State to arms. The one
-sentiment, everywhere expressed by the vast majority of the people,
-was the sentiment of independence; and the universal resolve was the
-determination to maintain the secession of the State at any and every
-cost.
-
-The militia of the State was, at the time, her only arm of defense, and
-every part of it was put under orders.
-
-Of the State militia, the largest organized body was the Fourth brigade
-of Charleston, commanded by Brig.-Gen. James Simons. This body of
-troops was well organized, well drilled and armed, and was constantly
-under the orders of the governor and in active service from the 27th
-of December, 1860, to the last of April, 1861. Some of the commands
-continued in service until the Confederate regiments, battalions
-and batteries were organized and finally absorbed all the effective
-material of the brigade.
-
-This efficient brigade was composed of the following commands:
-
-First regiment of rifles: Col. J. J. Pettigrew, Lieut.-Col. John L.
-Branch, Maj. Ellison Capers, Adjt. Theodore G. Barker, Quartermaster
-Allen Hanckel, Commissary L. G. Young, Surg. George Trescot, Asst.
-Surg. Thomas L. Ozier, Jr. Companies: Washington Light Infantry, Capt.
-C. H. Simonton; Moultrie Guards, Capt. Barnwell W. Palmer; German
-Riflemen, Capt. Jacob Small; Palmetto Riflemen, Capt. Alex. Melchers;
-Meagher Guards, Capt. Edward McCrady, Jr.; Carolina Light Infantry,
-Capt. Gillard Pinckney; Zouave Cadets, Capt. C. E. Chichester.
-
-Seventeenth regiment: Col. John Cunningham, Lieut.-Col. William P.
-Shingler, Maj. J. J. Lucas, Adjt. F. A. Mitchel. Companies: Charleston
-Riflemen, Capt. Joseph Johnson, Jr.; Irish Volunteers, Capt. Edward
-McGrath; Cadet Riflemen, Capt. W. S. Elliott; Montgomery Guards,
-Capt. James Conner; Union Light Infantry, Capt. David Ramsay; German
-Fusiliers, Capt. Samuel Lord, Jr.; Palmetto Guards, Capt. Thomas W.
-Middleton; Sumter Guards, Capt. Henry C. King; Emmet Volunteers, Capt.
-P. Grace; Calhoun Guards, Capt. John Fraser.
-
-First regiment of artillery: Col. E. H. Locke, Lieut.-Col. W. G. De
-Saussure, Maj. John A. Wagener, Adjt. James Simmons, Jr.
-
-Light batteries: Marion Artillery, Capt. J. G. King; Washington
-Artillery, Capt. George H. Walter; Lafayette Artillery, Capt. J. J.
-Pope; German Artillery (A), Capt. C. Nohrden; German Artillery (B),
-Capt. H. Harms.
-
-Cavalry: Charleston Light Dragoons, Capt. B. H. Rutledge; German
-Hussars, Capt. Theodore Cordes; Rutledge Mounted Riflemen, Capt. C. K.
-Huger.
-
-Volunteer corps in the fire department: Vigilant Rifles, Capt. S. V.
-Tupper; Phœnix Rifles, Capt. Peter C. Gaillard; Ætna Rifles, Capt. E.
-F. Sweegan; Marion Rifles, Capt. C. B. Sigwald.
-
-Charleston, the metropolis and seaport, for a time absorbed the
-interest of the whole State, for it was everywhere felt that the issue
-of secession, so far as war with the government of the United States
-was concerned, must be determined in her harbor. The three forts which
-had been erected by the government for the defense of the harbor,
-Moultrie, Castle Pinckney and Sumter, were built upon land ceded by the
-State for that purpose, and with the arsenal and grounds in Charleston,
-constituted the property of the United States.
-
-The secession of South Carolina having dissolved her connection with
-the government of the United States, the question of the possession
-of the forts in the harbor and of the military post at the arsenal
-became at once a question of vital interest to the State. Able
-commissioners, Robert W. Barnwell, James H. Adams and James L. Orr,
-were elected and sent by the convention of the State to treat with
-the government at Washington for an amicable settlement of this
-important question, and other questions growing out of the new relation
-which South Carolina bore to the Union. Pending the action of the
-commissioners in Washington, an unfortunate move was made by Maj.
-Robert Anderson, of the United States army, who commanded the only
-body of troops stationed in the harbor, which ultimately compelled the
-return of the commissioners and led to the most serious complications.
-An understanding had been established between the authorities in
-Washington and the members of Congress from South Carolina, that the
-forts would not be attacked, or seized as an act of war, until proper
-negotiations for their cession to the State had been made and had
-failed; provided that they were not reinforced, and their military
-status should remain as it was at the time of this understanding, viz.,
-on December 9, 1860.
-
-Fort Sumter, in the very mouth of the harbor, was in an unfinished
-state and without a garrison. On the night of the 26th of December,
-1860, Maj. Robert Anderson dismantled Fort Moultrie and removed his
-command by boats over to Fort Sumter. The following account of the
-effect of this removal of Major Anderson upon the people, and the
-action of the government, is taken from Brevet Major-General Crawford's
-"Genesis of the Civil War." General Crawford was at the time on the
-medical staff and one of Anderson's officers. His book is a clear and
-admirable narrative of the events of those most eventful days, and
-is written in the spirit of the utmost candor and fairness. In the
-conclusion of the chapter describing the removal, he says:
-
- The fact of the evacuation of Fort Moultrie by Major Anderson was soon
- communicated to the authorities and people of Charleston, creating
- intense excitement. Crowds collected in streets and open places of the
- city, and loud and violent were the expressions of feeling against
- Major Anderson and his action.... [The governor of the State was ready
- to act in accordance with the feeling displayed.] On the morning of
- the 27th, he dispatched his aide-de-camp, Col. Johnston Pettigrew, of
- the First South Carolina Rifles, to Major Anderson. He was accompanied
- by Maj. Ellison Capers, of his regiment. Arriving at Fort Sumter,
- Colonel Pettigrew sent a card inscribed, "Colonel Pettigrew, First
- Regiment Rifles, S.C.M., Aide-de-Camp to the Governor, Commissioner to
- Major Anderson. Ellison Capers, Major First Regiment Rifles, S.C.M."
- ... Colonel Pettigrew and his companion were ushered into the room.
- The feeling was reserved and formal, when, after declining seats,
- Colonel Pettigrew immediately opened his mission: "Major Anderson,"
- said he, "can I communicate with you now, sir, before these officers,
- on the subject for which I am here?" "Certainly, sir," replied Major
- Anderson, "these are all my officers; I have no secrets from them,
- sir."
-
- The commissioner then informed Major Anderson that he was directed to
- say to him that the governor was much surprised that he had reinforced
- "this work." Major Anderson promptly responded that there had been no
- reinforcement of the work; that he had removed his command from Fort
- Moultrie to Fort Sumter, as he had a right to do, being in command
- of all the forts in the harbor. To this Colonel Pettigrew replied
- that when the present governor (Pickens) came into office, he found
- an understanding existing between the previous governor (Gist) and
- the President of the United States, by which all property within the
- limits of the State was to remain as it was; that no reinforcements
- were to be sent here, particularly to this post; that there was to be
- no attempt made against the public property by the State, and that the
- status in the harbor should remain unchanged. He was directed also
- to say to Major Anderson that it had been hoped by the governor that
- a peaceful solution of the difficulties could have been reached, and
- a resort to arms and bloodshed might have been avoided; but that the
- governor thought the action of Major Anderson had greatly complicated
- matters, and that he did not now see how bloodshed could be avoided;
- that he had desired and intended that the whole matter might be fought
- out politically and without the arbitration of the sword, but that now
- it was uncertain, if not impossible.
-
- To this Major Anderson replied, that as far as any understanding
- between the President and the governor was concerned, he had not
- been informed; that he knew nothing of it; that he could get no
- information or positive orders from Washington, and that his position
- was threatened every night by the troops of the State. He was then
- asked by Major Capers, who accompanied Colonel Pettigrew, "How?" when
- he replied, "By sending out steamers armed and conveying troops on
- board;" that these steamers passed the fort going north, and that he
- feared a landing on the island and the occupation of the sand-hills
- just north of the fort; that 100 riflemen on these hills, which
- commanded his fort, would make it impossible for his men to serve
- their guns; and that any man with a military head must see this. "To
- prevent this," said he earnestly, "I removed on my own responsibility,
- my sole object being to prevent bloodshed." Major Capers replied that
- the steamer was sent out for patrol purposes, and as much to prevent
- disorder among his own people as to ascertain whether any irregular
- attempt was being made to reinforce the fort, and that the idea of
- attacking him was never entertained by the little squad who patrolled
- the harbor.
-
- Major Anderson replied to this that he was wholly in the dark as
- to the intentions of the State troops, but that he had reason to
- believe that they meant to land and attack him from the north; that
- the desire of the governor to have the matter settled peacefully and
- without bloodshed was precisely his object in removing his command
- from Moultrie to Sumter; that he did it upon his own responsibility
- alone, because he considered that the safety of his command required
- it, as he had a right to do. "In this controversy," said he, "between
- the North and the South, my sympathies are entirely with the South.
- These gentlemen," said he (turning to the officers of the post who
- stood about him), "know it perfectly well." Colonel Pettigrew replied,
- "Well, sir, however that may be, the governor of the State directs
- me to say to you courteously but peremptorily, to return to Fort
- Moultrie." "Make my compliments to the governor (said Anderson) and
- say to him that I decline to accede to his request; I cannot and will
- not go back." "Then, sir," said Pettigrew, "my business is done," when
- both officers, without further ceremony or leavetaking, left the fort.
-
-Colonel Pettigrew and Major Capers returned to the city and made their
-report to the governor and council who were in session in the council
-chamber of the city hall. That afternoon Major Anderson raised the
-flag of his country over Sumter, and went vigorously to work mounting
-his guns and putting the fort in military order. The same afternoon
-the governor issued orders to Colonel Pettigrew, First regiment of
-rifles, and to Col. W. G. De Saussure, First regiment artillery,
-commanding them to take immediate possession of Castle Pinckney and
-Fort Moultrie. Neither fort was garrisoned, and the officers in
-charge, after making a verbal protest, left and went to Fort Sumter,
-and the Palmetto flag was raised over Moultrie and Pinckney. In the
-same manner the arsenal in Charleston was taken possession of by a
-detachment of the Seventeenth regiment, South Carolina militia, Col.
-John Cunningham, and Fort Johnson on James island, by Capt. Joseph
-Johnson, commanding the Charleston Riflemen. The governor also ordered
-a battery to be built for two 24-pounders on Morris island, bearing on
-Ship channel, and his order was speedily put into execution by Maj. P.
-F. Stevens, superintendent of the South Carolina military academy, with
-a detachment of the cadets, supported by the Vigilant Rifles, Captain
-Tupper. This battery was destined soon to fire the first gun of the
-war. In taking possession of the forts and the arsenal, every courtesy
-was shown the officers in charge, Captain Humphreys, commanding the
-arsenal, saluting his flag before surrendering the property.
-
-By the possession of Forts Moultrie and Pinckney and the arsenal in
-Charleston, their military stores fell into the hands of the State
-of South Carolina, and by the governor's orders a careful inventory
-was made at once of all the property and duly reported to him. At
-Moultrie there were sixteen 24-pounders, nineteen 32-pounders, ten
-8-inch columbiads, one 10-inch seacoast mortar, four 6-pounders,
-two 12-pounders and four 24-pounder howitzers and a large supply of
-ammunition. At Castle Pinckney the armament was nearly complete and
-the magazine well filled with powder. At the arsenal there was a
-large supply of military stores, heavy ordnance and small-arms. These
-exciting events were followed by the attempt of the government to
-succor Major Anderson with supplies and reinforce his garrison.
-
-The supplies and troops were sent in a large merchant steamer, the Star
-of the West. She crossed the bar early on the morning of January 9,
-1861, and steamed up Ship channel, which runs for miles parallel with
-Morris island, and within range of guns of large caliber. Her course
-lay right under the 24-pounder battery commanded by Major Stevens
-and manned by the cadets. This battery was supported by the Zouave
-Cadets, Captain Chichester; the German Riflemen, Captain Small, and the
-Vigilant Rifles, Captain Tupper. When within range a shot was fired
-across her bow, and not heeding it, the battery fired directly upon
-her. Fort Moultrie also fired a few shots, and the Star of the West
-rapidly changed her course and, turning round, steamed out of the range
-of the guns, having received but little material damage by the fire.
-
-Major Anderson acted with great forbearance and judgment, and did not
-open his batteries. He declared his purpose to be patriotic, and so
-it undoubtedly was. He wrote to the governor that, influenced by the
-hope that the firing on the Star of the West was not supported by the
-authority of the State, he had refrained from opening fire upon the
-batteries, and declared that unless it was promptly disclaimed he would
-regard it as an act of war, and after waiting a reasonable time he
-would fire upon all vessels coming within range of his guns.
-
-The governor promptly replied, justifying the action of the batteries
-in firing upon the vessel, and giving his reasons in full. He pointed
-out to Major Anderson that his removal to Fort Sumter and the
-circumstances attending it, and his attitude since were a menace to
-the State of a purpose of coercion; that the bringing into the harbor
-of more troops and supplies of war was in open defiance of the State,
-and an assertion of a purpose to reduce her to abject submission to
-the government she had discarded; that the vessel had been fairly
-warned not to continue her course, and that his threat to fire upon the
-vessels in the harbor was in keeping with the evident purpose of the
-government of the United States to dispute the right of South Carolina
-to dissolve connection with the Union. This right was not to be debated
-or questioned, urged the governor, and the coming of the Star of the
-West, sent by the order of the President, after being duly informed
-by commissioners sent to him by the convention of the people of the
-State to fully inform him of the act of the State in seceding from the
-Union, and of her claim of rights and privileges in the premises, could
-have no other meaning than that of open and hostile disregard for the
-asserted independence of South Carolina. To defend that independence
-and to resent and resist any and every act of coercion are "too
-plainly a duty," said Governor Pickens, "to allow it to be discussed."
-
-To the governor's letter Major Anderson replied, that he would refer
-the whole matter to the government at Washington, and defer his
-purpose to fire upon vessels in the harbor until he could receive his
-instructions in reply. Thus a truce was secured, and meanwhile active
-preparations for war were made daily by Major Anderson in Fort Sumter
-and by Governor Pickens on the islands surrounding it. War seemed
-inevitable, and the whole State, as one man, was firmly resolved to
-meet it.
-
-The legislature had passed a bill on December 17th providing for the
-organization of ten regiments for the defense of the State, and the
-convention had ordered the formation of a regiment for six months'
-service, to be embodied at once, the governor to appoint the field
-officers. This last was "Gregg's First regiment," which was organized
-in January, 1861, and on duty on Sullivan's and Morris islands by
-the 1st of February following. The governor appointed Maxcy Gregg,
-of Columbia, colonel; Col. A. H. Gladden, who had been an officer of
-the Palmetto regiment in the Mexican war, lieutenant-colonel; and D.
-H. Hamilton, the late marshal of the United States court in South
-Carolina, major. On March 6, 1861, the adjutant-general of the State
-reported to Gen. M. L. Bonham, whom the governor had commissioned
-major-general, to command the division formed under the act of
-December 17, 1860, that he had received into the service of the State
-104 companies, under the said act of the legislature, aggregating an
-effective force of 8,836 men and officers; that these companies had
-been formed into ten regiments and the regiments into four brigades.
-
-These regiments were mustered for twelve months' service, were numbered
-respectively from 1 to 10, inclusive, and commanded by Cols. Johnson
-Hagood, J. B. Kershaw, J. H. Williams, J. B. E. Sloan, M. Jenkins, J.
-H. Rion, T. G. Bacon, E. B. Cash, J. D. Blanding, and A. M. Manigault.
-
-The brigadier-generals appointed by the governor under the act above
-referred to, were R. G. M. Dunovant and P. H. Nelson. By an act of
-the legislature, January 28, 1861, the governor was authorized to
-raise a battalion of artillery and a regiment of infantry, both to be
-formed and enlisted in the service of the State as regulars, and to
-form the basis of the regular army of South Carolina. The governor
-appointed, under the act, R. S. Ripley, lieutenant-colonel in command
-of the artillery battalion, and Richard Anderson, colonel of the
-infantry regiment. The artillery battalion was afterward increased to a
-regiment, and the regiment of infantry converted, practically, into a
-regiment of artillery. Both regiments served in the forts and batteries
-of the harbor throughout the war, with the greatest distinction, as
-will afterward appear. These troops, with the Fourth brigade, South
-Carolina militia, were under the orders of the government and were
-practically investing Fort Sumter.
-
-The States of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and
-Texas, having left the Union during the month of January, and the
-Confederate government having been organized early in February,
-at Montgomery, President Davis, on the 1st of March, ordered
-Brigadier-General Beauregard to Charleston to report for duty to
-Governor Pickens. Thenceforward this distinguished soldier became the
-presiding genius of military operations in and around Charleston.
-
-Repeated demands having been made upon Major Anderson, and upon the
-President, for the relinquishment of Fort Sumter, and these demands
-having been refused and the government at Washington having concluded
-to supply and reinforce the fort by force of arms, it was determined
-to summon Major Anderson to evacuate the fort, for the last time.
-Accordingly, on April 11th, General Beauregard sent him the following
-communication:
-
- Headquarters Provisional Army, C. S. A.
- Charleston, April 11, 1861.
-
- Sir: The government of the Confederate States has hitherto foreborne
- from any hostile demonstrations against Fort Sumter, in hope that
- the government of the United States, with a view to the amicable
- adjustment of all questions between the two governments, and to avert
- the calamities of war, would voluntarily evacuate it.
-
- There was reason at one time to believe that such would be the course
- pursued by the government of the United States, and under that
- impression my government has refrained from making any demand for the
- surrender of the fort. But the Confederate States can no longer delay
- assuming actual possession of a fortification commanding the entrance
- of one of their harbors and necessary to its defense and security.
-
- I am ordered by the government of the Confederate States to demand
- the evacuation of Fort Sumter. My aides, Colonel Chestnut and Captain
- Lee, are authorized to make such demand of you. All proper facilities
- will be afforded for the removal of yourself and command, together
- with company arms and property, and all private property, to any post
- in the United States which you may select. The flag which you have
- upheld so long and with so much fortitude, under the most trying
- circumstances, may be saluted by you on taking it down. Colonel
- Chestnut and Captain Lee will, for a reasonable time, await your
- answer.
-
- I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
-
- G. T. BEAUREGARD, Brigadier-General Commanding.
-
-
-Major Anderson replied as follows:
-
- Fort Sumter, S. C., April 11, 1861.
-
- General: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
- communication demanding the evacuation of this fort, and to say,
- in reply thereto, that it is a demand with which I regret that my
- sense of honor, and of my obligations to my government, prevent my
- compliance. Thanking you for the fair, manly and courteous terms
- proposed, and for the high compliment paid me,
-
- I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
-
- ROBERT ANDERSON,
- Major, First Artillery, Commanding.
-
-
-Major Anderson, while conversing with the messengers of General
-Beauregard, having remarked that he would soon be starved into a
-surrender of the fort, or words to that effect, General Beauregard was
-induced to address him a second letter, in which he proposed that the
-major should fix a time at which he would agree to evacuate, and agree
-also not to use his guns against the Confederate forces unless they
-fired upon him, and so doing, he, General Beauregard, would abstain
-from hostilities. To this second letter Major Anderson replied, naming
-noon on the 15th, provided that no hostile act was committed by the
-Confederate forces, or any part of them, and provided, further, that
-he should not, meanwhile, receive from the government at Washington
-controlling instructions or additional supplies.
-
-The fleet which was to reinforce and supply him was then collecting
-outside the bar, and General Beauregard at once notified him, at 3:20
-a. m. on the morning of the 12th of April, that he would open fire on
-the fort in one hour from that time.
-
-The shell which opened the momentous bombardment of Fort Sumter was
-fired from a mortar, located at Fort Johnson on James island, at 4:30
-on the morning of the 12th.
-
-For over three months the troops stationed on the islands surrounding
-Fort Sumter had been constantly employed building batteries, mounting
-guns, and making every preparation for the defense of the harbor,
-and, if necessary, for an attack on the fort if the government
-at Washington persisted in its refusal to order its evacuation.
-Lieut.-Col. R. S. Ripley, an able and energetic soldier, commanded
-the artillery on Sullivan's island, with his headquarters at Fort
-Moultrie, Brigadier-General Dunovant commanding the island. Under
-Ripley's direction, six 10-inch mortars and twenty guns bore on Sumter.
-The guns were 24, 32 and 42 pounders, 8-inch columbiads and one 9-inch
-Dahlgren. The supports to the batteries were the First regiment of
-rifles, Colonel Pettigrew; the regiment of infantry, South Carolina
-regulars, Col. Richard Anderson; the Charleston Light Dragoons, Capt.
-B. H. Rutledge, and the German Flying Artillery, the latter attached
-to Col. Pettigrew's command, stationed at the east end of the island.
-These commands, with Ripley's battalion of South Carolina regular
-artillery and Capt. Robert Martin's mortar battery on Mount Pleasant,
-made up the force under General Dunovant.
-
-On Morris island, Gen. James Simons was commanding, with Lieut.-Col. W.
-G. De Saussure for his artillery chief, and Maj. W. H. C. Whiting for
-chief of staff. The infantry supports on the island were the regiments
-of Cols. John Cunningham, Seventeenth South Carolina militia, and
-Maxcy Gregg, Johnson Hagood and J. B. Kershaw, of the South Carolina
-volunteers. The artillery was in position bearing on Ship channel,
-and at Cummings point, bearing on Sumter. The fleet making no attempt
-to come in, the channel batteries took no part in the bombardment of
-Sumter.
-
-On Cummings point, six 10-inch mortars and six guns were placed.
-To the command and direction of these guns, Maj. P. F. Stevens was
-specially assigned. One of the batteries on the point was of unique
-structure, hitherto unknown in war. Three 8-inch columbiads were put
-in battery under a roofing of heavy timbers, laid at an angle of
-forty degrees, and covered with railroad T iron. Portholes were cut
-and these protected by heavy iron shutters, raised and lowered from
-the inside of the battery. This battery was devised and built by Col.
-Clement H. Stevens, of Charleston, afterward a brigadier-general and
-mortally wounded in front of Atlanta, July 20, 1864, leading his
-brigade. "Stevens' iron battery," as it was called, was "the first
-ironclad fortification ever erected," and initiated the present system
-of armor-plated vessels. The three mortars in battery at Fort Johnson
-were commanded by Capt. G. S. James. The batteries above referred
-to, including Fort Moultrie, contained fifteen 10-inch mortars and
-twenty-six guns of heavy caliber.
-
-For thirty-four hours they assaulted Sumter with an unceasing
-bombardment, before its gallant defenders consented to give it up, and
-not then until the condition of the fort made it impossible to continue
-the defense. Fort Moultrie alone fired 2,490 shot and shell. Gen. S. W.
-Crawford, in his accurate and admirable book, previously quoted, thus
-describes the condition of Sumter when Anderson agreed to its surrender:
-
- It was a scene of ruin and destruction. The quarters and barracks
- were in ruins. The main gates and the planking of the windows on the
- gorge were gone; the magazines closed and surrounded by smouldering
- flames and burning ashes; the provisions exhausted; much of the
- engineering work destroyed; and with only four barrels of powder
- available. The command had yielded to the inevitable. The effect of
- the direct shot had been to indent the walls, where the marks could
- be counted by hundreds, while the shells, well directed, had crushed
- the quarters, and, in connection with hot shot, setting them on fire,
- had destroyed the barracks and quarters down to the gun casemates,
- while the enfilading fire had prevented the service of the barbette
- guns, some of them comprising the most important battery in the work.
- The breaching fire from the columbiads and the rifle gun at Cummings
- point upon the right gorge angle, had progressed sensibly and must
- have eventually succeeded if continued, but as yet no guns had been
- disabled or injured at that point. The effect of the fire upon the
- parapet was pronounced. The gorge, the right face and flank as well
- as the left face, were all taken in reverse, and a destructive fire
- maintained until the end, while the gun carriages on the barbette of
- the gorge were destroyed in the fire of the blazing quarters.
-
-The spirit and language of General Beauregard in communicating with
-Major Anderson, and the replies of the latter, were alike honorable to
-those distinguished soldiers. The writer, who was on duty on Sullivan's
-island, as major of Pettigrew's regiment of rifles, recalls vividly
-the sense of admiration felt for Major Anderson and his faithful little
-command throughout the attack, and at the surrender of the fort. "While
-the barracks in Fort Sumter were in a blaze," wrote General Beauregard
-to the secretary of war at Montgomery, "and the interior of the work
-appeared untenable from the heat and from the fire of our batteries
-(at about which period I sent three of my aides to offer assistance),
-whenever the guns of Fort Sumter would fire upon Moultrie, the men
-occupying the Cummings point batteries (Palmetto Guard, Captain
-Cuthbert) at each shot would cheer Anderson for his gallantry, although
-themselves still firing upon him; and when on the 15th instant he left
-the harbor on the steamer Isabel, the soldiers of the batteries lined
-the beach, silent and uncovered, while Anderson and his command passed
-before them."
-
-Thus closed the memorable and momentous attack upon Fort Sumter by the
-forces of South Carolina, and thus began the war which lasted until
-April, 1865, when the Southern Confederacy, as completely ruined and
-exhausted by fire and sword as Fort Sumter in April, 1861, gave up the
-hopeless contest and reluctantly accepted the inevitable.
-
-The following is believed to be a correct list of the officers who
-commanded batteries, or directed, particularly, the firing of the guns,
-with the commands serving the same:
-
-On Cummings point: (1) Iron battery--three 8-inch columbiads, manned
-by detachments of Palmetto Guard, Capt. George B. Cuthbert directing,
-assisted by Lieut. G. L. Buist. (2) Point battery--mortars, by Lieut.
-N. Armstrong, assisted by Lieut. R. Holmes; 42-pounders, Lieut. T.
-S. Brownfield; rifle gun, directed by Capt. J. P. Thomas, who, with
-Lieutenant Armstrong, was an officer of the South Carolina military
-academy. Iron battery and Point battery both manned by Palmetto Guard.
-(3) Trapier battery--three 10-inch mortars, by Capt. J. Gadsden King
-and Lieuts. W. D. H. Kirkwood and Edward L. Parker; Corp. McMillan
-King, Jr., and Privates J. S. and Robert Murdock, pointing the mortars;
-a detachment of Marion artillery manning the battery, assisted by a
-detachment of the Sumter Guards, Capt. John Russell.
-
-On Sullivan's island: (1) Fort Moultrie--Capt. W. R. Calhoun,
-Lieutenants Wagner, Rhett, Preston, Sitgreaves, Mitchell, Parker, Blake
-(acting engineer). (2) mortars--Capt. William Butler and Lieutenants
-Huguenin, Mowry, Blocker, Billings and Rice. (3) Mortars--Lieutenants
-Flemming and Blanding. (4) Enfilade--Captain Hallonquist and
-Lieutenants Valentine and Burnet. (5) Floating battery--Lieutenants
-Yates and Frank Harleston. (6) Dahlgren battery--Captain Hamilton.
-
-On Mount Pleasant: (1) Mortars--Captain Martin and Lieuts. F. H.
-Robertson and G. W. Reynolds.
-
-On Fort Johnson: (1) Mortars--Capt. G. S. James and Lieut. W. H. Gibbes.
-
-Immediately upon the fall of Sumter the most active and constant
-efforts were made by Governor Pickens and General Beauregard to repair
-and arm the fort, to strengthen the batteries defending the harbor, and
-to defend the city from an attack by the Stono river and James island.
-General Beauregard inspected the coast, and works of defense were begun
-on James island and at Port Royal harbor.
-
-But South Carolina was now to enjoy freedom from attack, by land or
-sea, until early in November, and while her soldiers and her people
-were making ready her defense, and her sons were flocking to her
-standard in larger numbers than she could organize and arm, she was
-called upon to go to the help of Virginia. William H. Trescot, of South
-Carolina, in his beautiful memorial of Brig.-Gen. Johnston Pettigrew,
-has described the spirit with which "the youth and manhood of the
-South" responded to the call to arms, in language so true, so just and
-so eloquent, that the author of this sketch inserts it here. Writing
-more than five years after the close of the great struggle, Mr. Trescot
-said:
-
- We who are the vanquished in this battle must of necessity leave to
- a calmer and wiser posterity to judge of the intrinsic worth of that
- struggle, as it bears upon the principles of constitutional liberty,
- and as it must affect the future history of the American people; but
- there is one duty not only possible but imperative, a duty which we
- owe alike to the living and the dead, and that is the preservation in
- perpetual and tender remembrance of the lives of those who, to use
- a phrase scarcely too sacred for so unselfish a sacrifice, died in
- the hope that we might live. Especially is this our duty, because in
- the South a choice between the parties and principles at issue was
- scarcely possible. From causes which it is exceedingly interesting to
- trace, but which I cannot now develop the feeling of State loyalty
- had acquired throughout the South an almost fanatic intensity;
- particularly in the old colonial States did this devotion to the State
- assume that blended character of affection and duty which gives in
- the old world such a chivalrous coloring to loyalty to the crown....
- When, therefore, by the formal and constitutional act of the States,
- secession from the Federal government was declared in 1860 and 1861,
- it is almost impossible for any one not familiar with the habits and
- thoughts of the South, to understand how completely the question of
- duty was settled for Southern men. Shrewd, practical men who had no
- faith in the result, old and eminent men who had grown gray in service
- under the national flag, had their doubts and their misgivings; but
- there was no hesitation as to what they were to do. Especially to that
- great body of men, just coming into manhood, who were preparing to
- take their places as the thinkers and actors of the next generation,
- was this call of the State an imperative summons.
-
- The fathers and mothers who had reared them; the society whose
- traditions gave both refinement and assurance to their young ambition;
- the colleges in which the creed of Mr. Calhoun was the text-book
- of their studies; the friends with whom they planned their future;
- the very land they loved, dear to them as thoughtless boys, dearer
- to them as thoughtful men, were all impersonate, living, speaking,
- commanding in the State of which they were children. Never in the
- history of the world has there been a nobler response to a more
- thoroughly recognized duty; nowhere anything more truly glorious than
- this outburst of the youth and manhood of the South.
-
- And now that the end has come and we have seen it, it seems to me that
- to a man of humanity, I care not in what section his sympathies may
- have been matured, there never has been a sadder or sublimer spectacle
- than these earnest and devoted men, their young and vigorous columns
- marching through Richmond to the Potomac, like the combatants of
- ancient Rome, beneath the imperial throne in the amphitheater, and
- exclaiming with uplifted arms, "_morituri te salutant_."
-
-President Lincoln had issued his proclamation calling for 75,000
-volunteers to coerce the South; Virginia had withdrawn from the Union,
-and before the end of April had called Lee, J. E. Johnston and Jackson
-into her service; the seat of the Confederate government had been
-transferred from Montgomery, Ala., to Richmond; and early in May,
-General Beauregard was relieved from duty in South Carolina and ordered
-to the command of the Alexandria line, with headquarters at Manassas
-Junction. He had been preceded by General Bonham, then a Confederate
-brigadier, with the regiments of Colonels Gregg, Kershaw, Bacon, Cash,
-Jenkins and Sloan--First, Second, Seventh, Eighth, Fifth and Fourth
-South Carolina volunteers.
-
-Before General Beauregard's arrival in Virginia, General Bonham with
-his Carolina troops had been placed in command of the Alexandria line,
-the regiments being at Fairfax Court House, and other points of this
-line, fronting Washington and Alexandria.
-
-These South Carolina regiments were reinforced during the month of July
-by the Third, Colonel Williams; the Sixth, Colonel Rion, and the Ninth,
-Colonel Blanding. The infantry of the Hampton legion, under Col. Wade
-Hampton, reached the battlefield of Manassas on the morning of July
-21st, but in time to take a full share in that decisive contest.
-
-On the 20th of June, General Beauregard, commanding the "army of the
-Potomac," headquarters at Manassas Junction, organized his army into
-six brigades, the First commanded by Bonham, composed of the regiments
-of Gregg, Kershaw, Bacon and Cash. Sloan's regiment was assigned to the
-Sixth brigade, Early's; and Jenkins' regiment to the Third, Gen. D.
-R. Jones. Col. N. G. Evans, an officer of the old United States army,
-having arrived at Manassas, was assigned to command of a temporary
-brigade--Sloan's Fourth South Carolina, Wheat's Louisiana battalion,
-two companies Virginia cavalry, and four 6-pounder guns.
-
-On the 11th of July, General Beauregard wrote to the President that
-the enemy was concentrating in his front at Falls church, with a force
-of not less than 35,000 men, and that to oppose him he had only about
-half that number. On the 17th, Bonham's brigade, stationed at Fairfax,
-met the first aggressive movement of General McDowell's army, and was
-attacked early in the morning. By General Beauregard's orders Bonham
-retired through Centreville, and took the position assigned him behind
-Mitchell's ford, on Bull run. The Confederate army was in position
-behind Bull run, extending from Union Mills ford on the right to the
-stone bridge on the left, a distance of 5 miles.
-
-The brigades were stationed, from right to left, as follows: Ewell,
-D. R. Jones, Longstreet, Bonham, Cocke, and Evans on the extreme
-left. Early was in reserve, in rear of the right. To each brigade a
-section or a battery of artillery was attached, except in the case of
-Bonham who had two batteries and six companies of cavalry attached
-to his command. Seven other cavalry companies were distributed among
-the other brigades. Bonham's position was behind Mitchell's ford,
-with his four regiments of Carolinians; Jenkins' Fifth regiment was
-with General Jones' brigade, behind McLean's ford, and Sloan's Fourth
-regiment was with Evans' brigade on the left, at the stone bridge. With
-this disposition of his little army, General Beauregard awaited the
-development of the enemy's movement against him.
-
-At noon on the 18th, Bonham at Mitchell's ford and Longstreet at
-Blackburn's ford, were attacked with infantry and artillery, and both
-attacks were repulsed. General McDowell was engaged on the 19th and
-20th in reconnoitering the Confederate position, and made no decided
-indication of his ultimate purpose. The delay was golden for the
-Confederates. Important reinforcements arrived on the 20th and on the
-morning of the 21st, which were chiefly to fight and win the battle,
-while the main body of Beauregard's army held the line of Bull run.
-General Holmes, from the lower Potomac, came with over 1,200 infantry,
-six guns and a fine company of cavalry; Colonel Hampton, with the
-infantry of his legion, 600 strong, and the Thirteenth Mississippi;
-Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, from the Shenandoah, with Jackson's, Bee's and
-Bartow's brigades, 300 of Stuart's cavalry and two batteries, Imboden's
-and Pendleton's.
-
-The reinforcements were put in line in rear of the troops already in
-position, Bee and Bartow behind Longstreet, covering McLean's and
-Blackburn's fords, with Barksdale's Thirteenth Mississippi; Jackson in
-rear of Bonham, covering Mitchell's ford; and Cocke's brigade, covering
-the fords further to the left, was strengthened and supported by a
-regiment of infantry and six guns, and Hampton was stationed at the
-Lewis house. Walton's and Pendleton's batteries were placed in reserve
-in rear of Bonham and Bee. Thus strengthened, the army of General
-Beauregard numbered about 30,000 effectives, with fifty-five guns.
-
-General Beauregard had planned an attack on McDowell's left, which was
-to be executed on the 21st; but before he put his right brigades in
-motion, McDowell had crossed two of his divisions at Sudley's ford,
-two miles to the left of Evans, who was posted at the stone bridge,
-and while threatening Evans and Cocke in front, was marching rapidly
-down the rear of Beauregard's left. Satisfied of this movement, Evans
-left four companies of the Fourth South Carolina to defend the bridge,
-and taking the six remaining companies of the Fourth, with Wheat's
-Louisiana battalion and two guns of Latham's battery, moved rapidly to
-his rear and left and formed his little brigade at right angles to the
-line on Bull run and just north of the turnpike road. In this position
-he was at once assailed by the advance of the enemy, but held his
-ground for an hour, when Bee, who had been moved up to stone bridge,
-came to his assistance. Evans, with his Carolinians and Louisianians;
-Bee, with his Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee regiments, and
-Bartow with his Georgia and Kentucky battalions, and the batteries
-of Latham and Imboden, with heroic fortitude sustained the assault
-for another hour, before falling back south of the turnpike. It was
-then evident that the battle was not to be fought in front of Bull
-run, but behind it, and in rear of General Beauregard's extreme left.
-Both generals, whose headquarters had been at the Lewis house, three
-miles away, hurried to the point of attack and arrived, as General
-Johnston reported, "not a moment too soon." Fifteen thousand splendidly
-equipped troops of McDowell's army, with numerous batteries, many of
-the guns rifled, were driving back the little brigade of Evans and the
-regiments of the gallant Bee and Bartow, and the moment was critical.
-The presence and example of the commanding generals, the firm conduct
-of the officers, and the hurrying forward of Hampton with his legion,
-and Jackson with his brigade, re-established the battle on the line of
-the Henry house, a half mile south of the turnpike and two miles in the
-rear of the stone bridge. Beauregard took immediate command on the
-field of battle, and Johnston assumed the general direction from the
-Lewis house, whose commanding elevation gave him a view of the whole
-field of operations. "The aspect of affairs (he says in his report)
-was critical, but I had full confidence in the skill and indomitable
-courage of General Beauregard, the high soldierly qualities of Generals
-Bee and Jackson and Colonel Evans, and the devoted patriotism of the
-troops."
-
-At this first stage of the battle, from 8:30 to 11 a. m., the troops
-from South Carolina actively engaged were the Fourth regiment, Colonel
-Sloan, and the legion of Hampton. Two companies of the Fourth, thrown
-out as skirmishers in front of the stone bridge, fired the first gun of
-the battle early in the morning, and the regiment bore a glorious part
-in the battle which Evans fought for the first hour, and in the contest
-of the second hour maintained by Bee, Bartow and Evans. The Fourth lost
-11 killed and 79 wounded.
-
-Hampton arrived at the Lewis house in the morning, and being connected
-with no particular brigade, was ordered to march to the stone bridge.
-On his march, hearing of the attack on the rear, and the roar of the
-battle being distinctly heard, he changed the direction of his march
-toward the firing. Arriving at the Robinson house, he took position in
-defense of a battery and attacked the enemy in his front. Advancing
-to the turnpike under fire, Lieut.-Col. B. J. Johnson, of the legion,
-fell, "as, with the utmost coolness and gallantry, he was placing our
-men in position," says his commander. Soon enveloped by the enemy in
-this direction, the legion fell back with the commands of Bee and Evans
-to the first position it occupied, and, as before reported, formed an
-important element in re-establishing the battle under the immediate
-direction of Generals Beauregard and Johnston.
-
-The troops ordered by the commanding generals to prolong the line of
-battle, formed at 11 o'clock, took position on the right and left as
-they successively arrived, those on the left assaulting at once, and
-vigorously, the exposed right flank of the enemy, and at each assault
-checking, or repulsing, his advance. No attempt will be made by the
-author to follow the movements of all of these gallant troops who thus
-stemmed the sweeping advance of strong Federal brigades, and the fire
-of McDowell's numerous batteries. He is confined, particularly, to the
-South Carolina commands.
-
-The line of battle as now re-established, south of the Warrenton
-turnpike, ran at a right angle with the Bull run line, and was composed
-of the shattered commands of Bee, Bartow and Evans on the right, with
-Hampton's legion infantry; Jackson in the center, and Gartrell's,
-Smith's, Faulkner's and Fisher's regiments, with two companies of
-Stuart's cavalry, on the left. The artillery was massed near the Henry
-house. With this line the assaults of Heintzelman's division and the
-brigades of Sherman and Keyes, with their batteries, numbering some
-18,000 strong, were resisted with heroic firmness.
-
-By 2 o'clock, Kershaw's Second and Cash's Eighth South Carolina,
-General Holmes' brigade of two regiments, Early's brigade, and Walker's
-and Latham's batteries, arrived from the Bull run line and reinforced
-the left. The enemy now held the great plateau from which he had driven
-our forces, and was being vigorously assailed on his left by Kershaw
-and Cash, with Kemper's battery, and by Early and Stuart. General
-Beauregard ordered the advance of his center and right, the latter
-further strengthened by Cocke's brigade, taken by General Johnston's
-order from its position at the stone bridge.
-
-This charge swept the great plateau, which was then again in possession
-of the Confederates. Hampton fell, wounded in this charge, and
-Capt. James Conner took command of the legion. Bee, the heroic and
-accomplished soldier, fell at the head of the troops, and Gen. S. R.
-Gist, adjutant-general of South Carolina, was wounded leading the
-Fourth Alabama. Reinforced, the Federal troops again advanced to
-possess the plateau, but Kirby Smith's arrival on the extreme left,
-and his prompt attack, with Kershaw's command and Stuart's cavalry,
-defeated the right of McDowell's advance and threw it into confusion,
-and the charge of Beauregard's center and right completed the victory
-of Manassas.
-
-In the operations of this memorable day, no troops displayed more
-heroic courage and fortitude than the troops from South Carolina, who
-had the fortune to bear a part in this the first great shock of arms
-between the contending sections. These troops were the Second regiment,
-Col. J. B. Kershaw; the Fourth, Col. J. B. E. Sloan; the Eighth, Col.
-E. B. Cash; the Legion infantry, Col. Wade Hampton, and the Fifth, Col.
-Micah Jenkins. The latter regiment was not engaged in the great battle,
-but, under orders, crossed Bull run and attacked the strong force in
-front of McLean's ford. The regiment was wholly unsupported and was
-forced to withdraw, Colonel Jenkins rightly deeming an assault, under
-the circumstances, needless.
-
-The following enumeration of losses is taken from the several reports
-of commanders as published in the War Records, Vol. II, p. 570:
-Kershaw's regiment, 5 killed, 43 wounded; Sloan's regiment, 11 killed,
-79 wounded; Jenkins' regiment, 3 killed, 23 wounded; Cash's regiment, 5
-killed, 23 wounded; Hampton's legion, 19 killed, 102 wounded; total, 43
-killed, 270 wounded.
-
-Gen. Barnard Elliott Bee, who fell, leading in the final and triumphant
-charge of the Confederates, was a South Carolinian. Col. C. H. Stevens,
-a volunteer on his staff, his near kinsman, and the distinguished
-author of the iron battery at Sumter, was severely wounded. Lieut.-Col.
-B. J. Johnson, who fell in the first position taken by the Hampton
-legion, was a distinguished and patriotic son of the State, and Lieut.
-O. R. Horton, of the Fourth, who was killed in front of his company,
-had been prominent in the battle of the early morning. At Manassas,
-South Carolina was well represented by her faithful sons, who willingly
-offered their lives in defense of her principles and her honor. The
-blood she shed on that ever-memorable field was but the token of the
-great offering with which it was yet to be stained by the sacrifices of
-more than a thousand of her noblest sons.
-
-The battle of Manassas fought and won, and trophies of the Confederate
-victory gathered from the plateau of the great strife, and from the
-line of the Union army's retreat, the South Carolina troops with
-General Beauregard's command were put into two brigades, Bonham's, the
-First, and D. R. Jones', the Third. The Second, Third, Seventh and
-Eighth regiments made up General Bonham's brigade; the Fourth, Fifth,
-Sixth and Ninth, General Jones' brigade. Gregg's First regiment was
-at Norfolk, and Hampton's legion was not brigaded. Headquarters were
-established at Fairfax Court House, and the Confederate line ran from
-Springfield on the Orange & Alexandria railroad to Little Falls above
-Georgetown. No event of great importance occurred in which the troops
-of South Carolina took part, in Virginia, during the remainder of the
-summer.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
- AFFAIRS ON THE COAST--LOSS OF PORT ROYAL HARBOR--GEN. R. E. LEE
- IN COMMAND OF THE DEPARTMENT--LANDING OF FEDERALS AT PORT ROYAL
- FERRY--GALLANT FIGHT ON EDISTO ISLAND--GENERAL PEMBERTON SUCCEEDS LEE
- IN COMMAND--DEFENSIVE LINE, APRIL, 1862.
-
-
-Throughout the summer of 1861, in Charleston and along the coast
-of South Carolina, all was activity in the work of preparation and
-defense. On August 21st, Brig.-Gen. R. S. Ripley, whose promotion
-to that rank had been applauded by the soldiers and citizens of the
-State, was assigned to the "department of South Carolina and the coast
-defenses of that State." On assuming command, General Ripley found the
-governor and people fully alive to the seriousness of the situation,
-and everything being done which the limited resources of the State
-permitted, to erect fortifications and batteries on the coast, and to
-arm and equip troops for State and Confederate service.
-
-Governor Pickens wrote to the secretary of war at Richmond about the
-time of the Federal expedition to North Carolina, and the capture of
-the batteries at Hatteras inlet, urgently requesting that Gregg's First
-regiment might be sent him from Virginia, as he expected an attack
-to be made at some point on the coast. In this letter he begged that
-40,000 pounds of cannon powder be forwarded from Norfolk at once. The
-governor had bought in December, 1860, and January, 1861, 300,000
-pounds from Hazard's mills in Connecticut, for the use of the State,
-but he had loaned 25,000 pounds to the governor of North Carolina,
-5,000 pounds to the governor of Florida, and a large amount to the
-governor of Tennessee. Of what remained he needed 40,000 pounds to
-supply "about 100 guns on the coast below Charleston." The governor
-estimated the troops in the forts and on the islands around Charleston
-at 1,800 men, all well drilled, and a reserve force in the city of
-3,000. These forces, with Manigault's, Heyward's, Dunovant's and Orr's
-regiments, he estimated at about 9,500 effective.
-
-On October 1st, General Ripley reported his Confederate force, not
-including the battalion of regular artillery and the regiment of
-regular infantry, at 7,713 effectives, stationed as follows: Orr's
-First rifles, on Sullivan's island, 1,521; Hagood's First, Cole's
-island and stone forts, 1,115; Dunovant's Twelfth, north and south
-Edisto, 367; Manigault's Tenth, Georgetown and defenses, 538; Jones'
-Fourteenth, camp near Aiken, 739; Heyward's Eleventh, Beaufort and
-defenses, 758; cavalry, camp near Columbia, 173; cavalry, camp near
-Aiken, 62; arsenal, Charleston (artillery), 68; Edwards' Thirteenth, De
-Saussure's Fifteenth, and remainder of Dunovant's Twelfth, 2,372.
-
-On the first day of November, the governor received the following
-dispatch from the acting secretary of war: "I have just received
-information which I consider entirely reliable, that the enemy's
-expedition is intended for Port Royal." Governor Pickens answered:
-"Please telegraph General Anderson at Wilmington, and General Lawton
-at Savannah, to send what forces they can spare, as the difficulty
-with us is as to arms." Ripley replied, "Will act at once. A fine,
-strong, southeast gale blowing, which will keep him off for a day or
-so." The fleet sailed from Hampton Roads on the 29th of October, and
-on the 4th of November the leading vessels that had withstood the gale
-appeared off Port Royal harbor. The storm had wrecked several of the
-transports, and the whole fleet suffered and was delayed until the
-7th, before Admiral DuPont was ready to move in to the attack of the
-forts defending this great harbor.
-
-Port Royal harbor was defended by two forts, Walker and Beauregard, the
-former on Hilton Head island, and the latter on Bay point opposite. The
-distance across the harbor, from fort to fort, is nearly 3 miles, the
-harbor ample and deep, and the water on the bar allowing the largest
-vessels to enter without risk. A fleet of 100 sail could maneuver
-between Forts Walker and Beauregard and keep out of range of all but
-their heaviest guns. To defend such a point required guns of the
-longest range and the heaviest weight of metal.
-
-In planning the defense of Port Royal, General Beauregard designed that
-batteries of 10-inch columbiads and rifled guns should be placed on the
-water fronts of both forts, and so directed; but the guns were not to
-be had, and the engineers, Maj. Francis D. Lee and Capt. J. W. Gregory,
-were obliged to mount the batteries of the forts with such guns as
-the Confederate government and the governor of South Carolina could
-command. The forts were admirably planned and built, the planters in
-the vicinity of the forts supplying all the labor necessary, so that by
-September 1, 1861, they were ready for the guns.
-
-Fort Walker mounted twenty guns and Fort Beauregard nineteen, but
-of this armament Walker could use but thirteen, and Beauregard but
-seven against a fleet attacking from the front. The rest of the guns
-were placed for defense against attack by land, or were too light to
-be of any use. The twenty guns of Walker and Beauregard that were
-used in the battle with the fleet, were wholly insufficient, both in
-weight of metal and number. The heaviest of the guns in Walker were
-two columbiads, 10-inch and 8-inch, and a 9-inch rifled Dahlgren. The
-rest of the thirteen were 42, 32 and 24 pounders. Of the seven guns in
-Beauregard, one was a 10-inch columbiad, and one a 24-pounder, rifled.
-The rest were 42 and 32 pounders; one of the latter fired hot shot.
-
-Col. William C. Heyward, Eleventh South Carolina volunteers, commanded
-at Fort Walker, and Col. R. G. M. Dunovant, of the Twelfth, commanded
-at Fort Beauregard. The guns at Walker were manned by Companies A and
-B, of the German Flying Artillery, Capts. D. Werner and H. Harms;
-Company C, Eleventh volunteers, Capt. Josiah Bedon, and detachments
-from the Eleventh under Capt. D. S. Canaday. Maj. Arthur M. Huger,
-of the Charleston artillery battalion, was in command of the front
-batteries, and of the whole fort after Col. John A. Wagener was
-disabled. The guns in Fort Beauregard were manned by the Beaufort
-artillery; Company A, Eleventh volunteers, Capt. Stephen Elliott, and
-Company D, Eleventh volunteers, Capt. J. J. Harrison; Captain Elliott
-directing the firing. The infantry support at Walker was composed of
-three companies of the Eleventh and four companies of the Twelfth, and
-a company of mounted men under Capt. I. H. Screven. The fighting force
-of Fort Walker then, on the morning of the 7th of November, preparing
-to cope with the great fleet about to attack, was represented by
-thirteen guns, manned and supported by 622 men. The infantry support at
-Fort Beauregard was composed of six companies of the Twelfth, the whole
-force at Beauregard, under Colonel Dunovant, amounting to 640 men and
-seven guns.
-
-Brig.-Gen. Thomas F. Drayton, with headquarters at Beaufort, commanded
-the defenses at Port Royal harbor and vicinity. He removed his
-headquarters to Hilton Head on the 5th, and pushed forward every
-preparation in his power for the impending battle. The remote position
-of Fort Beauregard and the interposition of the fleet, lying just out
-of range, made it impossible to reinforce that point. An attempt made
-early on the morning of the 7th, supported by the gallant Commodore
-Tattnall, was prevented by the actual intervention of the leading
-battleships of the enemy. Fort Walker, however, received just before
-the engagement, a reinforcement of the Fifteenth volunteers, Colonel
-DeSaussure, 650 strong; Captain Read's battery of two 12-pounder
-howitzers, 50 men and 450 Georgia infantry, under Capt. T. J. Berry.
-
-The morning of the 7th of November was a still, clear, beautiful
-morning, "not a ripple," wrote General Drayton, "upon the broad expanse
-of water to disturb the accuracy of fire from the broad decks of that
-magnificent armada, about advancing in battle array." The attack came
-about 9 o'clock, nineteen of the battleships moving up and following
-each other in close order, firing upon Fort Beauregard as they passed,
-then turning to the left and south, passing in range of Walker, and
-pouring broadside after broadside into that fort. Captain Elliott
-reports: "This circuit was performed three times, after which they
-remained out of reach of any except our heaviest guns." From this
-position the heavy metal and long range guns of nineteen batteries
-poured forth a ceaseless bombardment of both Beauregard and Walker, but
-paying most attention to the latter.
-
-Both forts replied with determination, the gunners standing faithfully
-to their guns, but the vastly superior weight of metal and the number
-of the Federal batteries, and the distance of their positions from
-the forts (never less than 2,500 yards from Beauregard and 2,000 from
-Walker), made the contest hopeless for the Confederates almost from the
-first shot. Shortly after the engagement began, several of the largest
-vessels took flanking positions out of reach of the 32-pounder guns in
-Walker, and raked the parapet of that fort. "So soon as these positions
-had been established," reported Major Huger, "the fort was fought
-simply as a point of honor, for from that moment we were defeated."
-This flank fire, with the incessant direct discharge of the fleet's
-heavy batteries, dismounted or disabled most of Fort Walker's guns.
-The 10-inch columbiad was disabled early in the action; the shells for
-the rifled guns were too large to be used, and the ammunition for all
-but the 32-pounders exhausted, when, after four hours of hard fighting,
-Colonel Heyward ordered that two guns should be served slowly, while
-the sick and wounded were removed from the fort; that accomplished, the
-fort to be abandoned. Thus terminated the fight at Fort Walker.
-
-At Fort Beauregard, the battle went more fortunately for the
-Confederates. A caisson was exploded by the fire of the fleet, and the
-rifled 24-pounder burst, and several men and officers were wounded
-by these events, but none of the guns were dismounted, and Captain
-Elliott only ceased firing when Walker was abandoned. In his report, he
-says: "Our fire was directed almost exclusively at the larger vessels.
-They were seen to be struck repeatedly, but the distance, never less
-than 2,500 yards, prevented our ascertaining the extent of injury."
-General Drayton successfully conducted his retreat from Hilton Head,
-and Colonel Dunovant from Bay point, all the troops being safely
-concentrated on the main behind Beaufort.
-
-The taking of Port Royal harbor on the 7th of November, 1861, gave
-the navy of the United States a safe and ample anchorage, while the
-numerous and rich islands surrounding it afforded absolutely safe
-and comfortable camping grounds for the army of Gen. T. W. Sherman,
-who was specially in charge of this expedition. The effect of this
-Union victory was to give the fleet and army of the United States a
-permanent and abundant base of operations against the whole coast of
-South Carolina, and against either Charleston or Savannah, as the
-Federal authorities might elect; but its worst result was the immediate
-abandonment of the whole sea-island country around Beaufort, the
-houses and estates of the planters being left to pillage and ruin, and
-thousands of negro slaves falling into the hands of the enemy. General
-Sherman wrote to his government, from Hilton Head, that the effect of
-his victory was startling. Every white inhabitant had left the islands
-of Hilton Head, St. Helena, Ladies, and Port Royal, and the beautiful
-estates of the planters were at the mercy of hordes of negroes.
-
-The loss of the forts had demonstrated the power of the Federal fleet,
-and the impossibility of defending the island coast with the guns which
-the State and the Confederacy could furnish. The 32 and 42 pounders
-were no match for the 11-inch batteries of the fleet, and gunboats
-of light draught, carrying such heavy guns, could enter the numerous
-rivers and creeks and cut off forts or batteries at exposed points,
-while larger vessels attacked them, as at Port Royal, in front. It was
-evident that the rich islands of the coast were at the mercy of the
-Federal fleet, whose numerous gunboats and armed steamers, unopposed by
-forts or batteries, could cover the landing of troops at any point or
-on any island selected.
-
-On the capture of Port Royal, it was uncertain, of course, what General
-Sherman's plans would be, or what force he had with which to move on
-the railroad between Charleston and Savannah. The fleet was ample
-for all aggressive purposes along the coast, but it was not known at
-the time that the army numbered less than 15,000 men, all told. But
-it was well known how easily a landing could be effected within a
-few miles of the railroad bridges crossing the three upper branches
-of the Broad river, the Coosawhatchie, Tulifinny and Pocotaligo, and
-the rivers nearer to Charleston, the Combahee, Ashepoo and Edisto.
-Bluffton, easily reached by gunboats, afforded a good landing and base
-for operations against the railroad at Hardeeville, only 4 miles from
-the Savannah river, and 15 from the city of Savannah. On this account,
-General Ripley, assisted by the planters, caused the upper branches of
-the Broad, and the other rivers toward Charleston to be obstructed, and
-meanwhile stationed the troops at his command at points covering the
-landings.
-
-General Drayton, with a part of Martin's regiment of cavalry, under
-Lieutenant-Colonel Colcock, and Heyward's and De Saussure's regiments,
-was watching Bluffton and the roads to Hendersonville. Clingman's and
-Radcliffe's North Carolina regiments, with artillery under Col. A. J.
-Gonzales, Captain Trezevant's company of cavalry, and the Charleston
-Light Dragoons and the Rutledge Riflemen, were stationed in front of
-Grahamville, to watch the landings from the Broad. Colonel Edwards'
-regiment and Moore's light battery were at Coosawhatchie, Colonel
-Dunovant's at Pocotaligo, and Colonel Jones', with Tripp's company of
-cavalry, in front of the important landing at Port Royal ferry. Colonel
-Martin, with part of his regiment of cavalry, was in observation at
-the landings on Combahee, Ashepoo and Edisto rivers. The idea of this
-disposition, made by Ripley immediately upon the fall of Forts Walker
-and Beauregard, was to guard the railroad bridges, and keep the troops
-in hand to be moved for concentration in case any definite point was
-attacked.
-
-On the 8th of November, the day after Port Royal was taken, Gen. Robert
-E. Lee took command of the department of South Carolina and Georgia, by
-order of the President of the Confederacy. It was evident to him that
-the mouths of the rivers and the sea islands, except those immediately
-surrounding the harbor of Charleston, could not be defended with the
-guns and troops at his command, and, disappointing and distressing as
-such a view was to the governor and especially to the island planters,
-whose homes and estates must be abandoned and ruined, General Lee
-prepared for the inevitable. He wrote to General Ripley, in Charleston,
-to review the whole subject and suggest what changes should be made.
-"I am in favor," he wrote, "of abandoning all exposed points as far as
-possible within reach of the enemy's fleet of gunboats, and of taking
-interior positions, where all can meet on more equal terms. All our
-resources should be applied to those positions." Subsequently the
-government at Richmond ordered General Lee, by telegraph, to withdraw
-all his forces from the islands to the mainland. When the order
-was carried out, it was done at a terrible sacrifice, to which the
-planters and citizens yielded in patient and noble submission, turning
-their backs upon their homes and their property with self-sacrificing
-devotion to the cause of Southern independence. Never were men and
-women subjected to a greater test of the depth and strength of their
-sentiments, or put to a severer trial of their patriotism, than were
-the planters and their families, who abandoned their houses and estates
-along the coast of South Carolina, and retired as refugees into the
-interior, all the men who were able entering the army.
-
-At the time of the fall of Forts Walker and Beauregard, Charleston
-harbor was defended by Forts Moultrie and Sumter, Castle Pinckney and
-Fort Johnson, and by batteries on Sullivan's and Morris islands. All
-these were to be strengthened, and the harbor made secure against
-any attack in front. To prevent the occupation of James island, the
-mouth of Stono river was defended by forts built on Cole's and Battery
-islands, and a line of defensive works built across the island. No
-attempt had been made to erect forts or batteries in defense of the
-inlets of Worth or South Edisto, but the harbor of Georgetown was
-protected by works unfinished on Cat and South islands, for twenty
-guns, the heaviest of which were 32-pounders.
-
-When General Lee took command, November 8th, he established his
-headquarters at Coosawhatchie, and divided the line of defense into
-five military districts, from east to west, as follows: The First,
-from the North Carolina line to the South Santee, under Col. A. M.
-Manigault, Tenth volunteers, with headquarters at Georgetown; the
-Second, from the South Santee to the Stono, under Gen. R. S. Ripley,
-with headquarters at Charleston; the Third, from the Stono to the
-Ashepoo, under Gen. N. G. Evans, with headquarters at Adams' run;
-the Fourth, from Ashepoo to Port Royal entrance, under Gen. J. C.
-Pemberton, with headquarters at Coosawhatchie; the Fifth, the remainder
-of the line to the Savannah river, under Gen. T. F. Drayton, with
-headquarters at Hardeeville.
-
-On the 27th of December, General Lee wrote to Governor Pickens that his
-movable force for the defense of the State, not including the garrisons
-of the forts at Georgetown and those of Moultrie, Sumter, Johnson,
-Castle Pinckney and the works for the defense of the approaches through
-Stono, Wappoo, etc., which could not be removed from their posts,
-amounted to 10,036 Confederate troops--the Fourth brigade, South
-Carolina militia, 1,531 strong; Colonel Martin's mounted regiment, 567
-strong; two regiments from North Carolina, Clingman's and Radcliffe's;
-two regiments from Tennessee, the Eighth and Sixteenth, and Colonel
-Starke's Virginia regiment; the Tennesseeans and Virginians making a
-brigade under Brigadier-General Donelson. The above, with four field
-batteries, made up the force scattered from Charleston to the Savannah
-river, and stationed along the line, on the mainland, in front of the
-headquarters above named.
-
-Nothing of great importance occurred for the remainder of the year
-1861 along the coast of South Carolina, except the sinking of a
-"stone fleet" of some twenty vessels across the main ship channel on
-December 20th, in Charleston harbor. This was done by the order of the
-United States government to assist the blockade of the port, and was
-pronounced by General Lee as an "achievement unworthy of any nation."
-
-On January 1, 1862, at Port Royal ferry, was demonstrated the ease
-with which a large force could be placed on the mainland under the
-protection of the fleet batteries. Brig.-Gen. Isaac Stevens landed a
-brigade of 3,000 men for the purpose of capturing a supposed battery
-of heavy guns, which, it was believed, the Confederates had built at
-the head of the causeway leading to Port Royal ferry. Landing from
-Chisolm's island, some distance east of the small earthwork, Col.
-James Jones, Fourteenth volunteers, had promptly withdrawn the guns in
-the earthwork, except a 12-pounder, which was overturned in a ditch.
-Believing the movement to be an attack in force upon the railroad,
-Colonel Jones disposed his regiment and a part of the Twelfth, under
-Lieut.-Col. Dixon Barnes, with a section of Leake's battery, and 42
-mounted men, under Major Oswald, for resisting the attack, forming his
-line about a mile from the ferry. But there was no engagement. The
-deserted earthwork was easily captured, and the 12-pounder gun righted
-on its carriage and hauled off, under the constant bombardment of
-the vessels in the Coosaw river. The opposing troops caught glimpses
-of each other, and fired accordingly, but not much harm was done on
-either side. Colonel Jones lost Lieut. J. A. Powers and 6 men killed
-and 20 wounded by the fire of the gunboats, and Colonel Barnes, 1 man
-killed and 4 wounded; 32 casualties. The Federal general reported 2 men
-killed, 12 wounded and 1 captured. During the winter and early spring
-the fleet was busy exploring the rivers, sounding the channels, and
-landing reconnoitering parties on the various islands.
-
-Edisto island was garrisoned early in February, and the commander, Col.
-Henry Moore, Forty-seventh New York, wrote to the adjutant-general in
-Washington, on the 15th, that he was within 25 miles of Charleston;
-considered Edisto island "the great key" to that city, and with a
-reinforcement of 10,000 men could "in less than three days be in
-Charleston."
-
-It will be noted in this connection that early in March, General Lee
-was called to Richmond and placed in command of the armies of the
-Confederacy, and General Pemberton, promoted to major-general, was
-assigned to the department of South Carolina and Georgia. Major-General
-Hunter, of the Federal army, had assumed command instead of General
-Sherman, the last of March, and reported to his government, "about
-17,000 troops scattered along the coast from St. Augustine, Fla., to
-North Edisto inlet." Of these troops, 12,230 were on the South Carolina
-coast--4,500 on Hilton Head island; 3,600 at Beaufort; 1,400 on Edisto,
-and the rest at other points. The force on Edisto was advanced to the
-northern part of the island, with a strong guard on Little Edisto,
-which touches the mainland and is cut off from the large island by
-Watts' cut and a creek running across its northern neck. Communication
-with the large island from Little Edisto is by a bridge and causeway,
-about the middle of the creek's course.
-
-This being the situation, General Evans, commanding the Third district,
-with headquarters at Adams' run, determined to capture the guard on
-Little Edisto and make an armed reconnoissance on the main island. The
-project was intrusted to Col. P. F. Stevens, commanding the Holcombe
-legion, and was quite successfully executed. On the morning of March
-29th, before day, Colonel Stevens, with his legion, Nelson's battalion,
-and a company of cavalry, attacked and dispersed the picket at Watts
-cut, crossed and landed on the main island west of the bridge, which
-communicated with Little Edisto. Moving south into the island, he
-detached Maj. F. G. Palmer, with seven companies, 260 men, to attack
-the picket at the bridge, cross over to Little Edisto, burn the bridge
-behind him, and capture the force thus cut off on Little Edisto, which
-was believed to be at least two companies. Palmer carried the bridge
-by a charge, and crossing over, left two of his staff, Rev. John D.
-McCullough, chaplain of the legion, and Mr. Irwin, with Lieutenant
-Bishop's company of the legion, to burn the bridge, and pushed on after
-the retreating force. Day had broken, but a heavy fog obscured every
-object, and the attack on the Federals was made at great disadvantage.
-Palmer captured a lieutenant and 20 men and non-commissioned officers,
-the remainder of the force escaping in the fog. Colonel Stevens marched
-within sound of the long roll beating in the camps in the interior,
-and taking a few prisoners, returned to the mainland by Watts' cut,
-and Palmer crossed his command and prisoners over at the north end
-of Little Edisto in a small boat, which could only carry five men at
-a time, flats which were on the way to him having failed to arrive.
-Several of the Federal soldiers were killed and wounded in this affair,
-the Confederates having two slightly wounded. But for the dense fog the
-entire force on Little Edisto would have been captured.
-
-General Pemberton, on assuming command, executed General Lee's purpose
-and ordered the removal of the guns from Fort Palmetto on Cole's
-island, at the mouth of the Stono, and from the works at the mouth of
-Georgetown harbor. Georgetown was then at the mercy of the fleet, but
-there was no help for it, for Port Royal had shown that the guns which
-the Confederates could command were practically inefficient against
-the batteries of the fleet. For the rear defense of Charleston, James
-island must be the battleground, and the forces on the mainland, along
-the line of the Charleston & Savannah railroad, must depend upon
-rapid concentration to resist an advance from any one of the numerous
-landings in front of that line. The regiment of regular South Carolina
-infantry, and the regiment of regular artillery, splendidly drilled as
-gunners, and officered by accomplished soldiers, garrisoned the harbor
-defenses, and Ripley's energy and high capacity were constantly exerted
-to secure a perfect defense of the city of Charleston.
-
-The troops on James island and on the line of railroad, as reported
-April 30, 1862, present for duty, numbered 22,275, rank and file,
-stationed as follows: In the First district, Col. R. F. Graham, 1,254;
-Second district, Brigadier-General Ripley, 8,672; Third district,
-Brigadier-General Evans, 5,400; Fourth district, Col. P. H. Colquitt,
-1,582; Fifth district, Col. P. H. Colquitt, 2,222; Sixth district,
-Brigadier-General Drayton, 3,145; total, 22,275.
-
-The above statement includes infantry, artillery and cavalry. They were
-all South Carolina troops except Phillips' Georgia legion (infantry),
-Thornton's Virginia battery, and a company of Georgia cavalry, under
-Capt. T. H. Johnson. Manigault's Tenth volunteers and Moragné's
-Nineteenth, with the two Tennessee regiments under Brigadier-General
-Donelson, had been sent to Corinth to reinforce Beauregard in the west,
-and Dunovant's Twelfth, Edwards' Thirteenth, McGowan's Fourteenth (Col.
-James Jones having resigned), and Orr's rifles had gone to the aid of
-General Johnston in Virginia. Such was the situation in South Carolina
-at the close of April, 1862.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
- SOUTH CAROLINIANS IN VIRGINIA--BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG--ELTHAM'S
- LANDING--SEVEN PINES AND FAIR OAKS--NINE-MILE ROAD--GAINES'
- MILL--SAVAGE STATION--FRAYSER'S FARM--MALVERN HILL.
-
-
-In Virginia, Gen. George B. McClellan had been placed in command of the
-great army which he had fully organized, and his headquarters had been
-established at Fort Monroe early in April, preparatory to his advance
-upon Richmond by way of the James river and the peninsula. Gen. Joseph
-E. Johnston commanded the Confederate army for the defense of Richmond,
-with headquarters at Yorktown, April 17th. Holding Yorktown and the
-line which ran across the peninsula to the Warwick, until the 4th of
-May, Johnston retired from Williamsburg. His army, about 53,000 strong,
-was opposed by McClellan's splendidly equipped and organized army,
-estimated by General Johnston at 133,000. It was Johnston's intention
-to fall back slowly on the defenses of Richmond, and then, being joined
-by the division of Huger from Norfolk, and other reinforcements which
-he expected the Confederate government would order to his army, to give
-McClellan battle in front of those defenses on more equal terms.
-
-Johnston's army at that time was composed of the divisions of Magruder
-(commanded by D. R. Jones), Longstreet, D. H. Hill and G. W. Smith.
-Magruder and Smith had passed beyond Williamsburg on the march to
-Richmond, and Hill, encumbered with the trains and baggage, was
-also moving beyond that point, on the afternoon of the 4th, when
-Longstreet's rear guard was attacked, in front of Williamsburg, by the
-Federal advance. This attack was met and checked by two brigades under
-Brigadier-General McLaws (Semmes' and Kershaw's), with Manly's battery.
-In this brief history, the writer is confined, by the plan of the work,
-to the part taken in each action by the troops of South Carolina. The
-grateful task of speaking of troops from other States is resigned with
-the understanding that ample justice will be done them by writers who
-have been selected to record the history of their courage, skill and
-devotion as soldiers of the Confederacy.
-
-In this affair of the afternoon of the 4th of May, Kershaw's brigade,
-the Second, Third, Seventh and Eighth South Carolina, bore a part,
-and though but little blood was spilled, the gallant conduct of the
-brigade received the notice and commendation of General McLaws, who, in
-reporting the action, said: "I call attention to the promptness with
-which General Kershaw placed his men in the various positions assigned
-him, and the readiness with which he seized on the advantage offered
-by the ground as he advanced to the front.... His command obeyed
-his orders with an alacrity and skill creditable to the gallant and
-obedient soldiers composing it." The result of the combat was, that
-McLaws checked the Federal advance, captured several prisoners, one
-piece of artillery, three caissons, and disabled a battery, and lost
-not exceeding 15 men killed, wounded and missing. A part of Stuart's
-cavalry was also engaged, and that officer complimented the conduct
-of the Hampton legion cavalry in high terms, for "a brilliant dash
-upon the enemy's cavalry in front of Fort Magruder.... Disinterested
-officers, spectators, speak in the most glowing terms of that portion
-of my brigade."
-
-It was evident to General Johnston that the safety of his trains
-required that a more decided opposition be offered to the Federal
-advance, and Longstreet's division was put in position to meet it on
-the following morning. The battle which followed, accordingly, on the
-5th, fulfilled the general's expectations, and was a bloody engagement,
-continuing at intervals from early morning until near dark, the two
-divisions (Longstreet's under Anderson and D. H. Hill's) repelling
-the assaults of thirty-three regiments of infantry, six batteries of
-artillery, and three regiments of cavalry.
-
-The battle in front of Williamsburg was fought in terrible weather,
-the whole country flooded by the rains, the roads almost impassable
-for artillery, and the troops "wading in mud and slush," as General
-Hill expressed it. On the morning of the 5th, Longstreet held the forts
-and line in front of Williamsburg. Anderson's South Carolina brigade,
-commanded by Col. Micah Jenkins, was stationed in Fort Magruder, and in
-the redoubts and breastworks to the right and left of the fort. This
-brigade was composed of the Palmetto sharpshooters, Lieut.-Col. Joseph
-Walker; Fourth battalion, Maj. C. S. Mattison; Fifth, Col. John R.
-Giles, and Sixth, Col. John Bratton, Lieut.-Col. J. M. Steedman.
-
-The position at Fort Magruder was the center of Longstreet's line
-and was the point at which the battle opened at 6 o'clock in the
-morning. Major Mattison, commanding the pickets in front of Fort
-Magruder, was sharply engaged, and being reinforced by a battalion of
-the sharpshooters, had quite a picket battle before retiring to the
-fort. The attack on Fort Magruder and on the redoubts and breastworks
-to the right and left of it, was at once opened with artillery and
-infantry, and the superiority of the Federal artillery and small-arms
-put Jenkins' command at great disadvantage. But the artillery in
-the fort and the redoubts was so well directed, the gallant gunners
-stood so heroically to their guns, and were so firmly supported by
-the Carolina infantry, that the Federal columns could not assault the
-line, and were driven back and compelled by noon to change the point
-of attack further to the Confederate left. Meanwhile, Longstreet was
-assailing the Federal left, and gaining ground with the remainder of
-his division, supported by reinforcements from Hill's, called back from
-their march beyond Williamsburg. In the afternoon, General Hill brought
-his whole division on the field, and reinforcing the center, commanded
-by Anderson, and leading the left in person, a final advance was made
-which ended the fighting by sunset, the Confederates occupying the
-field, the Federals being repulsed from right to left.
-
-In the defense of the center and left, Anderson's brigade, under
-Jenkins, bore a conspicuous part. In Fort Magruder, the Richmond
-howitzers and the Fayette artillery lost so many men by the fire of
-the enemy, that details were made by Colonel Jenkins from the infantry
-to relieve the men at the guns. By concentrating the artillery fire
-on particular batteries in succession, and by volley firing at the
-gunners, Jenkins compelled his assailants to shift their positions,
-while the regiments of Bratton, Giles, Walker and Mattison poured their
-well-directed fire into the threatening columns of Federal infantry.
-
-At an important period of the battle on the right, when the Federal
-left had been driven back and was exposed to the full fire of Fort
-Magruder, every gun was turned upon it. In the afternoon, and just
-before D. H. Hill's attack on his right, the Federal commander had
-gained a position almost turning the Confederate left. At this critical
-juncture, the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth South Carolina regiments,
-with the Fourteenth Alabama, Major Royston, splendidly supported by
-Dearing's and Stribling's batteries, and three guns under Lieutenant
-Fortier, met the movement with firmness, and, aided by the fire from
-Fort Magruder, checked and repulsed the Federal right, and held the
-Confederate left intact.
-
-General McClellan claimed a great victory at Williamsburg, basing his
-claim upon the occupation of the town the next day, the capture of
-300 prisoners and 1,000 wounded, and five guns. But the fact is, that
-the battle was fought by General Johnston with two divisions of his
-army, for no other purpose than to secure his trains and make good his
-retreat upon Richmond, and this he accomplished. The divisions that
-fought the battle slept on the field, and left their positions without
-molestation on the morning of the 6th. Johnston marched only 12 miles
-on the 6th, and was not pursued. Four hundred wounded were left at
-Williamsburg because he had no ambulances, and the wagons were out of
-reach on the march toward Richmond. Four hundred prisoners, several
-stand of colors, and cannon were taken, and the Confederate loss, 1,560
-killed and wounded, was only two-thirds that of the Federals.[A] With
-these facts before us, Williamsburg cannot be considered a victory for
-General McClellan.
-
-[Footnote A: The loss of Jenkins' brigade was 10 killed and 75 wounded
-(including Lieut. W. J. Campbell, mortally).]
-
-Regarding the morale of the Confederate army at this period,
-a distinguished commander of one of its divisions wrote: "Our
-revolutionary sires did not suffer more at Valley Forge than did our
-army at Yorktown, and in the retreat from it. Notwithstanding the
-rain, cold, mud, hunger, watching and fatigue, I never heard a murmur,
-nor witnessed a single act of insubordination. The want of discipline
-manifested itself only in straggling, which is the curse of our army."
-
-The security of General Johnston's march toward Richmond was seriously
-threatened on the second day after the battle at Williamsburg, May 7th.
-The menace came from the direction of Eltham's landing, at the head
-of the York, where General McClellan was disembarking several of the
-divisions of his army. Franklin's division had landed, and was in line
-of battle well in front and covering the disembarkation of the other
-divisions. In this position, Franklin's advance was within 3 miles of
-Johnston's line of march, and his trains and artillery were in danger.
-Gen. G. W. Smith's division, under Whiting, was halted at Barhamsville
-(West Point) until the rest of the army had passed, and had been kept
-fully apprised of the Federal position between Barhamsville and the
-river. To keep the enemy back until the army had passed this point,
-General Smith ordered Whiting's division to move out toward the river
-and attack and drive back the Federal line. The attack was made by
-Hood's Texas brigade and two commands of Hampton's brigade, with S. D.
-Lee's artillery. The troops engaged on the Federal side composed the
-division of Franklin.
-
-It was a spirited affair, the Hampton legion infantry, commanded by
-Lieut.-Col. J. B. Griffin and Maj. James Conner, and the Nineteenth
-Georgia, Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson, vying with Hood's gallant Texans
-in the steady advance. The Federals were driven back to the river line
-and held their position firmly, and the guns of the fleet being opened
-on the Confederates, Hood and Hampton withdrew their supports and
-resumed the march that night toward New Kent Court House. Hood lost 8
-killed and 28 wounded, and Hampton, 12 wounded. Forty-six prisoners
-were taken. The reported loss of General Franklin was, killed 48,
-wounded 110, captured 28; total 186.
-
-After the affair, General Franklin reported it a success for his
-division, and concluded by congratulating himself that he had
-maintained his position. Hampton, in his report, complimented the
-officers and men of the legion, and of the Nineteenth Georgia, and
-mentioned particularly Lieutenant-Colonel Griffin, commanding his
-infantry battalion, Major Conner, in command of skirmishers, and
-Maj. Stephen D. Lee, commanding his artillery. In this affair the
-Confederates had five regiments and a battery actually engaged, and
-a brigade in support (but not engaged) on each flank. The return of
-casualties by the Federal record shows losses in six regiments, and a
-battery. The affair occurred for the most part in the woods east and
-west of the road leading from Barhamsville to Eltham's landing, and
-within range of the guns of the vessels in York river.
-
-Arriving before the defenses of Richmond, General Johnston encamped
-his army north and east of the city, with grand guards well out on the
-roads leading from Richmond to the crossing of the Chickahominy, and in
-the direction of the landings on the James. His cavalry, under Stuart,
-was immediately in observation of the troops of Franklin at Eltham,
-and of General McClellan's main advance from Williamsburg. The Federal
-army moved up the peninsula by the roads leading to White House, on the
-Pamunkey, and thence, on the north side of the Chickahominy, as far
-as Mechanicsville. All the bridges, including the York river railroad
-bridge crossing the Chickahominy, had been destroyed, and Johnston's
-army was south of that stream. By the 20th of May, McClellan had
-seized the crossings of the Chickahominy from Bottom's bridge up to
-Meadow bridge, the latter point being immediately north of Richmond,
-and within 5 miles of the defenses of the city. His left, at Bottom's
-bridge, was about 12 miles in a direct line from the city's limits. The
-general direction of the Chickahominy is from northwest to southeast,
-between these points. By the 26th of May, the Third and Fourth corps
-of the Federal army, under Generals Heintzelman and Keyes, had crossed
-at Bottom's bridge, and by the 30th, the latter corps had intrenched
-itself on the Richmond side of Seven Pines and Fair Oaks station, with
-its right refused toward the Chickahominy swamp. The other corps of the
-Federal army were north of the Chickahominy, opposite bridges which had
-been constructed for their convenience in crossing. Heintzelman's corps
-was in the vicinity of Bottom's bridge. There had been incessant rains,
-and the whole country was flooded with water and the roads almost
-impassable for artillery.
-
-On the 30th of May, General Johnston determined to attack Keyes
-on the 31st at Seven Pines, and crush his corps before it could be
-reinforced from the north of the Chickahominy or to any extent by
-Heintzelman from Bottom's bridge. To understand his plan of attack,
-it will be necessary to explain the situation more minutely. Seven
-Pines and Fair Oaks are about a mile apart, and distant from Richmond
-about 7½ and 7 miles. Fair Oaks is on the railroad, and Seven Pines
-on the Williamsburg road. Two roads which figure in this account, and
-the railroad, run east from Richmond practically parallel for 5 miles,
-the Nine-mile road to the north, below it the railroad, and further
-south the Williamsburg road. At Old Tavern, 5 miles from Richmond, the
-Nine-mile road turns southeast, crosses the railroad at Fair Oaks,
-and joins the Williamsburg road at Seven Pines. About 2 miles from
-Richmond, on the Williamsburg road, the Charles City road turns off
-to the southeast. White Oak swamp lies between Seven Pines and the
-Charles City road. To strike the corps at Seven Pines, the direct road
-would be the Williamsburg road, with the Charles City road running to
-the Federal left. To strike him at Fair Oaks, the direct road would be
-the railroad, with the Nine-mile road coming to the same point (Fair
-Oaks) from Old Tavern, and affording good points from which to turn the
-Federal right.
-
-Johnston's plan of attack was admirably considered. D. H. Hill's
-division was to attack at Seven Pines by the Williamsburg road;
-Brig.-Gen. Benjamin Huger's division was to attack the left flank by
-the Charles City road; Longstreet's division was to attack at Fair
-Oaks by the Nine-mile road, and W. H. C. Whiting's division was to
-support the whole by guarding the Confederate left and watching against
-reinforcements coming from the north side of the Chickahominy. The
-plan was perfect, but it was not executed, except in one particular;
-the attack assigned to D. H. Hill was a splendid achievement, and won
-the main success of the day, May 31st. In securing that success, the
-brigade of R. H. Anderson bore a most conspicuous part, and to describe
-its operations is now the writer's duty.
-
-The battle, which had been ordered to begin at an early hour in the
-morning, was not opened until Hill led his splendid division to the
-attack at 1 p. m. The four brigades of the division, Rodes and Rains
-on the south of the road, and Garland and G. B. Anderson on the north
-side, with Bondurant's and Carter's batteries, had beaten Casey's
-Federal divisions with its supports, driven them back on the Federal
-second line, at Seven Pines, captured eight guns, and was now attacking
-the Federal line intrenched right and left across the Williamsburg
-road, at Seven Pines, running toward Fair Oaks. Pressing his attack
-on this position in front, and on the Federal left, Hill sent back
-for another brigade to co-operate in the attack, by moving along the
-railroad on his left and striking at the Federal right and rear. "In
-a few moments," says General Hill, "the magnificent brigade of R. H.
-Anderson came to my support," and being ordered by Hill immediately
-on his extreme left, it began its effective operations. General Hill
-ordered Colonel Jenkins, with the Palmetto sharpshooters and the Sixth
-South Carolina, Colonel Bratton, to march through the woods beyond his
-extreme left to the railroad, move down it toward the Federal right
-flank at Seven Pines, and strike at the rear of that position, while
-the rest of Anderson's brigade attacked on the immediate left of Hill,
-between Casey's captured line and the railroad, Anderson directing
-his own and Jenkins' movements. The sequel will show how remarkably
-well these battlefield orders were carried out. Jenkins, with his
-own and Bratton's regiment, and the Twenty-seventh Georgia, from one
-of Hill's left brigades, formed line of attack in the woods, facing
-northeast, and gallantly moved against a portion of General Couch's
-division posted there. General Anderson, with the Fourth and Fifth
-South Carolina, under Major Mattison and Colonel Giles, on the right of
-Jenkins and on the immediate left of Hill's attacking troops, formed
-his line in the same wood facing with Jenkins' line, but some distance
-from it, and, supported by artillery fire from Hill's line, attacked
-in his front a portion of General Naglee's troops. Both attacks were
-successful and Couch's and Naglee's troops were beaten. Reaching the
-railroad, Jenkins halted and dressed his line, the Twenty-seventh
-Georgia being now recalled. Meeting General Anderson at the railroad,
-Colonel Jenkins was directed by him to move on. The sharpshooters and
-the Sixth marched ahead, fighting, and penetrated the Federal line,
-cutting off a part of those troops from Seven Pines. Changing front
-forward on his right, Colonel Jenkins, with his two regiments, now
-facing southwest, attacked the right of the position at Seven Pines
-on Hill's extreme left. "At this point," he reports, "the enemy,
-heavily reinforced, made a desperate stand and the fighting was within
-75 yards." Pushing on, the Federals slowly gave ground, and the two
-regiments kept in close support and perfect order. Fighting forward and
-to his right, Jenkins reached the Williamsburg road, the Federal forces
-in his front falling back and taking position in the woods south of
-it, while the two South Carolina regiments formed in line in the road,
-facing south. The little brigade was now in a most critical position,
-in advance of Hill's line, with the foe in front, and troops coming up
-the Williamsburg road to attack his left.
-
-Colonel Jenkins determined, as he says in his report, "to break the
-enemy in front before I could be reached by this new advance [coming up
-the Williamsburg road on his left], and then by a change of front to
-meet them." This was handsomely done, and sending two companies of the
-Sharpshooters, Kilpatrick's and Martin's, under Maj. William Anderson,
-to attack and check the Federal advance, the two regiments were formed
-across the road, facing south, while Jenkins' adjutant, Captain
-Seabrook, hurried back for reinforcements. General Anderson, who had
-led the Fourth and Fifth forward on Hill's left in the general attack,
-sent the Fifth to Jenkins, under Lieut.-Col. A. Jackson, the gallant
-Colonel Giles having been killed; and the Twenty-seventh Georgia was
-also sent forward to him by General Hill. Before his reinforcements
-reached him, the Federal advance was so near that their commands and
-cheers could be heard, and the two regiments had been advanced to
-within 100 yards of them. The Twenty-seventh Georgia was the first to
-come up, and being placed on the right, the Sharpshooters in the center
-and the Sixth (Lieutenant-Colonel Steedman commanding, Colonel Bratton
-being wounded) on the left, Jenkins boldly advanced to meet his foe.
-"The two commands neared each other, to 30 or 40 yards," says Colonel
-Jenkins, describing this struggle. "Losing heavily, I pressed on, and
-the enemy sullenly and slowly gave way, leaving the ground carpeted
-with dead and dying." By this time the Fifth South Carolina volunteers
-came up at the double-quick. The Twenty-seventh Georgia (which had been
-repulsed) rallied and came forward on the right. Jackson came up on the
-right of the Georgians, "sweeping before him the rallied fragments who
-had collected and resumed fire from the woods to the right, and thus,
-at 7:40 p. m., we closed our busy day." A day of splendid achievement!
-
-In his fighting and maneuvering, Colonel Jenkins had advanced on the
-arc of a circle for more than 2 miles, fighting first northeast, then
-east, then southeast, then due south, and lastly east. "We passed," he
-said, "through two abatis of fallen timber, over four camps, and over
-artillery twice, driving the enemy from three pieces. We never fought
-twice in the same place, nor five minutes in one place, and, steadily
-on the advance, were under fire from 3 p. m. to 7:40 p. m." Gen. G.
-W. Smith, in his exhaustive and able book on the battles of Seven
-Pines and Fair Oaks, makes the following comment on this remarkable
-achievement: "It is believed that the annals of war show few, if any,
-instances of more persistent, skillful and effective 'battlefield
-fighting,' than was done by the South Carolina regiments, under Colonel
-Jenkins, on the afternoon of May 31st." The losses were heavy, as might
-be expected, but unhappily there is no official report of them. Colonel
-Bratton, after the war, reported to General Smith that the Sixth lost
-269 killed and wounded, out of 521 taken into the action. The loss of
-the Sharpshooters must have been fully as large. Speaking generally of
-his losses, Colonel Jenkins says: "In my two color companies, out of 80
-men who entered, 40 were killed and wounded, and out of 11 in the color
-guard, 10 were shot down. My colors, pierced by nine balls, passed
-through four hands without touching the ground." Capt. J. Q. Carpenter,
-commanding the color company, lost 16 out of 28, "and ever in their
-front, the fatal ball pierced his heart, when he turned to his company
-and said, 'Boys, I am killed, but you press on.'"
-
-While the battle of Seven Pines was in progress, General McClellan at
-2 p. m. had ordered General Sumner's corps to cross the Chickahominy
-and go to the assistance of the Federal forces now being driven by
-Hill's division and R. H. Anderson's brigade. In the first advance
-of Jenkins, it will be recalled that he cut through General Couch's
-forces, dividing them and leaving a part in rear of his left flank.
-This force was composed of four regiments and a battery of artillery,
-which retreated beyond (north of) Fair Oaks, and with the brigade of
-Abercrombie, stationed at Fair Oaks, took up a defensive line at the
-Adams house, facing Fair Oaks. This line was commanded by General Couch
-in person. In this position, Couch was on the left flank and rear of
-Hill's battle and in place to be reinforced by Sumner, who came to his
-support in time to save him from destruction by the attack of that
-portion of General Johnston's army, under General Johnston's immediate
-direction, whose headquarters were at Old Tavern, about 2 miles from
-Fair Oaks. Anxious for the safety of the Confederate left, and fearing
-that it might be attacked by forces from the north of the Chickahominy,
-General Johnston had ordered the brigades of Whiting, Hood, Pettigrew,
-Hatton and Hampton, under Whiting, at about 4 p. m., to march by Fair
-Oaks to attack the Federal right and rear. The head of these troops
-(Whiting's brigade), reaching Fair Oaks, were fired upon by Couch's
-battery at the Adams house, and by his advanced pickets. A halt was
-made to take the battery, and to drive the Federal infantry out of
-reach of the road, when followed the battle of Fair Oaks, the effort of
-which was to keep Sumner and Couch from the field at Seven Pines, and
-leave Hill's division and Anderson's brigade masters of the battle in
-that quarter. But this was the main effect of the Confederate attack
-at Fair Oaks, for the battery was not taken, and Couch, reinforced by
-at least a strong division from Sumner's advance, with artillery, held
-his position against the assaults of Whiting, Pettigrew, Hatton and
-Hampton. The latter commanded the only South Carolinians who were in
-the engagement at Fair Oaks, the infantry of his legion.
-
-There is no report from General Hampton, but the reports of Generals
-Johnston and G. W. Smith define his position in the affair on the left
-of the Confederate attack. General Smith says, that as the musketry
-fire of Whiting, Pettigrew and Hampton rapidly increased, opening the
-attack on Couch, he rode into the woods where the troops were engaged,
-and learned from Col. S. D. Lee, of the artillery, that "General
-Hampton had driven the enemy some distance through the woods, but that
-they were being rapidly reinforced [by Sumner], held a strong position,
-and extended beyond Hampton's left. The firing indicated that Whiting
-and Pettigrew were being fully occupied by the enemy in their immediate
-front." Hatton coming up, he was put in immediately between Hampton and
-Pettigrew, and Gen. G. W. Smith ordered the line forward to carry the
-Federal position. The woods were dense, the undergrowth thick, and the
-smoke so great that officers leading their troops could not see "more
-than a limited number of their men at any one time." General Smith
-continues: "Various attempts were made to charge the enemy, but without
-that concert of action necessary to success.... On no part of the line
-where I was, did the enemy at any time leave their cover or advance one
-single foot. Our troops held their position close to the enemy's line
-until it was too dark to distinguish friend from foe." The attack had
-been in progress for nearly two hours when darkness put an end to it.
-The gallant Hatton was killed, and that noble and accomplished soldier,
-Pettigrew, had fallen, badly wounded, so near the Federal line that
-he was made prisoner. Brig.-Gen. Wade Hampton was seriously wounded,
-but kept his horse, had the ball extracted by Surg. E. S. Gaillard on
-the field, and refused to leave his troops. In this affair, Whiting's
-brigade (commanded by Col. E. M. Law) lost in killed, wounded and
-missing, 356; Pettigrew's, 341; Hampton's, 329; and Hatton's, 244;
-total, 1,270. The Hampton legion infantry, General Smith reported,
-suffered a greater loss by far in proportion to its numbers than any
-other regiment of the division, being 21 killed and 120 wounded out of
-350. These numbers were furnished by Surg. John T. Darby, acting chief
-surgeon of Whiting's division.
-
-Near the close of the action, General Johnston was unhorsed and
-seriously wounded by a fragment of shell, and the command of the
-Confederate army devolved upon Maj.-Gen. G. W. Smith, next in rank, who
-was succeeded by Gen. R. E. Lee on the following day.
-
-On June 18th a reconnoissance was made on the Nine-mile road by Gen.
-J. B. Kershaw, with two regiments of his South Carolina brigade, the
-Second, Col. J. D. Kennedy, and the Third, Col. J. D. Nance. With the
-Second on the left and the Third on the right of the road, the front
-covered by four companies deployed as skirmishers, under Captain
-Cuthbert, and two companies under Maj. W. D. Rutherford, Kershaw
-advanced. The skirmishers were soon engaged, and those of the Federal
-force were driven back on the supports. The two regiments advanced to
-within 70 yards of the Federal line, developed his position, forces,
-etc., and then Kershaw withdrew to camp. In this affair, Kershaw lost
-1 killed and 11 wounded, among the latter Capt. G. B. Cuthbert, of the
-Second, and Capt. F. N. Walker, of the Third. Private W. H. Thompson,
-Company E, was killed, and "the gallant Sergt. H. D. Hanahan," of the
-Second, lost a leg.
-
-The situation of the Federal army at this time (toward the close of
-June) determined General Lee to take the aggressive. The center and
-left of General McClellan were south of the Chickahominy, strongly
-intrenched and covered by the cutting of trees in the dense forests.
-The extreme left rested on White Oak swamp, and the right of the center
-on the Chickahominy at New bridge. The Federal right, under Fitz John
-Porter, was well and strongly posted behind Beaver Dam creek, north
-of the Chickahominy, with a grand guard at Mechanicsville in front,
-and outposts still beyond, guarding the crossing. General Lee's
-determination was to attack this right and separated wing with three of
-his divisions, calling Jackson's corps to co-operate. Jackson's march,
-from his victorious campaign in the valley, was so directed that he
-was expected to be at Ashland, 15 miles north of Richmond, on the 24th
-of June. From Ashland a march of 15 miles, toward Cold Harbor, would
-place his corps on the right flank and rear of the Federal position at
-Beaver Dam, while A. P. Hill, D. H. Hill and Longstreet, with their
-divisions, crossing the river at Mechanicsville, should carry that
-place and the strong position at Beaver Dam.
-
-The morning of the 26th (Thursday) was fixed by Lee for this concerted
-movement against McClellan's right wing. But Jackson did not reach
-Ashland until the night of the 25th, his march having been delayed
-by obstructions put in his way by the Federal outposts, many bridges
-being burned over streams crossing his march. It was after sunrise on
-the 26th before Jackson left Ashland. He marched past the right flank
-of the Federal position, at Beaver Dam, and went into camp 3 miles
-in the rear of that flank, at Hundley's corner, in the evening. In
-consequence, the bloody battle fought on the 26th, along Beaver Dam,
-by the gallant division of A. P. Hill and Ripley's brigade of D. H.
-Hill's division, was fought without Jackson's assistance. The Federal
-position behind Beaver Dam was heroically assailed; but it was too
-strong to be carried by Hill and Ripley, who suffered heavy losses.
-With Ripley was Capt. A. Burnet Rhett's South Carolina battery, who
-built a bridge, crossed the creek and, pushing up close to the enemy,
-were in action until 10 o'clock at night, losing 11 wounded. They were
-particularly complimented by A. P. Hill. With A. P. Hill were the South
-Carolina batteries of Capts. W. K. Bachman and D. G. McIntosh, the
-latter of which (Pee Dee artillery) probably fired the first gun at
-Mechanicsville, and fired 160 rounds from each gun before night stopped
-the fight. The brigade of General Gregg did not become actively engaged
-on the 26th.
-
-The position of Jackson, on the right and rear, and the divisions of D.
-H. Hill and Longstreet in front, all fresh and ready for attack in the
-early morning of the 27th, made the position of General Porter behind
-Beaver Dam untenable, and he promptly retreated and took up a strong
-position 3 miles further down the river.
-
-On Friday morning (27th), A. P. Hill was ordered forward toward
-Gaines' mill, the South Carolinians in advance. Gregg formed a line of
-battle with the First volunteers, Col. D. H. Hamilton, and the Twelfth,
-Col. Dixon Barnes, with skirmishers thrown out under Captains Cordero
-and Miller; and the Thirteenth, Col. O. E. Edwards, and First Rifles,
-Col. J. Foster Marshall, and Crenshaw's battery in support. They moved
-forward across the creek, and through the discarded accouterments and
-burning stores of the enemy, until coming out in an open, Cordero's
-company was fired upon by artillery in front and Lieutenant Heise was
-wounded. This apparently hostile force, according to the report of
-General Gregg, proved to be Stonewall Jackson's command, with which
-communication was at once opened. After a conference between Hill
-and Jackson, Gregg marched on, and presently was stopped by General
-Lee, who gave him further instructions. Longstreet, soon afterward,
-informed Gregg that he was moving on a parallel road to the right.
-The skirmishers became briskly engaged at Gaines' mill, but Gregg
-soon ordered them forward at double-quick, and they gallantly drove
-the Federal skirmishers before them. The brigade followed and bridged
-Powhite creek. Hill reported of the crossing of the Powhite: "His
-whole brigade being over, he made the handsomest charge in line I have
-seen during the war." Gregg continued his advance, part of the time at
-double-quick and with continual skirmish firing, descended the hollow
-beyond Cold Harbor, driving out the enemy, and formed in line of battle
-on the hillside beyond. He found the enemy above him and desired to
-attack, but being refused, lay in position until 4 p. m., the artillery
-firing going on overhead.
-
-General Lee thus describes Porter's position, at which the battle of
-Gaines' Mill, or Cold Harbor, was fought on the afternoon and evening
-of the 27th of June:
-
- He occupied a range of hills resting in the vicinity of the McGehee
- house and his left near that of Dr. Gaines, on a wooded bluff,
- which rose abruptly from a deep ravine. The ravine was filled with
- sharpshooters, to whom its banks gave great protection. A second line
- of infantry was stationed on the side of the hill behind a breastwork
- of trees above the first; a third occupied the crest, strengthened
- with rifle trenches and crowned with artillery. The approach to this
- position was over an open plain, about a quarter of a mile wide,
- commanded by this triple line of fire and swept by the heavy batteries
- south of the Chickahominy. In front of his center and right the ground
- was generally open, bounded on the side of our approach by a wood,
- with dense and tangled undergrowth and traversed by a sluggish stream
- which converted the soil into a deep morass.
-
-Old Cold Harbor was in front of the Federal right, and Gaines' mill in
-front of his right center, the length of his line being about 2 miles
-and running in a curve from the "wooded bluff" on his left to a swamp
-on his right. The attack on this position was made by two roads running
-parallel with the Chickahominy, one going to the Federal left, and the
-other by Gaines' mill, opposite his right center. Longstreet attacked
-on the former, and A. P. Hill on the latter, D. H. Hill and Jackson
-attacking from the direction of the Federal front and right. At 4 p.
-m. A. P. Hill ordered his whole division forward, and the desperate
-struggle began, in which every inch of ground was to be won by a great
-sacrifice of life, and to be disputed with heroic firmness. Gregg, who
-was first engaged, fought his way through the tangled wood and the
-boggy morass to the foot of the main position, when, confronted by a
-determined and unfaltering resistance, and his lines torn by artillery
-from the crest in front and by a battery on his right flank, he could
-make no further progress. Marshall was ordered to take the battery on
-the right, and advanced gallantly, Perrin's, Joseph Norton's, Miller's
-and Miles Norton's companies in front, under Lieutenant-Colonel
-Ledbetter. The battery was withdrawn, but its support in the woods,
-composed of a strong body of troops, among them the New York Zouaves,
-held the ground in a fierce combat. The Zouaves attacking on the left
-flank, Lieutenant Higgins promptly assembled 30 riflemen, and held
-them in check. The attack being pressed anew, the regiment, having
-lost 81 killed and 234 wounded out of 537, and being unsupported, was
-forced to retire to its former position. But Marshall's gallant charge
-and contest had driven off the battery, and Gregg ordered the First,
-Twelfth and Thirteenth forward again. The struggle for the crest was
-renewed with heroic zeal and courage, and met with splendid firmness,
-driving Gregg back a second time. A third advance was ordered, and now
-the Fourteenth, Col. Samuel McGowan, being by Gregg's request relieved
-from outpost duty, was conducted by his aide, Capt. Harry Hammond, to
-his right flank. Passing through Crenshaw's guns, McGowan's men moved
-right forward, supported by the other shattered regiments of Gregg's
-brigade. "Tired as they were," says Gregg, "by two days and nights of
-outpost duty, and by a rapid march under a burning sun, they advanced
-with a cheer and at a double-quick. Leading his regiment to the right
-of the Thirteenth and across the hollow, Colonel McGowan arrived just
-in time to repulse the advance of the enemy and prevent them from
-establishing a battery on the brow of the hill." With varying success,
-backward and forward, Gregg struggled to gain and pierce the Federal
-line, but not until the final and united charge of Lee's whole line
-was made at 7 o'clock, and when Hood had gained the "wooded bluff" and
-turned the Federal left, did the Confederate commands mount the whole
-line of defense and drive its heroic defenders from the field.
-
-Gregg lost 829 (estimated) killed and wounded. The severest losses in
-the brigade fell on the Rifles, the Fourteenth and the Twelfth. The
-Rifles lost 319, the Fourteenth, 291, and the Twelfth, 155. At one
-time every one of the color-guards of the First volunteers was shot
-down around Colonel Hamilton, who took the colors. The color-bearer,
-Sergeant Taylor, fell with the colors in his grasp, as he was planting
-them forward of the line, and Corporal Hayne, seeing Colonel Hamilton
-take the flag, seized it, and gallantly going forward, fell mortally
-wounded. Private Spillman, of Company K, then took the flag and
-carried it to the final charge in triumph to victory. He was promoted
-color-bearer on the field for gallant conduct. Among the lamented
-dead of the First was the gallant and accomplished Lieut.-Col. A. M.
-Smith, who left a sick bed to take his place in his country's service.
-In the Twelfth, Colonel Barnes was wounded, but did not leave the
-field. Lieut. J. W. Delaney, commanding Company B, was killed in the
-first assault; Captain Vallandingham lost a leg, and Captains Miller,
-McMeekin and Bookter were wounded. In the Thirteenth, which was mainly
-in support, the loss was not so heavy, 8 killed and 40 wounded. In the
-Fourteenth, Colonel McGowan and Maj. W. J. Carter were wounded, as were
-also Captains Brown, Taggart and Edward Croft, and Lieutenants Brunson,
-O. W. Allen, Stevens, McCarley, Dorrah and Carter; and the gallant
-Lieut. O. C. Plunkett, Company H, was killed on the field. The First
-Rifles (known as Orr's Rifles) suffered terribly. Its gallant adjutant,
-J. B. Sloan, Captains Hawthorne and Hennegan, Lieutenants Brown and
-McFall, and Sergeant-Major McGee died heroically leading in Marshall's
-charge. In Gregg's battle, a section of Capt. D. G. Mcintosh's battery
-was called into action late in the afternoon, too late to take an
-active part in the battle, as the enemy's artillery in front had been
-silenced, or had retired. He lost 1 man killed and 2 wounded, and 5
-horses killed.
-
-The other South Carolina troops at the battle of Gaines' Mill were with
-Hood and Longstreet. The brigades of Hood and Law composed Whiting's
-gallant division, which had marched from Ashland as the advance of
-Jackson's corps. They went into battle in the late afternoon, after A.
-P. Hill had been fighting for two hours.[B] With Hood was the Hampton
-legion infantry, under Lieut.-Col. M. W. Gary, and with Longstreet was
-R. H. Anderson's South Carolina brigade. These troops had the honor of
-taking part in Longstreet's and Whiting's final charge along the front
-and flank of the Federal left, and were among the first to gain the
-coveted crest and pierce and turn his flank, capture his artillery and
-decide the day.
-
-[Footnote B: While waiting for Jackson, Lee ordered Longstreet to make
-a feint on the right, which became an assault, Whiting coming up in
-time to join on Longstreet's left.]
-
-Hood moved to the final assault with Hampton's legion on his left.
-On the left of the legion was Law's splendid brigade. Immediately on
-Hood's right was Pickett's brigade, and in support of Pickett the
-brigades of Wilcox, Pryor and Featherston. Thus, in the decisive
-charge, ordered by General Lee all along the battle line, they were
-hurled against and around the "wooded bluff" on the Federal left. In
-this grand assault, R. H. Anderson's brigade was divided, part of it
-supporting Pickett and part Wilcox. The writer regrets that neither
-General Anderson nor any one of his regimental commanders has a report
-of the battle on file. The same is true of the Hampton legion, Colonel
-Gary.
-
-General Hood reports that he ordered the legion "to gain the crest of
-the hill in the woods and hold it, which they did." General Longstreet,
-reporting the action of his brigade, refers specially to the gallantry
-of General Anderson and Colonel Jenkins, these officers commanding the
-separated parts of the brigade of Anderson. In the official returns,
-the loss of Anderson at Gaines' Mill and Glendale (Frayser's Farm) is
-given in total at 787. The losses of the Fourth, Fifth and Palmetto
-sharpshooters at Gaines' Mill are reported as 173. The losses of the
-Second Rifles and Sixth South Carolina at this battle are not given
-separately from Glendale. Hood reports the legion's loss at only 20.
-Anderson's and Gary's losses at Gaines' Mill could not have been more
-than 350, which was less than a half of Gregg's loss. Anderson and Gary
-were only engaged in the last attack, and Gregg was fighting from the
-opening of the battle to its close, with a short rest in the afternoon.
-
-Referring to the gallant conduct of officers as well as soldiers,
-General Longstreet remarks in his report upon the battle of Gaines'
-Mill, that "there was more individual gallantry displayed on this
-field than any I have seen." General Whiting, in closing his report,
-pays the same tribute to a number of soldiers, and especially remarks
-upon the conduct of Maj. John Haskell, of D. R. Jones' staff, who had
-volunteered to carry information of the Federal movements to General
-Lee, as they were observed from the south side of the Chickahominy,
-and acted on General Longstreet's staff, as a volunteer aide. General
-Whiting says:
-
- Though not on my staff, I should not do right were I not to mention
- here the chivalrous daring of young Major Haskell, of South Carolina.
- His personal bearing in a most deadly fire, his example and directions
- contributed not a little to the enthusiasm of the charge of the Third
- brigade. I regret to say that the brave young officer received a
- terrible wound from a shell (losing his right arm), but walked from
- the field as heroically as he had gone into the fire.
-
-The South Carolina batteries were more fortunate in their losses than
-the infantry commands. Rhett, whose horse was shot under him, lost
-2 wounded at Gaines' Mill; Bachman's battery (German Artillery) and
-McIntosh's, only a few men each. The nature upon the ground was not
-favorable to the Confederate artillery, and the batteries engaged under
-great disadvantage.
-
-Under cover of night, following the 27th, General Porter made good his
-retreat by the bridges he had built across the Chickahominy, passing in
-rear of McClellan's fortified line on the south side, and destroying
-his bridges behind him. His defense was beyond criticism. Reinforced
-from the south side by Slocum's division, he saved the army of
-McClellan by inflicting a heavy blow on the victorious columns of Lee,
-and by his able retreat at night. The timely arrival of two brigades,
-coming up just as Porter's line was carried, covered his retreat
-and successfully checked the disordered pursuit of the victorious
-Confederates.
-
-General McClellan does not estimate his loss in this battle separately
-from those which immediately followed, but acknowledges the loss of
-twenty-two pieces of artillery. Over 5,000 prisoners were taken by the
-Confederates, and thousands of arms gathered from the fields and the
-short line of Porter's retreat to the river.
-
-McClellan's rear guard, Sumner's corps, and Smith's division of
-Franklin's corps, made a stand on the 29th at Savage Station, covering
-the crossing of White Oak swamp against Magruder's corps. The South
-Carolina troops with Magruder were the brigade of General Kershaw and
-Capt. James F. Hart's Washington artillery. Hart's battery was with D.
-R. Jones' division. The Second, Col. John D. Kennedy; Third, Col. James
-D. Nance; Seventh, Col. D. Wyatt Aiken, and the Eighth, Col. John W.
-Henagan, with Kemper's battery, composed Kershaw's brigade of McLaws'
-division.
-
-Early in the morning of the 29th (Sunday), Kershaw was ordered to
-advance on the Nine-mile road and develop the Federal position.
-Kennedy, covered by a line of skirmishers under Maj. F. Gaillard, made
-the advance and found the enemy beyond Fair Oaks, at Allen's farm. The
-skirmishing became general and the enemy opened an artillery fire.
-Having been repeatedly cautioned to avoid a collision with General
-Jackson's forces, Kershaw restrained the fire of his men, and sent a
-battle-flag to be waved on the railroad. He was then ordered back till
-Magruder's other troops should take position.
-
-At 3 p. m. Kershaw advanced along the railroad toward Savage Station.
-The enemy had retreated, and when found again were in position on the
-Williamsburg road, occupying the rifle-pits and intrenchments made,
-doubtless, in McClellan's advance prior to the battle of Seven Pines.
-The Second and Third were thrown forward toward the left and formed to
-charge the position, while Kemper's battery opened a rapid fire that
-drove back the enemy without the aid of the infantry,[C] and Kershaw
-moved on to fight his battle at Savage's farm.
-
-[Footnote C: Called by Sumner the battle of Allen's Farm.]
-
-His line ran from the railroad to near the Williamsburg road. The
-battle began in earnest at 5:30 p. m. by the opening of Sumner's
-artillery on Kershaw's skirmishers under Gaillard and Rutherford,
-and lasted into the night. Kemper took position in the Williamsburg
-road, the Eighth on his right, in support, and the Second, Third, and
-Seventh on his left. Kershaw ordered his left regiments to charge, and
-they dashed into the wood, driving through to the open beyond. In this
-charge a heavy loss was inflicted upon the opposing force, which was
-thrown into much disorder, and many prisoners taken. But Kershaw could
-not maintain his position. Kemper and the Eighth were attacked and his
-right flank turned. To meet this emergency, he ordered his line back to
-the original position from which he had charged the wood, and at the
-critical moment Semmes' brigade attacked the force that had turned his
-right. Semmes, supported by Kemper's fire and the Eighth, drove back
-the flanking column, and Kershaw repelled the assault on his front.
-Night had come and Kershaw's battle was over. Major-General McLaws
-says: "The South Carolina brigade carried into action 1,496 men and
-lost in killed 47, wounded 234, missing 9; total 290." Semmes had only
-two regiments engaged and lost 64, and the loss in other commands of
-Magruder's force was only 36 in killed and wounded, which shows that
-Magruder's battle to beat McClellan's rear was fought by the brigades
-of Kershaw and Semmes, and only two regiments of the latter at that.
-The brunt fell on the gallant command of Kershaw and his splendid
-battery. Hart's battery, which operated with Jones' division on
-Kershaw's left, lost 5 men wounded, 2 mortally. Hart engaged the enemy
-from D. R. Jones' right, "compelling the retreat out of view of the
-enemy's infantry."
-
-Jones put his division in admirable position on Kershaw's left for
-attack, but he reports: "Scarcely had this disposition been made
-when I received orders from General Magruder to fall back to the
-railroad bridge with my whole command to support the right of his
-line." This unfortunate order was inspired by Magruder's overrating
-the movement which turned Kershaw's right, and which Semmes checked,
-at little cost. But for Jones' withdrawal at the moment he was about
-to attack, Savage Station might have been a harder blow to General
-McClellan. McLaws compliments his brigade commanders in high terms.
-Of Kershaw he says: "I beg leave to call attention to the gallantry,
-cool, yet daring courage and skill in the management of his gallant
-command exhibited by Brigadier-General Kershaw." Kershaw praises
-the gallantry, self-possession and efficiency of his regimental
-commanders, and the conduct of the men and officers. Lieut.-Col.
-B. C. Garlington, of the Third, was killed, sword in hand, at the
-head of his regiment. Lieut.-Col. A. D. Goodwyn, of the Second, and
-Lieut.-Col. Elbert Bland, of the Seventh, were severely wounded and
-honorably mentioned by Kershaw. Gaillard was distinguished in command
-of the skirmishers. Kemper added to the laurels he won at Vienna,
-Bull Run and Manassas. Captain Holmes and Lieutenants Doby and W. M.
-Dwight, of the staff, were active and gallant in dispatching the orders
-of their chief. The Second lost Captain Bartlett, "one of the most
-gallant and conscientious officers belonging to it;" and Lieutenant
-Perry, Company H, was severely wounded. The Third, besides its gallant
-lieutenant-colonel, lost Capt. S. M. Lanford and Lieut. J. T. Ray.
-Colonel Nance mentioned especially Capt. D. M. H. Langston and Maj. W.
-D. Rutherford. The Seventh did not suffer as severely as the Third,
-losing 82 killed and wounded. The Eighth, which was mainly in support
-of Kemper's battery, lost but 2 killed and 8 wounded.
-
-It appears from General Sumner's report, that three corps, his own,
-Franklin's and Heintzelman's, were under his command and put in line
-of battle at Savage Station. Heintzelman (15,000) was ordered to hold
-the Williamsburg road, but before the attack by Kershaw, General
-Heintzelman left the field, and crossed White Oak swamp. Sumner speaks
-of the assault by Kershaw and Semmes as being met by Burns' brigade,
-"supported and reinforced by two lines in reserve, and finally by the
-Sixty-ninth New York (Irish) regiment." He also speaks of Brooks'
-brigade "holding a wood on the left," "doing excellent service," and
-though wounded, "keeping his command until the close of the battle."
-He says the action was "continued with great obstinacy until some time
-after dark, when we drove the enemy from the field." It is evident that
-Kershaw attacked Generals Burns and Brooks, the Sixty-ninth New York,
-and "two lines in reserve." The reader may determine whether Kershaw
-and Semmes were "driven from the field" of Savage Station.
-
-Sumner, having successfully guarded the passage of White Oak swamp by
-his unequal battle with Kershaw's and Semmes' brigades and Kemper's
-battery, followed Heintzelman's retreat at night, and crossing White
-Oak marched to Glendale, near the junction of the Charles City and Long
-Bridge roads. The passage across White Oak was skillfully broken up
-and the roads approaching it obstructed. Franklin, with two divisions
-and a brigade, stood on the south side, with batteries well posted, to
-dispute the crossing. This he did throughout the whole of the 30th,
-keeping Jackson's corps on the north side and effectually preventing
-his taking any part in the battle of that day. While Jackson was
-thundering at Franklin with his artillery, and Franklin was preventing
-his passage of White Oak, McClellan was posting the divisions of
-Hooker, McCall, Sedgwick, Kearny and Slocum in line of battle across
-the Long Bridge road, confronting the expected advance of Lee down the
-Charles City and Darbytown roads.
-
-The troops of Lee that had won the bloody battle of the 27th, north
-of the Chickahominy, did not cross that river in pursuit of McClellan
-until the morning of the 29th, at which time General Lee became assured
-that his able antagonist was retreating upon the James. His orders, as
-in the case of the first assault on the 26th, were faultless. Jackson
-was to cross at Grapevine bridge and press the rear of the retreat;
-Magruder was to attack the flank on the Williamsburg road; Huger to
-move down the Charles City road, and Longstreet and A. P. Hill down the
-Darbytown to the Long Bridge road; and Holmes to cross from the south
-side of the James and march down the New Market road. A glance at a
-good map will show that this plan was perfect in its conception. But
-McClellan was fully equal to this great emergency, and put White Oak
-swamp on his right, guarded by Franklin, and his five divisions in his
-center to meet the advance upon him down the Charles City and Darbytown
-roads, and selected a veritable Gibraltar for his left, crowned by
-artillery and defended by a fleet of gunboats and Porter's and Keyes'
-corps.
-
-In carrying out Lee's plan, everything miscarried but the movements
-of Longstreet and A. P. Hill. We have seen how Kershaw and Semmes and
-Kemper alone carried out Magruder's flank attack on the Williamsburg
-road. On the 30th he was ordered to the Darbytown road and reached
-it in time to come into effective battle on Longstreet's right, but
-Holmes, moving on Malvern hill, saw that he had not force sufficient
-to attack, sent for aid, and Magruder was sent to him. Neither of
-these divisions was engaged on the 30th. Huger reported his march
-obstructed by trees thrown across the road, had an affair with
-outposts in his front, and was so badly balked in his march that he
-did not reach the field of battle on the 30th. Jackson, whom Franklin
-stopped at White Oak, served no other purpose on the 30th than to keep
-Franklin's division and his artillery too busily engaged to join the
-five divisions at Frayser's farm. All this reflects the highest credit
-upon the military genius of McClellan, who directed the details of his
-masterly retreat.
-
-Longstreet, in advance, came up with the Federal battle line, as above
-described, on the morning of the 30th. A. P. Hill was closed up on his
-march. Finding the enemy drawn up across his road, in front of the
-point where the Charles City road falls into it (Long Bridge road),
-he put his division in line of battle, with A. P. Hill in reserve,
-and waited anxiously to hear from Huger on his left, and Magruder and
-Holmes on his right. He felt sure that Jackson, crossing White Oak,
-would be in time to fall on the Federal right and rear. General Lee
-and the President were both at his headquarters when a Federal battery
-opened in his immediate front. A shell from this battery exploded so
-near the group as to wound one of the couriers and kill several horses.
-At this moment (4 p. m.) artillery fire was heard back on the Charles
-City road, and Longstreet, taking it for the signal of Huger that he
-was near at hand, ordered one of his batteries to reply, and the battle
-of Frayser's Farm was opened. The artillery on the Charles City road
-was Huger's affair with one of Franklin's outposts. R. H. Anderson, the
-senior brigadier, was assigned by Longstreet to the immediate direction
-of his front, and Colonel Jenkins commanded the South Carolina brigade,
-the first engaged in battle. He was ordered to silence the battery
-in front with his sharpshooters, but he preferred to capture it, and
-led his brigade forward, charged, drove back McCall's division, and
-seized Randol's battery. Longstreet's whole division now engaged, the
-troops in his front being those of McCall's and Kearny's divisions. The
-battle was forward for a time and McCall and Kearny gave ground, but
-Slocum reinforced Kearny against the Confederate left, and Sedgwick
-and Hooker against the right, so that Longstreet's right was pushed
-back and his left checked and pressed. He was compelled to assume the
-defensive, and ordered up A. P. Hill to his immediate support. Gregg's
-South Carolina brigade was thrown into the battle on the extreme left.
-Hill restored the battle to its first aggressive stage, and McCall's
-division was forced to retire, and that general fell into Longstreet's
-hands. Longstreet and Hill, with their twelve brigades, drove one of
-the Federal divisions from the field, and successfully resisted the
-attacks of the other four, gaining ground forward and holding in the
-end of the struggle all that they gained. Gregg, on the left, and
-Jenkins, in the center, bore their full share of the great contest, the
-latter capturing the battery of Randol, which, being retaken, was again
-captured by Hill's advance.
-
-The battle lasted well into the night, the Federal divisions leaving
-the field under the cover of darkness, followed by Franklin from White
-Oak, to take their places in McClellan's last line on the James river.
-There is no report from either R. H. Anderson, Gregg or Jenkins.
-Longstreet specially mentions Anderson, Jenkins and Captain Kilpatrick
-of the Palmetto sharpshooters in his report, for distinguished conduct.
-A. P. Hill reports that Gregg was sent by General Longstreet's request
-to support the brigades of Pryor and Featherston, and pushed their
-battle forward. Featherston being wounded and for a time in the
-enemy's hands, his brigade was driven back and scattered, "when," says
-Hill, "Colonel McGowan, with the Fourteenth South Carolina, retrieved
-our ground." Special mention is made by General Hill in his report
-of Colonels McGowan, Edwards and Hamilton, and Lieutenant-Colonel
-Simpson, of the Fourteenth. Gregg lost 12 killed and 105 wounded, the
-heaviest loss falling on the Fourteenth. Jenkins lost over 450, 234
-of these from the Sharpshooters, the remainder being nearly equally
-divided among the other regiments. Longstreet and Hill took fourteen
-pieces of artillery, thousands of arms, several stand of colors and
-hundreds of prisoners. The battle that General Lee had planned to be
-fought by all the divisions of his army was actually fought by two.
-
-The Federal commanders greatly exaggerate the Confederate strength
-in the battle. Before Gaines' Mill, A. P. Hill had 14,000 troops.
-He could not have had more than 10,000 in his division at Frayser's
-Farm. Nor could Longstreet's division have been larger. Kershaw
-carried only 1,496 into the battle of Savage Station, and his was one
-of Longstreet's best brigades. In McClellan's five divisions there
-were fifteen brigades, which, at 1,500 each, would make his force at
-Frayser's Farm greater than Longstreet's and Hill's by at least 2,500.
-It must be remembered, too, that A. P. Hill was not put into the fight
-until very late, when Longstreet had been engaged alone with the five
-divisions. It was a stubborn battle, and well contested on both sides,
-but the advantage was clearly with the Confederates.
-
-In the battle of Malvern Hill, which followed the day after Frayser's
-Farm, but one of Lee's South Carolina brigades was seriously engaged,
-that of Kershaw. McClellan rapidly and skillfully concentrated his army
-on the night of the 30th of June and the morning of July 1st. He thus
-describes his position and concentration: "The left and center of our
-lines rested on Malvern hill, while the right curved backward through a
-wooded country toward a point below Haxall's, on James river. Malvern
-hill is an elevated plateau about a mile and a half by three-fourths of
-a mile in area, well cleared of timber, with several converging roads
-running over it." In front of this position there was a good range for
-artillery, and on its left (west) the plateau falls off abruptly into
-a ravine. Expecting attack from the front and left of his position,
-McClellan made those points strongest and massed his artillery there,
-sixty pieces of artillery and ten siege guns being "so disposed on the
-high ground that a concentrated fire could be brought to bear on any
-point in his front or left." Commodore Rodgers placed his flotilla to
-command both flanks. The general line faced north and was nearly at
-right angles to the line of McClellan's retreat from Frayser's farm and
-distant about 3½ miles from that battlefield.
-
-Before this unassailable position General Lee brought up his whole
-army. He resolved to attack with Magruder, Holmes and Huger, holding
-A. P. Hill and Longstreet in reserve. To Magruder was assigned the
-attack on Porter's position--the strongest on Malvern hill--supported
-by Holmes, whose small division was in line on Magruder's right, facing
-east. The attack was planned by Lee to be general along his whole
-line; Holmes, then Magruder, then Huger, then Jackson. In spite of
-McClellan's artillery, if this attack could have been made by noon, and
-made by the whole line in a grand charge for the batteries, the Federal
-army, already so terribly shaken, would have been unable to resist it,
-and Lee's antagonist would have been literally driven to his gunboats.
-Instead of all this, no attack was made until late in the evening.
-Holmes did not attack at all, deeming it "perfect madness;" Magruder
-and Huger, from the difficulty of communication with their commands,
-and the wooded character of the country, put in their brigades one
-after another, to charge across the open and up Malvern hill against
-nearly one hundred guns, supported by the Federal army, in full view,
-with the field and the woods swept by the gunboat batteries. Jackson
-sent D. H. Hill and Whiting forward, in order, and supported them with
-brigades from his own and Ewell's division, and they met a bloody
-repulse; but they did not make the attack until after Magruder's and
-Huger's brigades had been successively repulsed, some of them from the
-very crown of the hill.
-
-It was 6 o'clock before Kershaw was ordered forward. His description
-of his advance will indicate what doubtless happened to other gallant
-brigades. Being in McLaws' line, on the farm adjoining Crew's farm,
-he was ordered by one of Magruder's staff to "advance and attack the
-enemy's battery." Having no other instructions, in total ignorance
-of the country, or the position of the foe, Kershaw marched half a
-mile forward in a wood, nearing the sound of battle and moving really
-immediately against Porter's front, his artillery sweeping the open
-and the woods through which Kershaw was marching. Reaching at last
-the open, passing "three lines of troops" who had preceded him in
-the attack, he moved up a ravine to the slopes of Malvern hill. The
-artillery and infantry fire in front and flank was thinning his ranks,
-when his friends in rear (Twenty-sixth Georgia) by mistake opened
-fire upon him. At this crisis he ordered the whole brigade to retire
-and reform further to the right. While reforming on the Second South
-Carolina, General Ewell called him to support immediately a brigade he
-was about to lead against "the enemy's battery," and was so urgent,
-that without waiting for the rest of his brigade, he led the Second in
-support of Ewell's gallant and useless charge, and with this affair,
-night having fully come, Kershaw's brigade had done the part assigned
-to it at Malvern hill. The long march to this point, after the battle
-of Savage Station, with its losses, had reduced the strength of the
-brigade. Kershaw took into the advance on Malvern hill 956 men and
-lost 164. The attack on Malvern hill failed of its purpose, but one
-thing it did accomplish; the repeated assaults were so gallant and
-determined, and pressed so near the enemy's guns, and inflicted so
-great a loss upon him, and so many brigades rested at night so close
-up to his defense, that he lost confidence in his ability to continue
-his successful defense on Malvern hill, and gave up the position during
-the night, leaving his dead unburied, his wounded in Confederate hands,
-and property and stores of great value on the field. His retreat was to
-a strong camp at Harrison's landing, immediately under the protection
-of Commodore Rodgers' flotilla.
-
-With Malvern Hill, Lee's battles with McClellan in front of Richmond
-practically ended. McClellan reported his total losses, from June 26th
-to July 1st, inclusive, at 15,249. Lee, for the same time, reported his
-total loss at 18,351. In McClellan's report he acknowledges the capture
-of 5,958 of his army, under the head of missing; but clearly he is
-wide of the mark according to the actual count in Richmond. As General
-Lee reported: "More than 10,000 prisoners, including officers of rank,
-52 pieces of artillery, and upward of 35,000 stand of small-arms were
-captured. The stores and supplies of every description which fell into
-our hands were great in amount and value, but small in comparison with
-those destroyed by the enemy."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
- THE COAST OF SOUTH CAROLINA, SUMMER OF 1862--OPERATIONS UNDER
- GENERAL PEMBERTON--ENGAGEMENT AT OLD POCOTALIGO--CAMPAIGN ON JAMES
- ISLAND--BATTLE OF SECESSIONVILLE.
-
-
-At the close of the spring of 1862, the Federal army in South Carolina,
-under General Hunter, had not made lodgment on the mainland. The
-enemy's gunboats, commanding the waters surrounding the islands, made
-ineffectual attacks on several of the batteries on shore.
-
-On May 29th, a small force under Colonel Christ, of the Fiftieth
-Pennsylvania regiment, a company of cavalry and one company of the
-Eighth Michigan regiment, crossing at Port Royal ferry, made an attack
-at Old Pocotaligo with a view of reaching and cutting the Charleston &
-Savannah railroad. This force was met by the Rutledge mounted riflemen,
-Capt. W. L. Trenholm, and two companies, A and D, of the First
-battalion of South Carolina cavalry, the whole under Maj. J. H. Morgan.
-A spirited engagement followed along the banks of Screven's canal, but
-the Confederates, numbering only seventy-six men, were forced back to a
-point three-quarters of a mile beyond Old Pocotaligo, where they took
-up a strong position.
-
-Col. W. S. Walker, commanding the Third military district, having
-arrived on the field, directed this movement and awaited the second
-attack. The first attack had been made at 10:30 a. m., and the
-Confederates were not dislodged until 1 o'clock. At 4 o'clock Captain
-Elliott brought up three pieces of his Beaufort battery, and Captains
-Izard and Wyman, with their companies (I and F) of the Eleventh
-South Carolina, also reinforced Walker. Later Col. J. H. Means, with
-his regiment, 400 strong, came up to Colonel Walker's aid. But his
-dispositions were not to be tried by the Federals. Colonel Christ,
-though he had now with him a reinforcement of Connecticut artillery,
-determined not to attack, and being covered by the woods in his
-retreat, was far on his way to Garden's corners before Walker got
-information of it and began the pursuit. He succeeded in crossing Port
-Royal ferry at night in flats which were in readiness, before he could
-be engaged by the Confederates.
-
-Elliott put his guns in position at the ferry next morning and battered
-the ferry-house which sheltered the Federal picket, and destroyed the
-flats. In this affair Christ reported a loss of 2 killed and 9 wounded,
-and Walker, 2 killed, 6 wounded and 1 missing. The Federal commander
-estimated the Confederate force at from 600 to 800, but in the actual
-engagement along Screven's canal, Walker had only 76 men, rank and
-file; 110 men, armed for the most part only with sabers, being held
-a mile in rear with the horses, under orders to charge in case of a
-disaster in front.
-
-Colonel Walker, in his official report, mentions in special praise the
-conduct of Capt. W. L. Trenholm and his riflemen; Lieut. R. M. Skinner
-and his small command of the First battalion cavalry; Captain Elliott,
-of the Beaufort artillery; Capt. W. W. Elliott, acting ordnance
-officer; Lieut. L. J. Walker, of the Rutledge riflemen; Lieut. E. H.
-Barnwell, acting assistant adjutant-general; Corp. W. H. Jeffers, and
-Privates J. D. Taylor and W. K. Steadman of the riflemen.
-
-This attempt, like all others, failed to reach the railroad, and served
-only to inspire Walker and other commanders along its line to increased
-watchfulness. Thus closed the spring campaign on the coast of South
-Carolina.
-
-An event occurred in Charleston harbor on the morning of May 13th
-which, no doubt, determined the movement of a large force against the
-Confederate position on James island. This was the abduction of the
-steamer Planter by a portion of the crew, who took the steamer out
-of the harbor and turned her over to the Federal fleet. The Planter
-was a swift, light-draught vessel, employed in transporting ordnance
-and stores to the forts and batteries of the harbor and the vicinity.
-She had a white captain, mate and engineer, and a crew of eight
-intelligent negroes. The day before her abduction she had been loaded
-at Southern wharf with heavy ordnance for the Middle Ground battery in
-the harbor, consisting of a banded rifle 42, an 8-inch columbiad, an
-8-inch howitzer, and a 32-pounder. She carried for her own defense a
-32-pounder and a 24-pounder howitzer. The captain, mate and engineer,
-contrary to written orders, were in the city, when four of the crew,
-under the leadership of one of their number, Jacob Small, fired up
-and boldly ran out of the harbor before daylight, the Planter being
-taken for a guard boat by the forts and allowed to pass. The crew were
-well-informed men and thoroughly acquainted with the situation around
-Charleston, and especially with the recent removal of the guns from the
-Georgetown defenses and from Cole's island, at the mouth of Stono river.
-
-All this information was, of course, carried to the Federal commanders.
-Great excitement followed in the city, and all the troops and posts
-were ordered to be ready for attack, especially by way of the land. The
-abandonment of Fort Palmetto at the mouth of the Stono left the way
-open to the Federal fleet to enter that river, and to General Hunter
-to land a large force on James island. Following the plan which he had
-adopted after the fall of Port Royal harbor, General Pemberton gave up
-the defense of the sea islands and the harbor of Georgetown, and made
-the Charleston & Savannah railroad his main line south of Charleston,
-drawing in the defenses on James island to a line running across the
-island from Secessionville on its left to Fort Pemberton, on the Stono,
-on its right.
-
-This policy was unpopular with the governor, the military generally
-and the people, and made General Pemberton, an honest and patriotic
-soldier, both unpopular and mistrusted. The idea was abroad that he did
-not mean to defend the city to the last; that he was not confident of
-success, and that he was not equal to the emergency. These sentiments
-were freely communicated to General Lee and to President Davis by
-the governor and by prominent citizens of the State. General Ripley,
-who commanded the harbor defenses and the forces on James island,
-regarded the abandonment of Fort Palmetto as a fatal mistake, and at
-his request, he was ordered to join General Lee in front of Richmond.
-General Ripley had shown great energy and unusual ability as an
-artillery officer, and possessed the full confidence of the military
-and the people. He had made the Palmetto a strong battery and had
-put in command an accomplished officer, Maj. J. J. Lucas, with his
-artillery battalion supported by infantry. Cole's island, on which Fort
-Palmetto was situated, was surrounded by creeks and marshes, and the
-causeway in its rear ran along the river to Battery island, and thence
-by causeway to James island. Battery island was immediately on the
-river and was also strongly fortified. General Pemberton was satisfied
-that the Federal boats could run by both forts, and with their superior
-guns command the approach from James island so effectually as to make
-it impossible to send relief to either point. In this view of the
-situation he was fortified by the judgment of General Lee. Possessing
-the courage of his military convictions, the heavy guns from both
-positions were removed early in May, and by General Ripley's order were
-put in position at Elliott's cut and on the lines east of James Island
-creek. Cole's island was occupied by a battalion of the Twenty-fourth
-South Carolina volunteer infantry, in observation, under Lieut.-Col.
-Ellison Capers, with instructions to prevent barges or small boats
-entering the Stono, or landing detachments on either Cole's or Battery
-island.
-
-How far Major-General Pemberton communicated his views respecting the
-immediate defense of Charleston to his subordinates or to Governor
-Pickens, is not known, but to General Lee he wrote, on May 21st, after
-the gunboats had entered the Stono and anchored off Battery island,
-that he favored the abandonment of Forts Sumter and Moultrie and the
-defense of Charleston from the city itself. This remarkable judgment
-was expressed to General Lee in an official letter dated at Charleston,
-May 21, 1862, addressed to Col. A. L. Long, military secretary. The
-following are extracts:
-
- I don't suppose there is any immediate intention of attacking
- Charleston.... Our land defenses on James island, however, are very
- strong. The battery constructed at Elliott's cut, on Stono river
- (not yet entirely completed), mounts only eight guns. I desire to
- make it twenty, but under present arrangements cannot effect it.
- [This battery, gradually strengthened, became a splendid fort, and
- as its history will show, did gallant service against repeated
- attacks. It was named Fort Pemberton, in honor of the major-general
- commanding.] I do not regard Charleston as strong. What under the old
- system of warfare was our strength, is now our great weakness. The
- many approaches by water and the recent proof of the practicability
- of their gunboats passing our batteries [Port Royal] have made the
- defense of this city a very difficult problem to solve. To obstruct
- 2,000 yards of channel (and this with relation to the forts, Sumter
- and Moultrie, is decided upon as the most feasible) looks almost like
- an impossibility. Every effort, however, is being made to accomplish
- it. I am decidedly of the opinion that the most effectual defense of
- the city of Charleston can and should be made from and around the
- city itself. I believe that when the enemy is prepared to assault the
- forts at the entrance of the harbor, he will do so with such force and
- with such appliances as will reduce it to a question of time only.
- Our great reliance being in these works, when they fall our means of
- defense will be inadequate to hold the city; but with the guns now
- within their walls, I am satisfied that however great might be the
- injury to the city itself from bombardment, his fleet could be kept
- from polluting its streets. This has been for some time my opinion,
- and I am glad to find many gentlemen of eminence and intelligence who
- entirely concur with me.... The forts should not only be dismounted,
- but destroyed. They will be of no use after the termination of this
- war in their present condition, for I take it, impregnable ironclad
- batteries must take the place of stone and mortar. I propose this
- subject for the serious consideration of the department.
-
-These views of General Pemberton were certainly known to the "eminent
-gentlemen" who agreed in them, but they were not shared by Governor
-Pickens and his able council, nor by the military, nor by the citizens
-generally. Forts Sumter and Moultrie, garrisoned by well drilled and
-disciplined soldiers, commanded by accomplished and gallant officers,
-were the pride and hope of old Charleston, as they stood on either side
-of her great sea gate equipped and eager for her defense. Their history
-was destined to prove how well this confidence was placed.
-
-Members of the governor's council addressed a communication to General
-Pemberton, which expressed the apprehensions as well as the fixed
-purpose of the State authorities. The members of the council proposed
-to the general specific interrogatories, to which they asked, in
-the most respectful terms, his immediate reply. He was asked: (1)
-If in the event of his determining, for military considerations, to
-retire the Confederate troops from Charleston, would he consider it
-an interference with his authority for the governor and council to
-undertake its defense? (2) Would he be willing to advise the governor
-and council in such an emergency? (3) Would he be willing to give any
-assistance in his power?
-
-General Pemberton replied promptly, assuring the gentlemen who had
-addressed him the interrogations of his appreciation of the situation
-and of his hearty willingness to promote in any way the defense of the
-city, and asking that any plans for defensive works undertaken by the
-governor and council be submitted to him. Meanwhile he was doing all
-in his power to strengthen the defenses on James island and to hold
-his forces well in hand to be concentrated at the point of attack.
-General Pemberton had under his command for the defense of Charleston
-and on the line of the Charleston & Savannah railroad, about 20,000
-effectives, and in the department of Georgia about 10,000 from which he
-could draw reinforcements in the event of an attack on Charleston.
-
-General Hunter, commanding the Federal forces in South Carolina,
-reported an aggregate of 16,989 effectives, stationed along the coast
-from Tybee, Ga., to Edisto island. These troops were commanded by
-Brigadier-Generals Benham, Viele, Stevens, Wright and Gilmore, and were
-mainly concentrated on Daufuskie island, at Hilton Head and Beaufort,
-and on Edisto island. The Federal force was greatly overestimated
-by the Confederates, and it was believed that an army of at least
-25,000 or 30,000 could be thrown upon James or John's island in an
-advance upon Charleston from that direction, while a powerful fleet of
-armored vessels might be expected to attack by the harbor. The Federal
-commander, with a similar overestimate of the Confederate forces,
-wrote to Washington in the latter part of April, 1862, rating General
-Pemberton's forces as follows: At Savannah, 30,000; at Charleston,
-25,000; at Augusta, 10,000; a total of 65,000! He was doubtless better
-informed by the intelligent crew of the Planter, and then determined
-upon the occupation of James island.
-
-The Planter was stolen by her negro crew on the 13th of May, and two
-gunboats entered the Stono on the 20th following. The channel was open,
-the guns were all gone from the forts on Cole's and Battery islands,
-and the gunboats threw their 11-inch shells with perfect impunity
-on the right and left as they ran up the river. They anchored beyond
-Battery island, which would have effectually cut off the retreat of
-the battalion under Colonel Capers, if no other means of escape had
-been provided. By the energy and forethought of Col. C. H. Stevens,
-commanding the Twenty-fourth volunteers, an interior causeway had
-been thrown up, and bridges built, running from Cole's island to
-James island, right through the marsh and over the creeks, and by
-this causeway Colonel Capers retreated without the loss of a man,
-having burned the military barracks at Fort Palmetto and removed the
-small supply of stores. It was now evident that the Federals planned
-a lodgment on James island, for the number of their boats increased
-gradually in the river, and on the 2d of June, General Benham landed a
-part of his command at Battery island, under Brig.-Gen. I. I. Stevens.
-Here they were secure under the guns of the fleet in the Stono. By June
-5th another division under Gen. H. G. Wright, having marched across
-Seabrook and John's island from North Edisto, had crossed the Stono
-from Legaréville to Grimball's on James island. These two divisions
-constituted the force of General Benham, that of Wright covering his
-left on the Stono, and that of Stevens his right, immediately in
-front of Secessionville. The gunboats in the Stono, firing by signals
-from the Federal camps and advance pickets, enfiladed their front and
-afforded effective support.
-
-On the early morning of June 3d, the day after General Stevens had
-landed, the first affair of the James island campaign took place. The
-One Hundredth Pennsylvania regiment had been advanced as far as the
-causeway crossing the marsh at Rivers' place, where the Charleston
-Riflemen and the Beauregard light infantry, Lieutenant Lynch and
-Captain White commanding, were on outpost duty. On the causeway
-in their front, three seacoast 24-pounder howitzers, of Captain
-Chichester's battery, were bogged so badly in an attempt to take them
-across, the evening before, that they had been left in this position,
-and were now covered by the rifles of the Pennsylvanians.
-
-Lieut.-Col. Ellison Capers, with four companies of the Twenty-fourth
-volunteers, was sent before day, on the 3d, to extricate the guns. He
-found Captain White and Lieutenant Lynch holding the Federal regiment
-in check, and, ordering them to join his command, at once made his
-dispositions for attack. A sharp conflict in the pines beyond the
-causeway drove the enemy back to the cover of a ditch and bank beyond,
-and this position being assaulted and carried, the Federals fell back
-across an old field and took shelter in a row of negro houses at
-Legaré's place. At this point of the engagement, Lieut.-Col. P. C.
-Gaillard, commanding the Charleston battalion, came up to the support
-of Colonel Capers. The following is his report to Colonel Capers of the
-affair which followed his arrival:
-
- Learning on Tuesday morning, the 3d instant, that you were engaged
- with the enemy at Legaré's, and that they were in larger force than
- yourself, I assembled the five companies of my battalion (one, the
- Charleston Riflemen, being already with you) to reinforce you.... Soon
- after joining, you called upon me for three companies to join in a
- charge upon the buildings occupied by the enemy. The Irish Volunteers,
- Sumter Guards and Calhoun Guards were designated for that duty, and
- well did they respond.... I joined in the charge also, but seeing you
- up with them, I fell back (by your order) to take charge of the line
- in rear.
-
-The three companies named above, with the Evans Guard of the
-Twenty-fourth volunteers, the Charleston Riflemen and Beauregard
-light infantry, were led in the charge on the houses by their gallant
-officers, Captain Gooding, Lieutenant Lynch, Captain Ryan, Captain
-White, Lieut. Ward Hopkins and Captain Miles, and stormed and silenced
-the Federals at the houses. Some of them surrendered, but most
-retreated to their supports in the direction of Battery island. The
-gunboats, in full view in the Stono, opened a fire on the Confederates,
-and the enemy's supports, Twenty-eighth Massachusetts and Eighth
-Michigan, coming rapidly up, a retreat was ordered, and with a Federal
-captain and 20 other prisoners, Colonel Capers fell back to the
-position held by Colonel Gaillard. The enemy did not advance further
-than Legaré's, and the affair was over. The adjutant of the Charleston
-battalion, Lieut. Henry Walker, was wounded at the houses and fell into
-the enemy's hands. In this affair 9 men of the Twenty-fourth and 8 of
-the Charleston battalion were wounded.
-
-The engagement just described, and a reconnoissance in front of
-Grimball's on the 10th of June, gallantly made by the Forty-seventh
-Georgia regiment, fully developed the positions and force of the
-Federal army on James island. General Pemberton was active and
-efficient in strengthening the lines of defense and in concentrating
-troops on the island. By June 15th a force fully equal to that of
-the Federal army was encamped behind the batteries, and on the lines
-of defense from Fort Pemberton on the Stono, at Elliott's, cut, to
-Secessionville on the extreme east, under Brig.-Gens. N. G. Evans, W.
-D. Smith and S. R. Gist, the former in chief command. Col. Johnson
-Hagood, First volunteers, commanded the advance guard, composed of
-his own regiment, the Twenty-fourth, Col. C. H. Stevens; the Eutaw
-battalion, Lieut.-Col. C. H. Simonton, and the Fourth Louisiana
-battalion, Lieut.-Col. J. McEnery. This force was encamped outside
-the line of defense, and was charged with guarding the front of the
-Confederate line, except the immediate front of Secessionville, which
-was protected by its own outposts.
-
-Secessionville is situated on a peninsula cut from the east side of the
-island by an arm of Lighthouse creek, a bold tidewater stream which
-empties into the harbor of Charleston, east of Fort Johnson. At the
-point of the peninsula of Secessionville where the battery was erected,
-the peninsula is narrowest, probably not more than half regimental
-front, and on either side of it run the tidewaters of Lighthouse creek
-and Big Folly creek, bordered by impracticable marshes. The banks of
-the peninsula in front and in rear of the battery were fringed by a
-thick growth of myrtle bushes. Col. T. G. Lamar was in command of the
-fort at Secessionville (afterward called Fort Lamar, in his honor) and
-its infantry supports. The garrison consisted of Companies I and B of
-Lamar's regiment of South Carolina artillery, Capts. G. D. Keitt and
-Samuel J. Reid; and the infantry support was composed of two battalions
-of infantry, the Charleston battalion, Lieut.-Col. P. C. Gaillard, and
-the Pee Dee battalion, Lieut.-Col. A. D. Smith. The battery mounted
-an 8-inch columbiad, two 24-pounder rifles, several 18-pounders, and
-a mortar. A gunboat battery on the east bank, anchored in Big Folly
-creek, and commanded by Capt. F. N. Bonneau, would have been an
-effective ally, had not its guns just been moved on shore to be added
-to those of the fort.
-
-In the early morning of June 16th, the Secessionville picket was
-on duty at Rivers' place, a mile in front of the fort, and the
-Twenty-fourth, with six companies of the First South Carolina and one
-of the Forty-seventh Georgia, was covering the front of the east lines,
-under command of Col. C. H. Stevens. In the fort a gun detachment was
-awake and on the watch, but the remainder of the garrison was fast
-asleep.
-
-At 1 o'clock a. m., Gen. N. G. Evans had started 100 picked men from
-Colonel Goodlett's Twenty-second regiment, under Capt. Joshua Jamison,
-as a fatigue party, to go over the bridge to Fort Lamar and assist in
-mounting Captain Bonneau's guns in the fort. These men reached the fort
-about daylight. Just at dawn the Secessionville picket was surprised
-and several of them captured. The main picket force ran in and gave
-the first notice to Lamar of the enemy's rapid advance on his position.
-The garrison was aroused and at the guns and on the flanks just in
-time to meet the gallant assault of the Eighth Michigan, Seventh
-Connecticut, Seventy-ninth New York, Twenty-eighth Massachusetts, One
-Hundredth Pennsylvania and Forty-sixth New York, with Rockwell's and
-Strahan's light batteries and a company of engineers. The six regiments
-were moved forward in two lines, both under the immediate direction of
-Gen. I. I. Stevens, and each commanded by its senior colonel. As they
-advanced the peninsula narrowed, and when within short range of the
-works, the left regiment of the front line, the Seventh Connecticut,
-was crowded into the marsh. Just at this juncture Lamar fired the
-8-inch columbiad charged with canister, and in rapid succession the
-24's and 18's, and the mortar opened. The whole line wavered and was
-broken in some confusion. Urged on by their officers, the Connecticut,
-Michigan and New York regiments pressed forward, the latter two in
-larger numbers gaining ground. Groups of men and officers of these
-two regiments gained the ditch and both flanks of the work, and some
-of them mounted the work. They were met by the galling fire of the
-infantry of Gaillard and Smith, and were either killed or captured.
-Meanwhile the 100 men under Jamison, sent to mount Bonneau's guns,
-arrived and promptly took their places on the parapet, adding their
-rifles to the fire of the Charleston and Pee Dee battalions.
-
-A number of the assaulting force, moving along the marsh under cover
-of the myrtle bushes, gained a lodgment on the right flank and in rear
-of the work, and were doing serious execution by their fire, hid as
-they were, and shielded by the bank of the peninsula. But they were
-soon dislodged by the rifles of the Fourth Louisiana battalion, sent
-by Colonel Hagood to reinforce the garrison as soon as he learned that
-the fort was being attacked. The Louisianians coming up at a run were
-promptly put into position by their gallant commander, Colonel McEnery,
-and drove the Federals from the myrtles into the marsh or out into
-the field. Two 24-pounders, in battery on the west flank of the fort
-and west of the creek and marsh, had been silent up to this moment.
-Colonel Hagood, who had moved promptly down the Battery Island road to
-check any advance by that way, and protect the right front of the fort,
-noting the silence of the flank battery, dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel
-Capers to open the fire of these guns. Finding a small detachment of
-Lamar's artillery at the guns, under Lieutenant Kitching, a prompt and
-gallant response to the order to open fire was made, and under the
-direction of Colonel Capers solid shot and shell were delivered along
-the line of the myrtles, and into the regiments vainly endeavoring to
-form on the field in front of the work. The sun was now fully up and
-Lamar's victory was achieved, though both sides continued to fire until
-the Federal regiments had withdrawn from range.
-
-During the assault upon the fort, a column of forty companies of
-infantry, two batteries of artillery and a squadron of cavalry, about
-2,500 strong, under Brigadier-General Wright, advanced along the
-Battery Island road and up the west side of Lighthouse creek, as a
-covering force for the protection of the left and rear of the troops
-assaulting Secessionville. This force was made up of the Third New
-Hampshire, and companies of the Third Rhode Island, Ninety-seventh
-Pennsylvania, Sixth Connecticut, Forty-seventh New York, Forty-fifth
-Pennsylvania, and First New York engineers. The advance of Hagood down
-the Battery Island road, with a portion of the First and Twenty-fourth
-South Carolina and the Eutaw battalion, brought him in contact with
-General Wright's advance, which he checked and repelled. The Eutaw
-battalion was placed behind an obstruction of felled timber on the
-east of the road, and four companies of the Twenty-fourth still
-further to the left and immediately in front of the enemy's advance.
-One piece of Boyce's battery, under Lieutenant Jeter, was put in
-position immediately on the right of the Twenty-fourth and the four
-companies of the First south of the road. Jeter opened fire on the
-enemy, in full view at Hill's place, and immediately Wright's artillery
-replied, shelling the whole front of Hagood's force and throwing solid
-shot at Jeter's gun. The Third Rhode Island advanced to charge the
-position, but was handsomely repulsed by Colonels Stevens and Simonton
-and the effective fire of Jeter. By this time the contest in front
-of Secessionville having been determined, General Wright retired his
-troops to their intrenched positions, and the battle of Secessionville
-was ended.
-
-After the first repulse, the fort was again in danger from the fire
-of infantry and artillery in its rear and right flank by a portion
-of Wright's column, which had marched up the west bank of Lighthouse
-creek and were in position south and east of Hill's negro houses. It
-was this force that McEnery attacked as he came up, firing at short
-range across the creek. They were ultimately driven off by the fire of
-the 24-pounders in front of Clark's house, above alluded to, and by
-Hagood's troops. The latter were well posted, and when assaulted easily
-repulsed the attack. Lieutenant Jeter with his guns did good service in
-this affair; indeed, the position of General Wright's column at Hill's
-houses, though for a short time it took the work at Secessionville in
-flank and rear, was between the infantry fire of McEnery at the fort
-and Hagood's force and the 24-pounder battery at Clark's house. If
-Colonel Hagood had had his whole advance guard under his command, with
-Boyce's entire battery, he could have moved immediately against General
-Wright's column, striking him in flank and rear. On the contrary, if
-Wright had known that Hagood had with him only the total strength of a
-good regiment, with one piece of artillery, he would doubtless have
-attacked with his entire force instead of with a portion of the Rhode
-Island regiment only.
-
-The force assaulting the fort numbered, of all arms, 3,562. It was
-defended by two companies of artillery, three battalions of infantry,
-and 100 picked men under Captain Jamison, a total of less than 1,000
-men. Wright's column could not have been less than 2,500 to 3,000 of
-all arms. Hagood's force did not exceed 700 men, with one piece of
-artillery. The Confederate troops actually engaged did not exceed 1,800.
-
-General Stevens reported a loss of 529 men and officers in his
-assaulting column; General Wright, 129; making an aggregate of 658.
-Colonel Hagood took 12 prisoners and counted 12 dead in front of
-Colonel Stevens' four companies, and 8 in front of the Eutaw battalion.
-More than the number reported by General Stevens were buried on the
-field, and while that general reports 1 officer and 30 men made
-prisoners, by actual count the Confederates took 65 wounded and 42
-unwounded prisoners. The total Federal loss could not have been less
-than 750 to 800.
-
-The Confederates lost in killed, wounded and missing, 204 officers and
-men, as follows: Forty-seventh Georgia, 1 killed; Fourth Louisiana,
-6 killed, 22 wounded; Lamar's artillery, 15 killed, 39 wounded, 1
-missing; Charleston battalion, 10 killed, 40 wounded, 2 missing; Pee
-Dee battalion, 3 killed, 23 wounded, 3 missing; First volunteers, 1
-wounded; Twenty-second volunteers, 10 killed, 8 wounded; Twenty-fourth
-volunteers, 3 killed, 7 wounded, 2 missing; Eutaw battalion, 4 killed,
-14 wounded; total, 5 officers and 47 men killed, 12 officers and 132
-men wounded, 8 missing; aggregate 204.
-
-Among the gallant dead were Capt. Henry C. King and Lieut. John J.
-Edwards, of the Charleston battalion; Capt. Samuel J. Reed, of Lamar's
-artillery; Lieut. Richard W. Greer, of the Eutaw battalion, and
-Lieut. B. A. Graham, of the Forty-seventh Georgia. Colonel Lamar and
-Lieutenant-Colonel Gaillard were both wounded severely. Also among the
-wounded were Captain Walker, of the Fourth Louisiana; Capts. J. A.
-Blake, F. T. Miles and R. P. Smith, and Lieuts. J. W. Axson, George
-Brown, John Burke and F. R. Lynch of the Charleston battalion; Lieut.
-J. G. Beatty of the Pee Dee battalion; Lieut. F. W. Andrews of the
-Twenty-fourth, and Lieut. Samuel J. Berger of the Eutaw battalion.
-
-It was a gallant assault on the part of the Federals and came near
-being a complete surprise. But for the heroic conduct of the garrison
-in standing to their guns, and the persistent and gallant support of
-the Charleston and Pee Dee battalions and Jamison's men, who fought on
-the parapet and on the flanks, the Michigan and New York regiments and
-the Seventh Connecticut would have swarmed over the work at the first
-assault, closely followed by their supports.
-
-The news of the victory at Secessionville was heralded to every quarter
-of the State and the Confederacy, and filled the hearts of soldiers and
-people with joy and thanksgiving. General Pemberton congratulated the
-troops engaged in orders, and especially acknowledged the heroism and
-ability of Lamar and his garrison. In published orders, the following
-officers and soldiers were specially mentioned for good conduct: Col.
-T. G. Lamar, Lieut.-Cols. P. C. Gaillard, A. D. Smith, John McEnery
-and Ellison Capers; Majs. David Ramsay and J. H. Hudson; Capts. Samuel
-J. Reed, Henry C. King, F. T. Miles, G. D. Keitt, W. W. McCreery, F.
-N. Bonneau, R. E. Elliott, S. J. Corrie, H. W. Carr, Joshua Jamison,
-Samuel S. Tompkins and W. H. Ryan; Asst. Surg. James Evans; Lieutenants
-Hall and Matthews, C. S. N.; Adjt. E. J. Frederick; Lieuts. W. H.
-Rodgers, J. B. Kitching, J. B. Humbert, W. S. Barton, J. W. Moseley,
-T. P. Oliver, John A. Bellinger, W. M. Johnson, J. W. Lancaster, L.
-S. Hill, H. H. Sally, J. B. Cobb, William Beckham, George Brown, A. A.
-Allemand, James Campbell and R. A. Blum; Sergt. W. H. Hendricks, and
-Privates Joseph Tennent, J. Campbell Martin, and T. Grange Simons, Jr.
-
-Maj. David Ramsay, who succeeded to the command of the Charleston
-battalion on the wounding of Lieutenant-Colonel Gaillard, closes his
-brief report with this appropriate and just tribute, applicable to
-each of the commands engaged in the battle of Secessionville. "I have
-mentioned those especially noticeable, but can only repeat that I
-refrain from enumerating others because it would be to furnish a roll
-of those engaged."
-
-Signally repulsed at Secessionville, and convinced of the strength of
-the line of defense across the island, the Federal commander-in-chief
-abandoned the campaign, evacuated James island the last of June, and
-aggregated the main portion of his troops at Hilton Head, Beaufort and
-North Edisto. There were left only the gunboats in the lower Stono,
-and the blockading fleet off the bar to menace Charleston. The troops
-which had reinforced the command of General Gist on James island were
-returned to their former stations on the coast and at Savannah, and the
-heroes of Secessionville were toasted on every hand.
-
-During the remainder of the summer, several affairs occurred along the
-coast which illustrated the watchfulness and gallantry of the South
-Carolina soldiers. An expedition to Fenwick's island was organized and
-successfully conducted by Maj. R. J. Jeffords, commanding the Sixth
-battalion South Carolina cavalry, and the enemy's positions in the
-surrounding waters and on the adjacent islands fully reported to Col.
-W. S. Walker, commanding the Third district. On the 14th of August, the
-Federal gunboats, having entered Winyaw bay, steamed up Black river
-as far as Mrs. Sparkman's plantation, 20 miles above Georgetown. Maj.
-W. P. Emanuel, commanding in that quarter, with a section of Wood's
-battery and all his troops south of the river, marched at once to Mrs.
-Sparkman's and boldly attacked the boats with rifles and battery. The
-enemy's force that had landed was compelled to re-embark, and the boats
-soon steamed down the river, shelling the banks on their way. Major
-Emanuel threw his mounted infantry forward at every available bluff,
-and gave the boats a spirited fight on their return to Georgetown. A
-picket force on Pinckney island was surprised and captured at dawn
-of the 21st of August, by Captains Elliott and Mickler. This was an
-incursion far into the enemy's lines, and at the risk of being cut off
-by his gunboats, which were in the immediate vicinity. The lieutenant
-commanding the Federal picket was killed, with 14 of his men, and 36
-were captured, 4 of whom were wounded. The expedition left Bear island
-in nine boats, 120 strong, detachments from the Eleventh volunteers,
-Captains Mickler, Leadbetter and Wescoat commanding, and from the
-Beaufort artillery, Lieutenant Stuart commanding, the whole directed by
-Capts. Stephen Elliott and John H. Mickler. The affair was well planned
-and gallantly executed, with the loss of only 8 men wounded on the part
-of the Confederates.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
- GENERAL BEAUREGARD IN COMMAND--THE DEFENSES OF CHARLESTON--DISPOSITION
- OF TROOPS--BATTLE OF POCOTALIGO--REPULSE OF ENEMY AT COOSAWHATCHIE
- BRIDGE--OPERATIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA--BATTLE OF KINSTON--DEFENSE OF
- GOLDSBORO.
-
-
-On the 29th of August, General Beauregard, who had been in command of
-the army in Mississippi, was ordered to take charge in South Carolina.
-General Pemberton was directed to report for duty at Richmond. His
-policy of abandoning the attempt to defend the mouth of Broad river
-and the harbor of Georgetown, and especially his removal of the guns
-from the mouth of the Stono, had made him unpopular; but his energy,
-ability and patriotism commanded the respect of the military, and the
-government at Richmond reposed in him the highest confidence. Upon
-taking the command at Charleston in September, General Beauregard
-made a careful inspection of the department, and writing to Richmond,
-expressed his admiration for the amount and character of defensive
-work which General Pemberton had done, especially in the defense of
-Charleston.
-
-Having requested General Pemberton to give his views upon the
-situation, and particularly as to the forces, guns, etc., necessary to
-the proper defense of the cities of Charleston and Savannah and their
-dependencies, General Beauregard received the following reply from
-Pemberton, dated September 24, 1862:
-
- I have the honor to state in answer to your inquiry, that in my
- opinion this department can be successfully defended against any
- reasonable force which it is probable the enemy may bring against it
- [by the following forces], to wit:
-
- James island: 10,000 infantry, 1,000 heavy artillery, 500 cavalry, 6
- field batteries. Morris island: 1,000 infantry, 250 heavy artillery,
- 50 cavalry. Sullivan's island: 1,500 infantry, 800 heavy artillery,
- 50 cavalry, 1 field battery. Christ Church: 1,000 infantry, 100 heavy
- artillery, 200 cavalry, 1 field battery. St. Andrew's: 2,000 infantry
- (movable column), 200 heavy artillery, 200 cavalry, 2 field batteries.
- Second military district: 5,000 infantry, 800 cavalry, 200 heavy
- artillery, 2 field batteries. Third military district: 5,000 troops
- of all arms. Savannah: 10,000 infantry, 1,200 heavy artillery, 2,000
- cavalry, 8 field batteries. Fort Sumter: 500 heavy artillery, 100
- riflemen. Georgetown (merely for preventing marauding, the defense of
- Winyaw bay requiring obstructions and a numerous heavy artillery, both
- of which are entirely out of the question): 7 companies of cavalry, 3
- batteries of artillery, 3 companies of infantry. The above estimate
- is based upon the supposition that attacks may be made simultaneously
- upon different points.
-
-Upon this communication, General Beauregard endorsed: "Approved as the
-minimum force required, as above stated, to guard with security the
-department of South Carolina and Georgia."
-
-General Beauregard was warmly received by the governor and council of
-South Carolina, by the military and by the citizens. Governor Pickens
-addressed him the following letter a few days after his taking command:
-
- Dear General: I enclose the within to you, being a letter from myself
- to General Lee, dated May 23d, and one from him in reply, dated May
- 29th, containing an order to General Pemberton relating to the defense
- of Charleston. It strikes me that the defense of Charleston is now of
- the last importance to the Confederacy, and in my very full interview
- yesterday, I took the liberty of urging that Fort Sumter was the key
- to the harbor and in fact was almost absolutely essential to enable
- the South to hold communication with the foreign world.... I am
- rejoiced to see you here again, as there is no general who could have
- been selected to whom South Carolina would look with more confidence
- for her defense than yourself. Our whole coast involves the most
- complicated difficulties in defense, and all the highest range of
- science in war is required to make that defense successful. Feeling
- the greatest confidence in your abilities, and well knowing that
- this position is well suited to your peculiar talents and scientific
- knowledge, it affords me the greatest pleasure to co-operate with you
- in anything that you may suggest, and to offer you all the resources
- of the State that I may be able to command.
-
-After an inspection of the harbor defenses, and the lines and work on
-James island, General Beauregard reported the result of his examination
-in the following letter, of date October 3, 1862, addressed to
-Adjutant-General Cooper at Richmond:
-
- Accompanied by Major-General Pemberton, Brigadier-General Jordan,
- my chief of staff, Colonel Gonzales, chief of artillery, and
- Lieut.-Col. George Lay, on a tour of inspection, under orders of the
- war department, on September 16th I proceeded to inspect the harbor
- defenses, beginning with four new sand batteries, in barbette, near
- the west end of Sullivan's island, bearing on and commanding the
- floating boom under construction across the channel thence to Fort
- Sumter. Those batteries are not finished, but two guns, 10-inch
- columbiads, were in position, one only being ready for service and
- the magazines not yet built. The boom is composed of railroad iron,
- strongly linked together with heavy iron links and bands, protected
- and buoyed by spars of timber of the same length with the bars of
- iron, and banded closely together with iron. The bars are suspended
- four feet under water, and the whole structure is anchored every
- sixth section with an anchor. About one-fourth of this boom is
- laid. I am informed that it has been tested by running against it a
- heavily-loaded vessel towed by a steamboat. This test it resisted,
- parting the towline, a 10-inch hawser. It was also proposed to lay
- another line about 100 yards in rear of that now under construction,
- if sufficient time is allowed and enough chains and anchors can be
- procured. In addition, a rope obstruction has been prepared to place
- in advance of the wooden and iron boom for the purpose of entangling
- the enemy's propellers while under fire of our heavy guns in the
- adjacent forts and batteries.
-
- It is proper for me to notice that since my inspection the plan of the
- boom was found to be defective, at least in one particular; the great
- length of it made it unable to bear the pressure of the tide, and the
- boom parted in several places. This, it is hoped by the projector, may
- be remedied by breaking the continuous character of the barrier and
- laying it in sections, and on that plan it is now being carried on....
-
- The armament of the four new sand batteries is to consist, as
- planned, of seven 10 and one 8 inch columbiad, and two 42-pounder
- rifle guns. Fort Sumter has thirty-eight heavy guns above the caliber
- of 32-pounders, and Fort Moultrie nine, bearing at once on the
- obstructions. There will be also two strong ironclad gunboats, each
- armed with four guns, to give important, indeed vital, assistance.
- These, I am advised, will be completed before the 15th instant, and
- could even now yield some aid in an emergency. I regard them as
- absolutely indispensable to the successful defense of the harbor. The
- Neck battery on Morris island [afterward Battery Wagner] was next
- visited, which was found incomplete, wanting at least two weeks' work
- to finish it according to plan, and needing a closed gorge to secure
- against surprise. It was erected to defend that approach to Fort
- Sumter. In addition, a few rifled guns ought to be placed to bear on
- the main channel.
-
- Subsequently I visited a small work, Fort Ripley, now under
- construction in cribs in the bay, about midway between Fort Johnson
- and Castle Pinckney. It is nearly ready for its armament of five heavy
- guns in barbette, but must be protected outside to the high-water mark
- by rubbish before it can be relied on. A series of similar smaller
- works erected in the shallow water nearer to the mouth of the harbor
- would materially add to the strength of our defenses. I did not visit
- Castle Pinckney, the armament of which is nine 24-pounders and one
- 24-pounder rifled gun. I am well acquainted with this work, and regard
- it as nearly worthless at this juncture.
-
- On the 17th of September, accompanied by Major-General Pemberton,
- I inspected the defensive lines on James island from the Wappoo to
- Mellichamp's, a distance of about 3 miles. These lines consist of a
- system of forts, redoubts, redans, _cremailleres_, not very properly
- arranged and located, with the exception of Fort Pemberton, on the
- Stono and some of the redoubts; and in my opinion a simpler system,
- one requiring a smaller force to hold and defend, might have been
- originally devised with advantage. However, this line ought to serve
- our purpose with a proper force of about 3 men for every 2 yards of
- development. Each redoubt and redan has at least one heavy gun in
- position. That part of the lines between Dill's creek and the Wappoo
- will be completed in two weeks. Fort Pemberton is a strong work, and
- has an armament of twenty guns of various calibers. There are two
- batteries on the Ashley river and the entrances of Dill's and Wappoo
- creeks, but for want of guns the works are without armaments, except
- the battery at Lawton's, which has four 32-pounders in position,
- which, however, are of little use against any probable attack.
-
- On the 18th, accompanied as on the previous days, I inspected Forts
- Sumter and Moultrie, which were found in fine order and condition,
- considering the repairs in progress at the latter work. The armament
- of Moultrie consists of thirty-eight guns of various calibers,
- from 24-pounders to 8-inch columbiads, with a garrison of some 300
- effective men. The armament of Sumter consists of seventy-nine guns
- of all calibers, from 32-pounders to 10-inch columbiads, and seven
- 10-inch mortars. It has a garrison of about 350 effective men. The
- barracks are being cut down to protect them from the fire of the
- enemy.... Battery Beauregard, across Sullivan's island, in advance of
- Fort Moultrie, to defend the approach from the east, is armed with
- five guns. The work at the eastern extremity of the island, placed to
- defend the interior approach by water to the rear and west of Long
- island, is a redoubt armed with eight guns (two 32-pounders and six
- small guns). I am informed by General Pemberton that all these works
- are sufficiently garrisoned.
-
- My conclusions are as follows: That when the works contemplated
- and in progress for the defense of the harbor, especially when the
- obstructions and ironclad gunboats shall have been completed and are
- properly armed with guns of the heaviest caliber, the enemy's fleet
- will find it extremely difficult to penetrate sufficiently within
- the harbor to injure or reduce the city; but until these works are
- finished, armed as indicated, and properly garrisoned, the city cannot
- be regarded as protected.
-
- Accompanied as on previous days, on the 19th of September I examined
- the works at Secessionville, which are irregular and of poor
- construction. A force of some 200 men was still at work increasing and
- strengthening them. The position is naturally strong, being surrounded
- by two marshes and a wide creek, except on one side [the front],
- where there is a very narrow strip of level ground, along which the
- abolitionists made their attack, which was a surprise, when they were
- defeated by one-fifth of their numbers. I do not see the necessity or
- advantage of holding in force this advanced position. A strong picket
- would be sufficient. The armament of this work consists of two 8-inch
- naval guns, one 18-pounder howitzer, six 32-pounders, one 32-pounder
- and two 24-pounder rifled guns, and two 10-inch mortars. All of which
- is respectfully submitted, etc.
-
-This communication gives a clear view of the character of the defenses
-of Charleston in October, 1862, and shows also the activity and
-engineering skill of General Pemberton, under whose direction the
-works, for the most part, were prosecuted after the abandonment of
-Cole's island early in May. The position for the fort at Secessionville
-was originally selected by Col. Lewis M. Hatch of Charleston, whose
-practical knowledge of the waters and islands surrounding Charleston
-and patriotic zeal in planning for their defense made his services most
-valuable, especially at the beginning of the defensive work, when so
-very few military men in Charleston had made a study of the approaches
-by land and water to the city. The victory of the 16th of June bore
-ample testimony to the value of the exact spot on which Fort Lamar
-stood.
-
-In July, Col. Johnson Hagood was promoted to brigadier-general, and
-the First regiment came under the command of Col. Thomas Glover.
-Early in August, Generals Drayton and Evans were sent from South
-Carolina to reinforce General Lee, in Virginia. These generals took
-with them the First regiment, Colonel Glover; the Fifteenth, Col. W.
-D. De Saussure; the Seventeenth, Col. (Governor) J. H. Means; the
-Eighteenth, Col. J. M. Gadberry; the Twenty-second, Col. Joseph Abney;
-the Twenty-third, Col. H. L. Benbow; Holcombe legion, Col. P. F.
-Stevens; Third battalion, Lieut.-Col. G. S. James, and Capt. R. Boyce's
-battery, all South Carolina organizations. Upon taking command, General
-Beauregard assigned Gen. S. R. Gist to command the First district,
-with headquarters at Charleston. This district embraced the coast from
-the North Carolina line to Rantowles creek, and included the islands
-touching the harbor. Col. R. F. Graham commanded on Morris island, Col.
-L. M. Keitt on Sullivan's island, Col. C. H. Stevens on James island,
-and Major Emanuel at Georgetown. Lieut.-Col. William Butler, First
-regular infantry, commanded at Fort Moultrie, and Maj. Alfred Rhett,
-of the First regular artillery, at Fort Sumter. Fort Pemberton on the
-Stono was commanded by Maj. J. J. Lucas, and the post of Secessionville
-by Lieutenant-Colonel Capers. General Gist had under his command 133
-companies of all arms. In this enumeration by companies were included
-the following South Carolina regiments: First regular artillery, First
-regular infantry, First volunteer artillery, Twentieth, Twenty-first,
-Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth volunteers, ten companies each.
-
-Brigadier-General Hagood, in charge of the Second military district,
-with headquarters at Adams' run, had in his command one regiment (the
-Sixteenth), Smith's and Nelson's battalions of infantry, two companies
-of cavalry, the Stono scouts, and two batteries (the Washington and
-Morrison artillery)--twenty-nine companies of all arms, all South
-Carolinians.
-
-Col. W. S. Walker, commanding the Third military district, with
-headquarters at McPhersonville, had under his orders an aggregate of
-forty companies of all arms, as follows: Eleventh volunteers, First and
-Second battalions of sharpshooters, Third regiment of cavalry, First,
-Second and Sixth battalions of cavalry, Rutledge mounted riflemen,
-Charleston dragoons, Kirk's partisan rangers, Elliott's Beaufort
-artillery, Kavanaugh's Lafayette battery, all South Carolina commands,
-and Nelson's Virginia battery. The whole Confederate force in South
-Carolina upon General Beauregard's assuming command, September 24,
-1862, amounted to 202 companies of all arms, and aggregated 12,544
-officers and soldiers present for duty.
-
-On October 22d, the battle of Old Pocotaligo was fought by Col. W.
-S. Walker, with a small force of infantry, dismounted cavalry, and
-sections from two batteries of artillery, amounting in all to 675
-men and officers. On the same day the railroad and turnpike bridges
-crossing the Coosawhatchie were successfully defended by the Lafayette
-artillery, Lieut. L. F. Le Bleux commanding; a section of Elliott's
-Beaufort battery, Lieut. H. M. Stuart commanding, and Capt. B. F.
-Wyman's company of the Eleventh South Carolina infantry. These
-engagements will be described separately.
-
-A Federal force of 4,448 of all arms, under the command of
-Brigadier-General Brannan, sailed from Hilton Head on the evening of
-October 21st in transports supported by gunboats, destined for Mackay's
-point, on Broad river, with orders from the Federal commanding general
-"to destroy the railroad and railroad bridges on the Charleston and
-Savannah line." Landing his forces at Mackay's point during the night
-of the 21st and on the early morning of the 22d, General Brannan
-marched with all of his troops except the Forty-eighth New York and
-two companies of engineers, immediately up the road leading to Old
-Pocotaligo. The force detached was sent by boat up the Broad, and
-thence up the Coosawhatchie to destroy the railroad bridge over the
-latter river, where the main column, in case of victory at Pocotaligo,
-should unite with it in tearing up the railroad on either hand,
-including the bridge over the Pocotaligo and Tulifinny rivers.
-
-If General Brannan had succeeded, he would have cut very effectually
-the communication between Savannah and Charleston, captured the
-military stores at Coosawhatchie and Pocotaligo, and inflicted
-a serious blow to General Beauregard's line of defense. But his
-expedition signally failed, and he was defeated with brilliant success
-by Colonel Walker's troops at Old Pocotaligo and at Coosawhatchie
-bridge. Learning of his landing at Mackay's point and of his advance,
-Colonel Walker ordered by wire the artillery and infantry named above
-to repair to the bridge, and himself marched down the Mackay's point
-road, with all the force he could command, to meet General Brannan.
-Meanwhile, Col. C. J. Colcock, at Grahamville, commanding the Third
-South Carolina cavalry, dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson with
-five companies of his regiment, and Major Abney, with two companies of
-his battalion of sharpshooters, to march rapidly to Coosawhatchie and
-intercept the force which he had learned was moving up the river. These
-dispositions were effective, as the result showed.
-
-Walker's force consisted of Nelson's Virginia battery, two sections
-of Elliott's battery, and the following commands: Maj. J. H. Morgan's
-battalion of cavalry, the Charleston light dragoons, Captain Kirk's
-partisan rangers, Captain Allston's company of sharpshooters, Capt.
-D. B. Heyward's company of cavalry, and Capt. A. C. Izard's company
-of the Eleventh South Carolina, Lieut. W. L. Campbell commanding.
-The aggregate of these troops was 475, one-fourth of whom were
-horse-holders and not in the engagement now to be described. Walker
-took position near Dr. Hutson's residence, on a salt marsh, crossed by
-a causeway and skirted by woods on both sides. A section of Elliott's
-guns, Allston's sharpshooters, and two companies of cavalry, under
-Maj. J. H. Morgan, had gone in advance of Walker's position and were
-skirmishing with the head of Brannan's advance and holding him in
-check. In this affair Major Morgan was severely wounded, but his
-command held the advance of the Federal troops sufficiently long to
-allow Walker to post his gallant little force at Hutson's. Elliott's
-guns were posted in and near the road, and Nelson's in the field in
-rear of the skirmishers, and screened by woods in front. The rest of
-the command was put in line to the right and left of the road, covered
-by the trees which fringed the marsh.
-
-General Brannan, encouraged by his success in driving in Major Morgan,
-pushed up with his infantry and attacked at once. Walker replied with
-the guns of Elliott and Nelson (Lieutenant Massie commanding) and with
-his rifle fire. The marsh was impracticable, but Brannan pushed his
-troops to its edge and opened an infantry fire from a force so much
-superior to Walker's as to inflict serious damage to his batteries by
-killing horses and wounding the gunners. The Federal artillery fired so
-incessantly that their ammunition fell short and their fire slackened.
-
-Meanwhile Elliott and Massie raked the woods opposite with shell and
-canister. General Brannan reports that this fire twice drove his
-infantry out of the woods "with great slaughter;" "the overwhelming
-fire of the enemy tore through the woods like hail." But the position
-was not strong enough to be held against so superior a force, and as
-the Federal regiments pushed out into the edge of the marsh, enveloping
-both flanks of the Confederate position, and delivering a damaging
-fire from their superior rifles, Walker ordered a retreat upon Old
-Pocotaligo, some 2½ miles in his rear.
-
-This was well executed and without confusion, Capt. J. B. Allston's
-sharpshooters and part of Company I, Eleventh volunteers, covering
-the movement. On the retreat, Capt. W. L. Trenholm, with his splendid
-company, the Rutledge mounted riflemen, joined Walker from outpost
-duty, and took command of all the cavalry.
-
-Arriving at Old Pocotaligo, Walker took position in the old houses and
-behind the scattered trees of the hamlet, the Pocotaligo creek with
-its impracticable marsh being in his front, and the ground higher and
-better adapted for defense than the position at Dr. Hutson's.
-
-Capt. John H. Screven, just as the enemy appeared, opened fire, and
-after the last man of the rear guard had crossed, took a party of men
-and effectually tore up the long bridge on the causeway, and the fight
-began in earnest. Brannan brought up all his troops and artillery and
-poured in a galling fire, to which Walker's men replied from trees and
-houses and every bush on the edge of the marsh. Two of Elliott's guns
-and all of Morris' but one were disabled by the loss of the gunners,
-killed or wounded, and after the battle had been in progress some two
-hours, Walker had only three guns left. One of these he withdrew from
-the position commanding the causeway and put it in position under
-Sergeant Fuller, about 300 yards to his right, where it opened on the
-Federal left. Nelson's battalion (Seventh), 200 strong, under Capt. W.
-H. Sligh, came up at this juncture on Walker's right, and swelled his
-gallant little band to about 800 men. Half of Sligh's command, under
-Capt. J. H. Brooks, took position beyond Fuller's place, and opened
-fire from the woods fringing the Pocotaligo 700 or 800 yards beyond
-the hamlet of Pocotaligo. This fire created the impression of a strong
-reinforcement on Walker's right, and threatened the Federal left, which
-was in full view "in air."
-
-General Brannan had sufficient force to hold Walker at Old Pocotaligo,
-and move at least 2,500 men around his right flank, crossing the
-Pocotaligo a mile or so above, where it becomes very narrow. But he
-cautiously held on to his position and kept up his fire on Walker's
-force, relieving his regiments as they became slack of ammunition. He
-could not get to Walker without forcing the causeway and relaying the
-bridge, and this he could not do as the fire of the artillery and every
-musket would be turned on the least advance. The creek was deep and the
-banks boggy and made an impassable ditch in Walker's front. Finally
-the Federal artillery ceased firing, and the entire force opened on
-Walker's left an incessant discharge from their rifles. Captain Sligh
-and the Charleston light dragoons on Walker's left replied with so
-much spirit and effect that Brannan gave up the fight, and at 6 p. m.
-withdrew from range and began his retreat to his boats at Mackay's
-point.
-
-The bridge being destroyed and Walker's men thoroughly exhausted, it
-was some time before Colonel Walker could organize and direct the
-pursuit. Lieut. L. J. Walker, commanding the Rutledge mounted riflemen
-and Kirk's rangers, passing around the head of the Pocotaligo, pushed
-on down the Mackay's point road in the rear of Brannan's force; but
-the bridges were torn up and Walker could not reach the flying foe
-until the night made it impracticable to proceed. Brannan reached his
-gunboats in safety and re-embarked for his base at Hilton Head.
-
-The force which attacked the bridge over the Coosawhatchie was met
-by Le Bleux's and Stuart's artillery and the fire of Captain Wyman's
-company, and was promptly repelled. A detachment, however, while the
-main force attacked the bridge, marched to the railroad, cut down a
-telegraph pole, cut the wire, and tore up two or three rails. A train
-carrying a portion of the Eleventh regiment and one company of Abney's
-battalion, under the command of Maj. J. J. Harrison, unhappily ran up
-just in time to receive a volley from the party on the railroad, by
-which the engineer was killed and Major Harrison lost his life.
-
-Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson, with his cavalry, arriving at this
-juncture, the Federal force retreated and joined the force retiring
-from the bridge. The destruction of several bridges over marshes and
-creeks, which are numerous in the tidewater section, so impeded Colonel
-Johnson that he dismounted his men, and thus moved three companies
-in line to within 130 yards of the boats and fired on the troops as
-they embarked. The gunboats returned the fire, and a gallant soldier,
-Private Thomas B. Fripp, was killed, and Lieut. T. G. Buckner and Corp.
-Thomas Farr wounded. When the train was fired upon and the engineer
-killed, the conductor, Mr. Buckhalter, with coolness and courage, ran
-his train on in the face of the ambuscading party. Thus ended the
-expedition to destroy the railroad and bridges on the Charleston line.
-
-Walker lost 21 killed, 124 wounded, 18 missing; total, 163. Brannan's
-loss reported was 43 killed, 294 wounded, 3 missing; total, 340.
-Colonel Walker closed his report of the battle of Pocotaligo by
-commending in highest terms the conduct of the whole command,
-mentioning particularly Capt. H. J. Hartstene, naval aid; Capt. W.
-W. Elliott, ordnance officer; Capts. John H. Screven and George P.
-Elliott; Corp. D. L. Walker, and Privates Fripp and Martin and E. B.
-Bell, all of whom served on his staff. R. M. Fuller and the Messrs.
-Cuthbert, father and son, serving on the staff, rendered efficient
-service to the colonel commanding. The battle over, and the enemy safe
-on his gunboats, ample reinforcements arrived from Hagood and Gist, and
-from Savannah, but too late to do more than congratulate Colonel Walker
-and his heroic and victorious troops.
-
-With the battle of Pocotaligo and the repulse of the New York regiment
-at Coosawhatchie bridge, the aggressive movements of the land forces of
-the enemy on the coast of South Carolina closed for the year 1862.
-
-The Federal position at New Bern, N. C., protected by the heavy
-batteries of the fleet and held by a strong force under Major-General
-Foster, in 1862, afforded a safe and easy base of operations against
-the railroad line connecting Wilmington with Petersburg and Richmond.
-Goldsboro, on this railroad, was connected directly with New Bern by
-a railroad which ran through Kinston, the latter place being about
-halfway between New Bern and Goldsboro.
-
-At Kinston, Gen. N. G. Evans was in command, with his South Carolina
-brigade and some North Carolina troops, including Lieutenant-Colonel
-Pool's heavy battery on the river. The Neuse, open to gunboats, runs
-by both Goldsboro and Kinston, crossing the railroad line within four
-miles of the former place. General Foster planned an attack, first on
-Kinston and then on the railroad at the bridge near Goldsboro. For this
-purpose he marched from New Bern on December 11, 1862, with 10,000
-infantry, eight light batteries, forty guns, and a regiment of cavalry
-640 strong. Foster's force was composed of twelve Massachusetts, one
-Connecticut, one New Jersey, four New York, two Pennsylvania, and one
-Rhode Island regiments, light batteries from Rhode Island and New York,
-and cavalry from New York.
-
-Evans' brigade was composed of the Holcombe legion, Col. P. F. Stevens;
-the Seventeenth South Carolina, Col. F. W. McMaster; the Twenty-second
-South Carolina, Col. S. D. Goodlett; the Twenty-third South Carolina,
-Col. H. L. Benbow, and Boyce's light battery. With this brigade and
-Radcliffe's regiment, Mallett's battalion and Bunting's and Starr's
-light batteries, North Carolina troops, he fought the battle of
-Kinston. Lieutenant-Colonel Pool, commanding the work on the river
-just below Kinston, successfully repelled the attack of the gunboats.
-Taking post on Southwest creek, about 4 miles due west of Kinston,
-Evans was attacked by Foster on the morning of the 13th. The Federal
-general marched up the west bank of the Neuse. With his overwhelming
-force, he turned both flanks of General Evans and compelled his retreat
-to a position about a mile from the town, covering the bridge over
-the Neuse. Foster moved on this position at once and attacked again
-with his infantry and artillery. The conduct of Evans' little command
-was heroic, and their firmness enabled him to hold Foster in check
-throughout the day.
-
-Early the next morning the battle was renewed, General Evans taking
-the offensive; but the superior force of the Federal army enveloped
-the small command of General Evans, and after three hours of gallant
-battle, he ordered a retreat across the river and through the town.
-At the bridge Evans lost between 400 and 500 of his command, taken
-prisoners, but succeeded in taking over his artillery and most of
-his troops. He took up a strong position, toward Goldsboro, about 2
-miles from Kinston, and was awaiting General Foster's advance when he
-received a summons from that general to surrender! This he promptly
-declined and prepared for battle, but night coming on, Foster gave up
-the further pursuit of General Evans on the east bank of the Neuse, and
-crossed to the west side of the river, encamping in that position for
-the night. On the 15th he resumed his march up the west bank toward
-the railroad bridge near Goldsboro, and followed with his attack upon
-the bridge and its destruction on the 17th. In this affair an attack
-was also made upon the county bridge crossing the Neuse, which was
-successfully defended by General Clingman and his gallant command of
-North Carolinians, strongly supported by Evans.
-
-On the 18th of December, General Foster began his movement back to his
-base at New Bern. Almost without cavalry, the Confederate forces, now
-under the chief command of Maj.-Gen. G. W. Smith, could not follow him
-effectively, and he reached New Bern after suffering a total loss of
-591, killed, wounded and captured. There is no record of the losses
-of the South Carolina brigade at Kinston, or at the railroad bridge
-in front of Goldsboro. General Clingman reported a loss of 20 killed,
-107 wounded, and 18 missing; total, 145. Evans lost over 400 taken
-prisoners at the bridge at Kinston, and must have met heavier losses
-than Clingman in his battles on the 13th and 14th. His total loss could
-not have been less than 600 in killed, wounded and captured, out of a
-total in front of Kinston of 2,014. General Foster's rapid retreat
-from the railroad can only be accounted for upon the supposition that
-he exaggerated the forces sent from Wilmington, Petersburg and Richmond
-to reinforce Goldsboro. The aggregate of all arms at Goldsboro on the
-18th could not have reached 7,000 effectives, and General Foster's
-army, after its losses on the 13th, 14th and 17th, was fully 10,500 of
-all arms.
-
-General Evans in his official report mentioned especially the gallant
-conduct of Adjt. W. P. Du Bose and Capt. M. G. Zeigler, of the Holcombe
-legion; Capt. S. A. Durham, Twenty-third South Carolina; his personal
-staff, and Lieutenant-Colonels Mallett and Pool, and Colonels Radcliffe
-and Baker of the North Carolina troops.
-
-The expedition of General Foster with so large a force, and the
-reported presence of a large fleet of transports, carrying an army
-under General Banks, in the waters of Beaufort, made General Whiting,
-commanding at Wilmington, apprehensive of an attack on that city.
-Pending the movement of Foster, General Whiting telegraphed to General
-Beauregard urgently to send troops to his assistance, as Wilmington was
-protected only by its forts and a small garrison. General Beauregard
-promptly sent a division of two brigades under Brig.-Gen. S. R. Gist.
-The first brigade was made up of troops from the First and Second
-military districts of South Carolina, under command of Col. C. H.
-Stevens, Twenty-fourth regiment, and the second from the military
-district of Georgia, commanded by the senior colonel. Three South
-Carolina light batteries accompanied the division, W. C. Preston's,
-Waities' and Culpeper's. The South Carolina infantry included the
-Sixteenth, Colonel McCullough; the Twenty-fourth, Lieutenant-Colonel
-Capers; Twenty-fifth, Colonel Simonton, and Nelson's battalion. By
-December 17th, the day of the attack in front of Goldsboro, General
-Gist's division had arrived in Wilmington, and went into camp. The
-Twenty-fourth, with Preston's battery, was stationed at the railroad
-crossing of the Northeast river, 9 miles east of Wilmington, and
-fortified the position and the roads approaching it.
-
-The month of December passed, and the expected attack upon Wilmington
-was not made. The expedition under General Banks did not move inland
-and the fleet did not appear off Cape Fear. General Whiting wrote
-General Beauregard that a storm at sea, which had lost the fleet three
-of its monitors, had saved Wilmington from the threatened attack.
-About January 1, 1863, the division under Gist was returned to General
-Beauregard, except Harrison's Georgia regiment, Nelson's battalion,
-the Twenty-fourth South Carolina, and the three batteries, Preston's,
-Waities' and Culpeper's. These, with Clingman's brigade, sent from
-Goldsboro, and three North Carolina light batteries, made up the whole
-of General Whiting's disposable force for the defense of Wilmington,
-after Gist's division was returned to Beauregard.
-
-Returning these troops, Whiting wrote to General Beauregard: "I
-send you this note by your able Brigadier-General Gist, of South
-Carolina.... I beg you will receive my true and real thanks for the
-promptness with which you sent your magnificent troops to my assistance
-at a time when it was thought they were needed." He made a special
-request that he might have General Gist's personal services, and
-accordingly that general was ordered to return and report to General
-Whiting for special duty, for which favor Whiting expressed his thanks,
-referring to Gist as always "cool, sensible and brave," characteristics
-which that officer manifested throughout his career.
-
-During January, 1863, the Twenty-fourth South Carolina, with Preston's
-battery, under Col. C. H. Stevens, occupied the vicinity of Island
-creek, on the Holly Shelter road, as an outpost in advance of the
-Northeast bridge, fortifying the position and obstructing the roads.
-The expected attack not being made, the South Carolina troops were
-returned, to resume their positions on the coast of their own State
-early in February.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
- SOUTH CAROLINIANS IN THE WEST--MANIGAULT'S AND LYTHGOE'S REGIMENTS AT
- CORINTH--THE KENTUCKY CAMPAIGN--BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO.
-
-
-In April, 1862, following the battle of Shiloh, in response to the
-urgent call of General Beauregard, at Corinth, Miss., for troops to
-reinforce the army he then commanded, the Tenth South Carolina, Col.
-A. M. Manigault, and the Nineteenth, Col. A. J. Lythgoe, were ordered
-from the coast of South Carolina to report to that general. Arrived
-at Corinth, the two regiments were brigaded with the Twenty-fourth,
-Twenty-eighth and Thirty-fourth Alabama regiments, under the command of
-Brigadier-General Trapier, in the division of Major-General Withers.
-From December, 1862, the brigade was commanded by Colonel Manigault,
-and known as "Manigault's brigade." Lieut.-Col. James F. Pressley took
-command of the Tenth.
-
-Covering the front of Beauregard's army, on May 2d, Manigault's brigade
-was brought into prominent notice by the firm stand it made against the
-enemy's advance. The supports on its right and left having retired,
-Colonel Manigault held his position and repelled the attack. No report
-of the details of this affair is at hand. It reflected much credit on
-the brigade, and gave the South Carolina regiments their first battle
-before Corinth. At Corinth and at Tupelo, the army suffered from
-exposure and bad water, and 17,000 sick were sent to the rear, and in
-these hardships the South Carolina regiments had their full share. The
-faithful chaplain of the Tenth, Rev. W. T. Capers, and many of the
-officers and men of both regiments were ill, and many died.
-
-In July the army was moved to a healthier camp, and early in August
-it was concentrated near Chattanooga for an aggressive campaign in
-Tennessee and Kentucky. General Bragg was now in command, General
-Beauregard having been called to Charleston.
-
-Bragg crossed the Tennessee, moved over the Cumberland mountains and
-entered Kentucky. When the army moved against Munfordville, Manigault
-was in advance and met and drove in the pickets. The garrison
-capitulated September 18th, and Bragg moved on toward Frankfort. Buell,
-who had left Tennessee and marched to Louisville, where he reorganized
-his army, struck at Bragg's exposed rear, attacking Polk at Perryville.
-Polk held his own with greatly inferior numbers, repulsed Buell,
-captured much artillery and many prisoners, but lost in killed and
-wounded over 3,000 of his little army. General Bragg retired toward
-the mountains, and crossing into east Tennessee, occupied Knoxville,
-Buell moving to Nashville. During the rapid retreat on Knoxville, the
-army suffered greatly from want of proper food, rapid marches and the
-exposure of the men in bivouac. After resting his army at Knoxville,
-General Bragg recrossed the mountains and ultimately took post at
-Murfreesboro, where he was attacked by Rosecrans (who had displaced
-General Buell), and the battle of Stone's River, or Murfreesboro,
-followed on December 31st.
-
-Manigault's brigade bore a conspicuous part at Murfreesboro, and its
-operations in connection with that battle will now be described.
-General Bragg's line of battle was formed in front of Murfreesboro,
-running a little east of north and west of south. Stone's river ran
-southeast, in his front, cut off his right, and bending south ran along
-his rear. As the divisions stood from right to left they were placed
-in the following order: Breckinridge east of the river, then Withers,
-Cheatham, McCown and Cleburne, the formation in two lines, the cavalry
-well out on the flanks. Near the river, on the west side of it, the
-Nashville railroad and the turnpike, running near each other, passed
-through Bragg's line nearly at right angles. The Wilkinson pike passed
-through the line on the left of Withers, running northwest.
-
-Lieutenant-General Polk commanded the right wing, and
-Lieutenant-General Hardee the left; Breckinridge, Withers and Cheatham
-made the right, and McCown and Cleburne, with Wharton's cavalry, the
-left.
-
-Rosecrans stood before Bragg with three army corps, commanded by
-Major-Generals McCook, Thomas and Crittenden, all west of the river.
-Crittenden faced Breckinridge with three divisions; Thomas, with five
-divisions, faced Withers and Cheatham; McCook, with three divisions,
-faced Cleburne and McCown. Wharton, with his splendid brigade of
-cavalry, stood forward of Hardee's left, ready to make his brilliant
-attack on Rosecrans' right and rear.
-
-The signal for battle was given, and at 7 o'clock on the morning of
-December 31st, Hardee ordered Wharton with his troopers to find the
-rear of McCook's right flank and fall upon his supports, and directed
-his infantry and artillery forward. McCown, supported by Cleburne,
-advanced and engaged in severe battle, taking the enemy by surprise
-and forcing him back toward the Wilkinson pike. Bragg's plan was to
-drive back the right wing of Rosecrans, and when beaten to attack his
-center and right simultaneously. Hardee's battle pushed McCook beyond
-the Wilkinson pike, when Withers moved out against Thomas, supported
-by Cheatham. Bragg's battle was a grand right wheel, pivoting on the
-river, the wheel obliquing toward the wheeling flank, and the pivot
-gaining forward. By 10 o'clock, both of Hardee's divisions were in
-full battle, as were those of Withers and Cheatham, and later on
-Breckinridge sent over four of his brigades to reinforce the battle of
-the pivot.
-
-When evening came the full right wheel had been completed and the army
-stood against its enemy in a line at an exact right angle to its first
-position. The pivot had gained forward a half mile, but Rosecrans
-had held fast with his left on the river. In the wheeling fight, on
-Hardee's right, and in the struggle to move the pivot forward as it
-turned, Withers' division made its battle. That general reported the
-operations of his division with great accuracy and distinctness, and we
-shall follow his report for an account of Manigault's brigade.
-
-As Withers placed his brigades from right to left, Chalmers' brigade
-was on the right touching the river, and formed the pivot of the great
-wheel; then came Patton Anderson's brigade, then Manigault's, and
-lastly Deas'. Manigault moved out in due time, and his left swinging
-around met the enemy on a wooded ridge, and stormed and carried it. In
-his wheel through an open field, and before the brigade could touch
-Anderson's, on its right, it was taken in flank by artillery and the
-fire of the force it had driven. Here fell the gallant Col. A. J.
-Lythgoe, of the Nineteenth South Carolina, at the head of his regiment.
-His major-general well said of him: "He dies well who dies nobly." The
-flank fire on Manigault broke his line and repelled his advance in
-some confusion. Rallying, the brigade continued its battle, now with
-more success charging and gaining ground. But it had gone beyond its
-right and left supports, and was again fired upon by artillery on the
-right flank; the brigade on his immediate left was repulsed and again
-Manigault had to retire. Maney's brigade, from Cheatham's division, was
-ordered to support Manigault's left, and again he advanced and with
-Maney's gallant aid the brigade swung forward and round in victorious
-advance.
-
-This third advance brought the two South Carolina regiments directly
-on the battery that had done their brigade so much harm, and the
-Tenth and Nineteenth were ordered to charge and take it. The Tenth,
-led by Lieut.-Col. J. F. Pressley, and the Nineteenth, by Lieut.-Col.
-T. P. Shaw, moved as one man to take the guns. A Federal brigade in
-support delivered its volleys so rapidly as to check the assault,
-when Anderson, who was on Manigault's right, moved up his brigade
-and attacked the supporting brigade, while the Tenth and Nineteenth
-dashed forward and took the guns. General Bragg allowed these regiments
-to have the battery, and they sent it to South Carolina to have the
-names of the gallant men who fell in its capture inscribed upon the
-pieces. General Withers closed this part of his report with high
-praise of Manigault's brigade. The brigade, says the major-general,
-had been subjected to a most trying ordeal, and had lost heavily. The
-calm determination and persistent energy and gallantry which rendered
-Colonel Manigault proof against discouragements, had a marked influence
-on and was admirably responded to by his command.
-
-Lieutenant-General Polk, in his report, thus refers to the brigade:
-
- The brigade of Colonel Manigault, which was immediately on the right
- of that of Colonel Coltart [Deas'], followed the movement of the
- latter according to instructions; but as Coltart failed in the first
- onset to drive Sheridan's right, Manigault, after dashing forward
- and pressing the enemy back on his second line, was brought under a
- heavy fire of artillery from two batteries on his right, supported by
- infantry, and was compelled to fall back.... But the gallant South
- Carolinian returned to the charge a second, and a third time, and
- being aided by the brigade of General Maney, of the second line,
- which came to his relief with its Napoleon guns and a deadly fire of
- musketry, the enemy gave way and joined his comrades on his right
- in precipitate retreat across the Wilkinson pike. This movement
- dislodged and drove the residue of Sheridan's division, and completed
- the forcing of the whole of McCook's corps out of line of battle, and
- placed it in full retreat.
-
-With these operations, thus described, the honorable part borne by the
-South Carolina regiments in the battle was practically ended. Manigault
-was in line with Hardee and touching the troops on the pivot, and night
-ended the great contest.
-
-The brigade of Colonel Manigault lost a total of 517. The Tenth
-South Carolina had 109 killed and wounded and 2 taken prisoners;
-the Nineteenth had 80 killed and wounded, among the killed its
-gallant colonel. Maj. John A. Crowder and Lieut. J. T. Norris, of
-the Nineteenth, faithful and true men and officers, were among those
-mortally wounded. It is to be regretted that Colonel Manigault's
-report of Murfreesboro is not at the writer's command, and there is no
-official report from either regiment of record.
-
-On the roll of those "conspicuous for courage and good conduct on the
-field of battle" at Murfreesboro, published by order of the Confederate
-Congress, are the following:
-
- Tenth South Carolina: First Lieut. C. C. White, Sergts. C. W.
- Cockfield (killed) and S. B. Rhuarck; Privates A. J. McCants, J. S.
- Beaty, W. D. Hewitt, G. S. Flowers, G. W. Curry, J. Cannon, N. Gray,
- W. H. Posten, J. W. H. Bunch (killed) and J. A. Boatwright.
-
- Nineteenth South Carolina: Col. A. J. Lythgoe, Maj. John A. Crowder;
- Sergts. W. H. Burkhalter and Martin Youce; Privates Benjamin W.
- Boothe, Samuel S. Horn, W. A. Black, S. D. McCoy, Samuel Bloodsworth,
- Seth A. Jordan, James McClain and James Jones.
-
-It is a grateful task to copy, in this connection, a paragraph from the
-report of Lieutenant-General Polk, in which he perpetuates an act of
-self-sacrificing heroism which is worthy of lasting remembrance, and
-gives an example of patient courage and devotion which the writer has
-never known surpassed by any of his Confederate comrades. It occurred
-just before the last charge of Manigault and Maney. Says General Polk:
-
- I think it proper to bring to the notice of the general commanding an
- instance of self-sacrificing devotion to the safety of their immediate
- commands, and to our cause, which for heroic courage and magnanimity
- is without a parallel. A battery was pouring a murderous fire into
- the brigade of General Maney from a point which made it doubtful
- whether it was ours or the enemy's. Two unsuccessful efforts had been
- made by staff officers (one of whom was killed in the attempt) to
- determine its character. The doubt caused the brigade to hesitate in
- returning the fire of the battery, when Sergeant Oakley, color-bearer
- of the Fourth Tennessee, and Sergt. C. M. Hooks, color-bearer of the
- Ninth Tennessee, gallantly advanced eight or ten paces to the front,
- displaying their colors and holding themselves and the flag of their
- country erect, remained ten minutes in a place so conspicuous as to be
- plainly seen, and fully to test from whom their brigade was suffering
- so severely. The murderous fire was increased and intensified, and
- demonstrated that the battery and its support were not friends, but
- enemies. The sergeants then returned deliberately to their proper
- places in line, unhurt, and the enemy's battery was silenced and his
- column put to flight.
-
-With this act of devotion we leave the battle of Murfreesboro, making
-the following general remarks about it:
-
-General Bragg's army, infantry and artillery, numbered 33,475. His
-cavalry, under Wharton, Wheeler and Pegram, aggregated 4,237, making
-his army, of all arms, 37,712. Wheeler's brigade reported on December
-31st, 1,169, and was not in the battle, but was operating on Rosecrans'
-immediate communications. Pegram and Buford, with five regiments,
-1,118 strong, were on the extreme right and scarcely engaged. Hanson's
-brigade, of Breckinridge's division, 1,893 strong, was east of the
-river. Deducting Wheeler's and Hanson's brigades from Bragg's total,
-that general fought in actual battle against Rosecrans' columns a force
-of 34,650, of all arms. These figures are taken from the field returns
-of the army, as they are given from the originals in the War Records of
-the Union and Confederate armies.
-
-It is interesting to note General Rosecrans' estimates of General
-Bragg's forces and losses. He reported to Washington that he had
-encountered superior numbers, and gave Bragg's strength, 46,200
-infantry, 1,200 sharpshooters, 1,840 artillery, and 13,250 cavalry,
-"making a total of 62,490." In like manner the Union general estimated
-the Confederate loss at 14,560. In this estimate he missed it by
-over 4,000! General Bragg lost 10,266 of all arms, killed, wounded
-and captured. General Rosecrans took the actual loss in General
-Breckinridge's division and multiplied by seven, instead of five, the
-number of divisions. The Federal loss in killed and wounded as reported
-by General Rosecrans was 8,778. He estimated his loss in prisoners at
-2,800. The inspector-general of Bragg's army reported to his chief over
-6,000 prisoners! General Hardee reported 1,900 captured by Wharton's
-cavalry alone!
-
-The writer, from his experience in the field, knows it to be very
-difficult to report accurately, after a great battle, the losses in
-killed, wounded and prisoners, but he has often been impressed with
-the exaggeration of generals, Federal and Confederate, in giving
-estimates of the numbers opposing them, and the losses they inflict
-upon their adversaries. Here we have Rosecrans reporting Bragg's army
-opposed to him at 62,490, and General Bragg reporting Rosecrans' army
-at from 60,000 to 70,000; Rosecrans estimating Bragg's loss at 14,560,
-and Bragg reporting an estimated loss for Rosecrans at 25,273. By the
-official statements of both generals, as shown in the army returns,
-now published by the government in its invaluable War Records of both
-armies, Rosecrans engaged Bragg's 34,650 of all arms, with a force
-of 43,400 of all arms. "On the whole," said General Rosecrans in his
-report, written six weeks after the battle, "we fought superior numbers
-on unknown ground, inflicted much more injury than we suffered, were
-always superior on equal ground with equal numbers, and failed of a
-most crushing victory on Wednesday [December 31st] by the extension and
-direction of our right wing." The facts are that Bragg was victorious
-everywhere on the field, except on his extreme right, and after the
-withdrawal of Rosecrans' left on the river, at night, the whole
-battlefield was Bragg's, with all its spoils. He captured 31 pieces of
-artillery; over 6,000 prisoners, two brigadier-generals among them;
-several stand of colors, 200 wagons with their contents, destroying
-over 800 others, loaded with ammunition and army stores, all of which
-he secured and appropriated.
-
-Both armies were non-aggressive on January 1st; on the 2d, Rosecrans
-crossed a force in front of Breckinridge, bringing on a bloody
-engagement in the afternoon with that division. On the 3d and 4th, no
-movement of importance was made, and Bragg, learning of reinforcements
-coming to his adversary, whose strength he estimated at 70,000, with
-the river in the rear rapidly rising from constant rains, and his
-army without tents and baggage and much worn by constant watching
-and battle, determined upon retreat, and fell back ultimately to
-Tullahoma, without firing a gun in his retirement. Here, as afterward
-at Chickamauga, General Bragg failed to take advantage of his success,
-and General Rosecrans claimed a great victory.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
- WITH LEE IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA, 1862--THE MANEUVERS ON THE
- RAPPAHANNOCK--SECOND MANASSAS CAMPAIGN--BATTLE OF OX HILL.
-
-
-We left the South Carolinians of the army of Northern Virginia in front
-of McClellan at Malvern hill, whence the Federal army retreated and
-took shelter under the guns of the fleet at Harrison's landing. The
-latter, naturally a strong defensive position, the genius and skill of
-McClellan and his able engineers made a fortified camp, protected by
-impracticable swamps and water-courses, and the batteries of the fleet
-on its flanks. Here the army of McClellan was safe from attack and too
-much shattered to take the immediate offensive. Meanwhile the corps of
-McDowell, Banks and Sigel, which had been operating against Jackson in
-the valley, and in immediate defense of Washington, had been united
-under Gen. John Pope, and called the "army of Virginia." This army of
-Pope was to be reinforced by General McClellan and march on Richmond
-from the north.
-
-Early in July, Pope was on the Rappahannock, with his outposts on the
-Rapidan. His army was over 45,000 strong, and the only obstacle to his
-advance was the cavalry under General Stuart. General Lee determined
-to check Pope's further advance, until he could be satisfied of
-McClellan's movements, and accordingly ordered Jackson to Gordonsville,
-and early in August reinforced him with A. P. Hill's division. With
-characteristic energy Jackson crossed the Rapidan, and on August 9th,
-in the battle of Cedar Run, gave Pope's advance on Richmond a telling
-blow. Gen. Maxcy Gregg's brigade of South Carolinians was in A. P.
-Hill's division, with McIntosh's battery, but was not engaged in the
-battle. Greatly to the disappointment of the Carolinians, they were
-left behind to guard the passages of the Rapidan.
-
-General Burnside, with a strong force, was at Fredericksburg, and
-McClellan (August 13th) was still in his fortified camp on the James,
-30 miles from the city of Richmond. The battle on Cedar run had
-checked Pope, but he stood over 40,000 strong, in front of Jackson's
-corps, and was receiving reinforcements from Burnside. On the 14th of
-August, McClellan began the movement of his army by water to Aquia
-creek on the Potomac. Anticipating this, on the 13th, General Lee
-ordered Longstreet, with twelve brigades and their artillery, to move
-by railroad to Gordonsville, and on the 15th took command in person
-on the Rapidan. With Longstreet were Rhett's, Bachman's and Garden's
-South Carolina batteries; Anderson's old brigade, under Brig.-Gen.
-Micah Jenkins, with Corse's and Hunton's Virginia brigades, forming
-the division of General Kemper; and the South Carolina brigade of
-Brig.-Gen. N. G. Evans, which had joined the army in time to be
-slightly engaged at Malvern hill. This, an independent brigade,
-included the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-second and Twenty-third
-regiments, the Holcombe legion and the Macbeth artillery, Captain
-Boyce. Kershaw's brigade in McLaws' division was left in front of
-Richmond; Hampton's brigade of cavalry, including the legion and Hart's
-battery, was in McClellan's front.
-
-General Lee planned an attack on Pope immediately before his arrival on
-the Rapidan. R. H. Anderson's division was ordered up from Richmond,
-and the plan of campaign was to be carried out on the 18th by crossing
-the Rapidan and turning Pope's left. But a letter from General Lee
-detailing the movements of the cavalry fell into Pope's hands by the
-capture of Stuart's adjutant-general, and Pope, thus apprised of the
-plans of his adversary, on the 17th fell back behind the Rappahannock
-to a much stronger position. The lost dispatch had broken up the plans
-for the expected battle, and Lee put his two corps in position on the
-south bank of the Rappahannock, Longstreet on the right and Jackson on
-the left.
-
-Now, sure that he could with safety collect all his army on the
-Rappahannock, General Lee wrote the President for the divisions of
-D. H. Hill and McLaws, and General Hampton's cavalry. On the 19th,
-the President, fearing that Richmond would be endangered, telegraphed
-General Lee that until movements of the enemy were more developed he
-would retain those commands before the capital. Finally, on the 24th,
-Lee wrote Mr. Davis that he had intercepted a letter from General
-Pope to General Halleck (commander-in-chief of the United States
-armies), dated August 20th, stating his whole force for duty at
-45,000, independent of Burnside, and revealing his plan to hold Lee in
-check until McClellan could come up from the lower Rappahannock. Thus
-General Lee was put in possession of General Pope's plans and formed
-his own accordingly. He wrote the President that he wished his whole
-army immediately, and all available troops, and added: "Hampton's
-cavalry I particularly require." Richmond, he wrote, must rely upon
-her defenses and field batteries. On the 26th, McLaws and D. H. Hill
-and Hampton were ordered to Lee, and Mr. Davis wrote him: "Confidence
-in you overcomes the view that otherwise would be taken of the exposed
-condition of Richmond, and the troops retained for the defense of the
-capital are surrendered to you on a renewed request." Neither of these
-commands was able to reach Lee, however, until immediately after the
-conflicts on the Rappahannock and the great struggle at Manassas. The
-fords on the Rappahannock were too full for the crossing of the army,
-and too strongly defended by Pope's artillery.
-
-Several affairs occurred during the five days Lee was detained on the
-right bank. In one of these Gregg's brigade was moved up to support a
-battery, and subjected to a severe shelling from a high hill on the
-left bank, losing several men killed and wounded. On August 23d a more
-serious affair occurred, in which the brigade of General Evans and
-Boyce's battery were engaged. The enemy had fortified a hill near the
-railroad bridge at Rappahannock Station, and on the right bank. Evans,
-supported by several batteries, was ordered to attack. The brigade
-moved up promptly against the fortified position, under a sharp counter
-fire, but before they reached charging distance the enemy retired,
-leaving his intrenching tools and other property, but taking guns and
-troops securely over the railroad bridge, which he fired and destroyed.
-Evans ordered Boyce to occupy the steep hill with his battery, and that
-gallant officer at once moved up but was immediately subjected to the
-fire of four batteries from commanding heights on the north bank. He
-was compelled immediately to withdraw, losing 8 killed and 14 wounded,
-and 7 horses killed. Lieut. William Monro of the battery was severely
-wounded. The brigade lost in this affair 27 killed and 84 wounded, a
-total of 111.
-
-Without waiting for the arrival of the reinforcements from Richmond,
-General Lee began his movement around the right of General Pope on the
-25th of August. Jackson was to move up the right bank of the river
-beyond the extreme right of Pope, cross beyond Waterloo and move on
-his railroad communications. Longstreet, after demonstrating in Pope's
-front, was to follow Jackson. The genius of Lee, Jackson and Longstreet
-was to determine the precise field and the essential conditions of the
-battle.
-
-Jackson marched early on the 25th, crossed the upper branches of the
-Rappahannock, and camped at Salem, on the Manassas Gap railroad. On
-the 26th he turned due east, passed the Bull Run mountains through
-Thoroughfare gap, and by sunset was at Bristoe Station in Pope's
-immediate rear, and on his main railroad communication with Washington.
-The capture of Bristoe and Manassas Junction, with vast stores,
-followed.
-
-Gregg's brigade, which had been under fire at Rappahannock bridge on
-the 21st, and further up the river on the Rappahannock hills on the
-24th, crossed on the 25th at Henson's mill, and made a forced march of
-24 miles that day up the Salem valley, and continued the march on the
-26th "without wagons or baggage of any kind, turning to the right at
-Salem, through Thoroughfare gap, and sleeping at night in rear of our
-artillery in the road near Bristoe Station." General McGowan, whose
-report is quoted, continues:
-
- The next morning we reached Manassas Junction, where the enemy,
- attempting to recapture it, were scattered with considerable loss. In
- the afternoon of that day the brigade returned from pursuit, to the
- junction, where three days' rations were issued from the vast supply
- of captured stores, and the men for a few hours rested and regaled
- themselves upon delicacies unknown to our commissariat, which they
- were in good condition to enjoy, having eaten nothing for several days
- except roasting ears taken from the fields near the road, and what was
- given by the generous citizens of the Salem valley to the soldiers as
- they hurried along in their rapid march.
-
- At dark on the evening of August 27th (Wednesday), the brigade, in
- conjunction with that of General Thomas, was thrown out on the south
- side of Manassas Junction as the rear guard, and formed in line of
- battle facing the enemy, who had during the evening been fighting
- General Ewell near Bristoe Station. Standing under arms here we had
- a fine view of the magnificent conflagration caused by the burning
- of the sutler's and commissary stores, together with about 100 cars
- freighted with every article necessary for the outfit of a great army,
- all of which was set on fire about midnight and consumed.
-
- About 2 o'clock in the morning of Thursday, the 28th, we silently
- retired from our picket lines in front of the enemy, and by the
- light of the smoldering ruins followed the division across Bull run
- at Blackburn's ford to Centreville. Here we rested a short time, and
- thence turned back toward Bull run, and moving by the Warrenton pike
- crossed the run again near the stone bridge. At this critical moment
- the enemy, falling back from the Rappahannock, caused doubtless by our
- flank movement, were coming down the turnpike from Warrenton, meeting
- us. We turned to the right, leaving the turnpike, and after going up
- the run a short distance, changed front and were drawn up in battle
- array along the line of the unfinished Independent railroad track,
- facing the turnpike along which the enemy was moving.
-
-As Gregg's brigade took this position, brisk firing was heard upon
-the right, where the divisions of Taliaferro and Ewell were thrown
-by Jackson against the column of Pope's army coming up the Warrenton
-pike, expecting to find Jackson at Centreville. A severe engagement
-followed, the battle of Groveton, in which Ewell and Taliaferro were
-both wounded. About dark Gregg's brigade was hurried to the scene of
-action, but the firing soon after ceased.
-
-Jackson resumed his place behind the railroad and lay the night of the
-28th in perfect silence, doubtless to create the impression that he
-had retreated. Capt. J. F. J. Caldwell, of the First South Carolina,
-Gregg's brigade, who has written an admirable history of his brigade,
-and was himself a gallant participant in all of its hardships and
-glories, thus describes the night of the 28th of August:
-
- We were placed in columns of regiments and lay during the night in the
- open field. The night before a battle is never a pleasant one, but
- this was peculiarly trying. Strict silence was enjoined on every man.
- We had three divisions, which, in all, would not sum up 20,000 men.
- Before us was Pope with at least the bulk of the Federal army, which,
- of course, was magnified by many thousands; behind us was no base, no
- subsistence, no reinforcement! Longstreet with three divisions was
- beyond Pope, and must be some time in reaching us. God, Jackson and
- our own hearts were our dependence.
-
-But Longstreet was not "beyond Pope," for he had that day forced the
-passage of Thoroughfare gap, after a sharp conflict in which Drayton's
-brigade (which included the Fifteenth South Carolina) took part, and
-that night his command camped in the gap and west of the mountain.
-
-Daybreak of August 29th, upon the great battle plains of Manassas,
-found Jackson in his well-chosen position behind the railroad cut,
-Longstreet descending the east slope of the gap he had won, and the
-forces of General Pope forming for battle in Jackson's front. The
-plan of the Federal commander was to attack and crush Jackson before
-Longstreet could reach him. The battle opened by an artillery attack in
-force on Jackson's right, which was promptly met. This failing to move
-Jackson, an equally galling fire of artillery was delivered against his
-left, and this also was replied to effectively. At 2 p. m. the infantry
-battle opened against A. P. Hill on Jackson's left, and raged until
-9 o'clock at night. Hill repulsed six separate assaults, the forces
-against him being the commands, in whole or in part, of the Federal
-generals Hooker, Kearney, Sigel and Stearns.
-
-Gregg's brigade,[D] after sleeping on their arms on Ewell's
-battlefield, had returned to their first position on the left at
-early dawn of the 29th, and were put in line on the extreme left of
-the army, near Catharpin run, occupying a small, rocky, wooded knoll,
-having a railroad excavation bending around the east and north fronts,
-and a cleared field on the northwest. This position was slightly in
-advance of the general line, and besides being on the extreme left,
-was considered important because of its command of the Sudley Ford
-road. The brigade line made an obtuse angle toward the enemy, one side
-nearly parallel to the railroad cut and the other along the fence of
-the cleared field on the northwest, and enclosed the knoll, which
-they were ordered to hold at all hazards. On this spot, barely large
-enough to hold the brigade, they stood and fought from 8 o'clock in the
-morning until dark.
-
-[Footnote D: For the part borne by Gregg's brigade on the 29th, I shall
-follow the official reports and Mr. Caldwell's history.]
-
-The regiments of the brigade were posted from right to left in the
-following order: The Thirteenth, Col. O. E. Edwards; the First, Maj.
-Edward McCrady; the Twelfth, Col. Dixon Barnes; the Fourteenth, Col.
-Samuel McGowan; Orr's Rifles, Col. J. Foster Marshall, in reserve.
-
-Early in the morning, the enemy's advance being reported, General Gregg
-sent forward McCrady to skirmish with it. The enemy lay in force in
-a wooded hollow in front, and McCrady's advance drew the fire of his
-line, front and flank. A sharp musketry contest followed and Gregg sent
-up the Twelfth on McCrady's left. The two regiments charged and gained
-ground forward, but on the right the enemy held his ground and fired on
-McCrady's flank. Barnes had passed on beyond, and McCrady's position
-was critical. Edwards, with the Thirteenth, came to his support, but
-met such resistance that he had to fight independently. Meanwhile
-Marshall, with the Rifles, had gone to Barnes' support, and those two
-regiments were driving victoriously forward. McCrady, fighting front
-and flank, was stubbornly holding his ground, and Edwards was stemming
-the tide against his regiment. At this juncture Gregg recalled the four
-regiments to the railroad position, as his orders were to act on the
-defensive and not to bring on a general engagement. Time was everything
-to Jackson, who knew his enemy was in his front with superior numbers,
-and he did not risk a battle until Longstreet was reported to be on his
-right.
-
-The affair of the four regiments had checked the arrangements for
-assault in Gregg's front, and he was in solid line awaiting the next
-move. It soon came. Pressing on through the thick growth of bushes
-along Gregg's front, the attack drove in his skirmishers, and the
-infantry of the enemy poured in volley after volley as they advanced
-to the railroad. It was a close fight of infantry, across the cut, and
-ended in a repulse of the attack. Reinforced, he came for a second
-battle with Gregg, and was repulsed. A third and a fourth assault
-were met, and a third and fourth battle fought with the same result.
-Gregg's brigade had now nearly exhausted its ammunition, and most of
-the field officers were killed or wounded, with many most active and
-gallant subordinates. Now came the critical hour of Jackson's battle.
-Coming up the railroad cut from the left and right, and screened by its
-high banks and the thick brush on both sides of it, the enemy massed
-on Gregg's right, opposite a thick wood. In this wood were Edwards
-and McCrady, forming the right of Gregg, McCrady supporting Edwards.
-Beyond Gregg's right was the left of Thomas' Georgia brigade, quite an
-interval being between the two brigades.
-
-The fifth grand assault fell on Thomas' and Gregg's right, and easily
-filled the wooded interval between them, flanking both Thomas and
-Gregg. The moment was most critical. Edwards and McCrady changed front
-to face the woods filled with Federal troops, and fought desperately.
-Barnes came up to their help, while Marshall's Rifles heroically held
-Gregg's left. But the right was about to be overpowered and crushed,
-when Gregg sent in McGowan, his only reserve. The Fourteenth rushed
-upon the crowded ranks of intruders in the wood, delivered their
-volleys at close range, and shouting, charged the mass. At the instant
-Thomas attacked from his side with the Forty-ninth Georgia, and the
-victory was gallantly won. The whole assaulting force was driven by
-Gregg's and Thomas' forces back across the railroad, and into the woods
-beyond.
-
-Almost exhausted by such terrible work, the cartridge boxes reduced
-to two or three rounds, Gregg held his railroad line with a fixed
-determination never to yield. In this resolve he was supported by
-every officer and man of his brigade. When General Hill sent to ask if
-he could hold out, says McGowan, "he replied modestly he thought he
-could, adding, as if casually, that his ammunition was about expended,
-but he still had the bayonet." And on the bayonet the brigade was now
-to rely, as the most desperate assault from fresh forces in its front
-was about to come. The rush and noise of the advance were heard, the
-volleys of musketry swept over and through the thinned ranks of Gregg,
-and in another moment the charging lines of the enemy were mounting the
-banks of the railroad cut and rushing upon him. Meeting this heaviest
-assault of the day, and fighting, first with their last cartridges,
-and then with the bayonet, the men of the brigade gave slowly back.
-They were not driven far from their battle line, when Gregg's call for
-help was answered by General Hill. Branch and Field were sent in, and
-with portions of their brigades met and turned the tide of assault.
-Gregg's men were rallied by their commanders, and the Virginians, North
-Carolinians and South Carolinians drove back the great assault across
-and beyond the railroad, and again Gregg's line was formed. But the
-brigade, after fighting for several hours, was worn out and its last
-round of ammunition expended.
-
-The gallant and heroic Marshall fell in this last conflict, as well
-as his able lieutenant-colonel, D. A. Ledbetter. Colonels McGowan and
-Barnes, Lieutenant-Colonel Farrow, and Majors Brockman and McCorkle
-were wounded and borne from the field. Captains and lieutenants and
-their brave men lay dead in every part of the field.
-
-It was evident that another grand assault must be met. "Casting about
-for help," says General Hill, "fortunately it was here reported to
-me that the brigades of Generals Lawton and Early were near by, and
-sending to them, they promptly moved to my front at the most opportune
-moment." Gregg was relieved, and Lawton and Early, now, late in the
-afternoon, advanced beyond the railroad, met the last assault of the
-day, and drove the Federals in confusion to the rear. Night had come,
-and with it rest for Gregg's heroic brigade. Jackson held his field,
-and the effort to crush him before Longstreet came up had disastrously
-failed.
-
-The losses in Gregg's brigade were as follows: Orr's Rifles, 19 killed,
-97 wounded, total 116; First, 24 killed, 119 wounded, total 143;
-Twelfth, 24 killed, 121 wounded, total 145; Thirteenth, 26 killed,
-118 wounded, total 144; Fourteenth, 8 killed, 57 wounded, total 65;
-aggregate for the brigade, 613.
-
-On this bloody day McIntosh did not have an opportunity to use his
-guns. At Manassas Junction on the 27th, he had done effective work and
-aided in silencing the enemy's battery and driving off his infantry.
-The brigade was not in action on the next day, the 30th, but took
-position under fire. While forming his command, Major McCrady received
-a severe wound in the head, after passing through the storm of battle
-on the 29th unhurt. McIntosh's battery, posted on Gregg's left, on the
-30th, did splendid service in shelling the enemy's masses in front,
-and in breaking his advances against Gregg's position. The following
-officers are mentioned among the killed and wounded in the reports of
-McGowan and McCrady, the former reporting for the brigade:
-
- Killed: Orr's Rifles--Col. J. Foster Marshall, Lieut.-Col. D. A.
- Ledbetter, Capt. M. M. Norton and Lieut. W. C. Davis. First--Capt.
- C. D. Barksdale, Lieuts. John Monro and John C. McLemore, Sergeants
- Lowrimore, Darby and Smith. Twelfth--Lieuts. J. A. May and J. R.
- Hunnicutt. Thirteenth--Capt. A. K. Smith and Adjt. W. D. Goggans.
-
- Wounded: Orr's Rifles--Lieut. J. S. Cothran. First--Major McCrady,
- Capts. T. P. Alston and M. P. Parker, Lieuts. T. H. Lyles, G. R.
- Congdon, John H. King, Z. B. Smith and Thomas McCrady. Twelfth--Maj.
- W. H. McCorkle, Capts. E. F. Bookter and L. M. Grist; Lieuts. W. S.
- Dunlop, M. K. Sharp, J. H. Bigham, M. V. Darwin, L. A. Garvin, T. A.
- White, H. P. Thode, J. M. Hencken and J. C. Rollings. Thirteenth--Col.
- O. E. Edwards, Lieut.-Col. T. S. Farrow, Maj. B. T. Brockman, Capts.
- R. L. Bowden, P. A. Eichelberger, G. W. Meetze; Lieuts. J. D.
- Copeland, R. M. Crocker, S. J. Greer, W. T. Thom and J. B. Fellers.
- Fourteenth--Col. Samuel McGowan, Capts. C. M. Stuckey and J. N. Brown;
- Lieuts. W. J. Robertson, W. J. Carter and J. H. Allen. A total of 12
- commissioned officers killed and 37 wounded in the brigade.
-
-Major McCrady mentions in his report for distinguished conduct on
-the field, Color-bearer Spellman and Sergeant Matthews, Sergeants
-Lorrimore, Smith, Darby, Kelley, Gore and Miller, Color Corporal
-Owens, Corporals Wigg and Larkin, Privates Ruff, Holloran and Carroll,
-Sergeant Ragan, Corporal Brereton, Privates Lyles and Duff. Capts.
-W. T. Haskell, M. P. Parker, W. P. Shooter, Barksdale and T. P.
-Alston, and Lieuts. James Armstrong, John C. McLemore, Thomas McCrady,
-Hewetson, Brailsford, McIntire, Congdon, John Monro, Wiborn, Seabrook
-and Hamilton were distinguished on the field.
-
-The great issue of battle between Pope and Lee was to be determined
-on the 30th. Longstreet was in battle array on Jackson's right, with
-a front of seven brigades: First Hood, with his brigades, supported
-by Evans; then Kemper, with two brigades in his front line, Jenkins
-and Hunter, supported by Corse; then D. R. Jones, with three brigades
-in echelon, on the extreme right, reaching the Manassas Gap railroad.
-Wilcox, with three brigades, in column, was in close supporting
-distance, behind Hood and Evans. R. H. Anderson with three brigades was
-on the march for the field, moving from the direction of Warrenton. The
-brigades of Evans and Jenkins were composed of South Carolina troops;
-the Fifteenth South Carolina was in Drayton's brigade, with D. R. Jones
-on the right, and the Hampton legion infantry was in Wofford's brigade,
-with Hood on the left. Bachman's and Garden's batteries were in Major
-Frobel's battalion, and Rhett's was in S. D. Lee's battalion.
-
-Pope massed against Jackson, and after assailing him with a heavy fire
-of artillery, attacked his whole line with all the aggressive power
-he could command. Porter's corps assailed his right and center, and
-Heintzelman's and Reno's corps attacked his left and left flank. These
-three corps were supported by the divisions of King and Ricketts.
-
-Jackson stood against this combination with his three divisions, and
-made desperate resistance. For three hours, from 1 to 4 p. m., his
-battle was purely defensive and held back the surging columns of
-attack, but he saw that his limit of resistance had been reached and
-sent to General Lee for a division. At that moment General Longstreet,
-riding out to a commanding position oh Jackson's right, saw the
-whole field of attack and seized the opportunity to enfilade the
-line. Chapman's Virginia, Boyce's South Carolina and Reilly's North
-Carolina batteries were called up at a run, and fully appreciating the
-situation, went into telling action. The assaulting lines were broken
-in ten minutes, rallied, returned, and were again broken. Rallying a
-third time, they were a third time staggered by the fire of Boyce,
-Chapman and Reilly, and Jackson's line was given a breathing spell.
-S. D. Lee now put his battalion into action, and his guns swept the
-field and "tore the line to pieces," says General Longstreet. Rhett's
-South Carolina battery, commanded by Lieut. William Elliott, with Lee's
-battalion, shared the honors of this grand assault of artillery in aid
-of Jackson's heroic battle. The moment had come for Longstreet to move,
-and as the commanding general rode on the field and ordered the grand
-assault, he was sending the order to his division commanders to advance.
-
-It was now late in the afternoon, but before night had settled down on
-that great field of strife, Hood and Evans and Kemper and D. R. Jones
-and R. H. Anderson had carried the battle beyond the Chinn house and
-to the base of the great plateau at the Henry house, which commanded
-the enemy's line of retreat over Bull run. But night had come and saved
-the plateau to Pope's army and his retreat was secured to him.
-
-Lee's victory was complete. But it had been won by a mighty sacrifice
-of human life. South Carolina had laid down her noble sons in costly
-sacrifice. Her brigades and regiments in that great battle had given
-their very best. Among the gallant dead, and those who received mortal
-wounds, at Manassas, on the two days of heroic strife, were the
-following distinguished officers:
-
-Col. J. F. Marshall and Lieut.-Col. D. A. Ledbetter, of Orr's Rifles;
-Col. Thomas J. Glover, of the First South Carolina battalion; Col. John
-V. Moore, of the Second Rifles; Col. John H. Means, of the Seventeenth;
-Col. J. M. Gadberry, Eighteenth; Lieut.-Col. Francis G. Palmer, of the
-Holcombe legion, and many other gallant spirits. Brigadier-General
-Jenkins was wounded at the head of his brigade and over 400 of his
-officers and men killed and wounded. Col. H. L. Benbow, Twenty-third
-South Carolina; Maj. W. J. Crawley, of the Holcombe legion, and other
-field, staff and company officers of the South Carolina commands were
-wounded on the field. It is greatly to be regretted that there are no
-reports from General Jenkins of record, or any one of his regimental
-commanders, respecting the operations of the 29th and 30th.
-
-As Hood's right swept on in its battle, Jenkins and Hunton kept abreast
-of it, and Evans, in supporting Hood, came into battle connection with
-Jenkins. This was particularly the case when the guns were captured at
-the Chinn house. Colonel Corse in his report gives the line of program
-which Jenkins observed, as passing beyond the Chinn house and south of
-it, while Evans, who supported Hood's two brigades, passed beyond and
-north of it. Wofford, who commanded Hood's right brigade, refers to
-his advance against a battery at or east of the Chinn house, when the
-Holcombe legion (of Evans' brigade) came up to his support and fought
-"with much spirit and gallantry." Colonel Gary, the commander of the
-Hampton legion infantry, in his report says: "We were then [Wofford's
-brigade] hotly engaged around the Chinn house, where the brigade
-captured several pieces of artillery. At this place the brigade of
-General Evans came up in gallant style and relieved us." Evidently the
-Chinn house, which stood about one mile southwest of Groveton, formed
-the center of the theater of battle for the brigades of Jenkins and
-Evans and the Hampton legion infantry, under Colonel Gary.
-
-These commands carried their battle for a half mile east of the Chinn
-house, when darkness checked and ended their advance. Over the space
-indicated the South Carolinians fought with steady courage, attesting
-their devotion by the sacrifices of the day. In this advance fell the
-noble-hearted Governor Means, at the head of the Seventeenth; the
-accomplished and gallant Glover, at the head of Hagood's First; the
-brave Gadberry, leading the Eighteenth; the dashing Moore, commanding
-the Second rifles; the heroic Palmer, urging the Holcombe legion to the
-charge, and Henry Stevens, aide to Col. P. F. Stevens, falling with
-five wounds.
-
-A single shell bursting in front of Company K, Palmetto sharpshooters,
-killed five young men--Theodotus L. Capers, James Palmer, Whiteford
-Smith, Bearden and McSwain--graduates and undergraduates of college,
-the very best Carolina could give for her cause. It is particularly
-noted, that these were representative young men, sons of men of
-prominence in the church and in the State. Never did one shell destroy
-more of the beauty and promise of life, or carry more sorrow to human
-hearts.
-
-The Fifteenth South Carolina operated on the extreme right in support
-of cavalry, and is reported as losing 21 in killed and wounded.
-General Longstreet complained that Drayton was sent to the right
-without his knowledge, and expressed his regret that he could not
-command his aid when he needed it to reinforce the battle.
-
-Major Frobel reported that on Friday morning he took Bachman's
-battery, by General Hood's order, to the extreme right on the Orange &
-Alexandria railroad, where Stuart's cavalry was operating. Here Bachman
-opened on a column marching to the Confederate right. Fifteen rounds
-were so well directed that the column halted and then disappeared
-toward the left. Later, Bachman and Garden took post on the Warrenton
-pike, and for two hours engaged the batteries of the enemy at the
-Groveton house, and silenced them. On the 30th, in the afternoon,
-following Hood's advance, Bachman and Garden advanced down the
-Warrenton pike, Bachman taking position on the right of the road and
-Garden on the left, both well out, and opened on the enemy's guns at
-the Dogan house. Again the batteries engaged and drove the enemy's guns
-away from the house, and prepared the way for Colonel Law's brigade to
-carry the position. Bachman had exhausted his ammunition, and Garden
-moved on until night stopped his progress. Major Frobel reported that
-Bachman and Garden handled their guns with great skill and effect.
-Lieutenant Siegling, a gallant officer of Bachman's battery, was struck
-from his horse by a fragment of shell, and seeing the exposed position
-of his mounted men, as he was falling gave the command, "Cannoneers,
-dismount." His wound was through the stomach, and was supposed to be
-mortal, but his cheerful resolution and strong physique, with skillful
-surgical attention, carried him through the ordeal, and he rejoined his
-command.
-
-The following are the returns of casualties from the several South
-Carolina commands engaged at Manassas on the 29th and 30th. Except from
-Boyce's battery there are no reports of casualties in the artillery:
-Gregg's brigade--Orr's Rifles, 116; First, 143; Twelfth, 145;
-Thirteenth, 144; Fourteenth, 65. Jenkins' brigade--First (Hagood's),
-124; Second Rifles, 58; Fifth, 39; Sixth, 115; Sharpshooters, 68.
-Drayton's brigade, Fifteenth, 21. Wofford's brigade, Hampton's legion,
-74. Evans' brigade, Holcombe legion, 155; Seventeenth, 179; Eighteenth,
-113; Twenty-second,--; Twenty-third, 149; Boyce's battery, 6. The grand
-total is 1,714, and of these, 281 are given as killed on the field.
-Many of those reported wounded had received mortal hurt.
-
-The morning of Sunday, August 31, 1862, dawned upon the plains and
-hills and valleys of Manassas to find them covered with the dead, the
-dying and the wounded of both armies. The trophies of victory cheered
-the awful prospect, but the sight of the great battlefield filled every
-manly heart with feelings of reverence for the dead and sympathy for
-the wounded, both friend and foe. Ten thousand wounded Union soldiers,
-30 pieces of artillery, many stand of colors, and 7,000 prisoners bore
-witness to the steady courage and the heroic endurance of Jackson's
-three divisions on the 29th, and the gallant charge of Longstreet's
-wing on the 30th. Pope retreated after nightfall on the 30th and put
-his rear guard in the Confederate defenses at Centreville.
-
-He reported that he had been driven in perfect order from the field,
-by overwhelming numbers; that the fight had been an unequal one; that
-Longstreet had crushed his left with great masses of Confederates,
-pouring down in a stream of reinforcements from the Bull Run mountains.
-" ... At no time could I have hoped to fight a successful battle with
-the immensely superior force of the enemy which confronted me, and
-which was able at any time to outflank me and bear my small army to the
-dust." But the official records show beyond question that on the field
-of Manassas he had under his command 10,000 more men than Lee commanded
-in his front on the 30th. Jackson's corps numbered scarcely 20,000 men
-of all arms. Pope assailed it all day on the 29th, and made desperate
-attempts to destroy it on the 30th, and not a man reinforced Jackson on
-the 29th or the 30th; and the "superior forces" that assaulted General
-Pope's right on the 30th were just the corps of General Jackson after
-all its losses and work on the 27th, 28th and 29th of August.
-
-General Longstreet tells us that on the morning of Sunday, the 31st,
-General Lee called General Jackson to his headquarters and gave him
-instructions to cross Bull run at Sudley's ford, march by Little
-River turnpike, and intercept the enemy's retreat. On receiving these
-instructions, says Longstreet, Jackson said, "Good!" and away he went
-without another word. He marched on the morning of the 31st, struck
-the Little River turnpike at Wykoop's, turned toward Fairfax Court
-House, and camped for the night at Pleasant valley. On September 1st
-he continued his march, passed Chantilly, and came upon Pope's forces
-at Ox hill, just south of the turnpike, and about halfway between
-Chantilly and Germantown. General Pope had due notice of the advance on
-his right, and early on the 1st formed a determination, as he reports,
-to fight a battle between the roads which come together at Fairfax,
-on one of which he was stationed, Jackson, followed by Longstreet,
-marching on the other.
-
-Reinforced by Sumner's and Franklin's corps, General Pope arranged for
-battle on the 1st of September with a force of 57,000. The corps of
-Heintzelman, Reno and McDowell were in position south of the Little
-River turnpike, facing almost north. Against these corps General
-Jackson attacked on the afternoon of the 1st, the battle being fought
-during a storm of rain and wind, which blew directly in the faces of
-the Confederates. Jackson put his corps on right into line of battle,
-Hill, Lawton and Starke from right to left. Jackson attacked by Hill's
-division, and a severe battle followed until night. During the battle
-a portion of Ewell's division, commanded by Lawton, supported General
-Hill, but the battle was mainly fought by Hill, the brigades of Branch,
-Gregg and Pender bearing the brunt of the fight. General Hill says that
-the enemy stubbornly contested the ground, but on the fall of the two
-prominent commanders on the field, Generals Kearny and Stevens, the
-enemy was driven back, but not far, retreating entirely after night.
-The battle was aggressive on Jackson's part, and as it progressed
-pushed the Federal forces back, but night coming on both sides ceased
-from conflict.
-
-In this battle Gregg's brigade, leading Hill's division, came first
-into line by its right, the Thirteenth and Fourteenth in the front
-line, Orr's Rifles, the Twelfth and the First supporting. As the battle
-progressed, the Rifles and the Twelfth were advanced to the front line
-of battle, the First remaining in support, under command of Capt. C.
-W. McCreary. Lieut.-Col. W. D. Simpson commanded the Fourteenth, and
-Capt. James Perrin the Rifles. The losses in Gregg's brigade at Ox Hill
-were reported as follows: Orr's Rifles, 5 killed, 25 wounded, total
-30; First South Carolina, 1 killed, 7 wounded, total 8; Twelfth, 1
-killed, 10 wounded, total 11; Thirteenth, 5 killed, 24 wounded, total
-29; Fourteenth, 3 killed, 23 wounded, total 26; total, 15 killed,
-89 wounded. Lieut. W. C. Leppard, of the Thirteenth, and Adjt. W.
-C. Buchanan, of the Twelfth, were killed on the field after being
-distinguished in the action. Captain West and Lieutenant Youngblood of
-the Fourteenth, and Lieutenant Jenkins of the Rifles, were wounded.
-
-We call the battle of Ox Hill a battle with Pope's rear guard, for
-such it was. Though his army was in position to give battle to General
-Lee on the 2d of September, his forces were arranged so as to secure
-his retreat, and this he actually made on the night of the 1st and the
-morning of the 2d, falling back on the defenses of Washington. General
-Pope seems to have regarded his army at Centreville on the morning of
-September 1st, though numbering 62,000, including Banks, near at hand,
-no match for that of General Lee, which was not a man over 40,000, if
-so strong. If he had only known the actual strength of General Lee's
-army, the question arises, Would it have made any difference in the
-results of the Rappahannock-Manassas campaigns?
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
- THE MARYLAND CAMPAIGN--THE SOUTH MOUNTAIN BATTLES--CAPTURE OF HARPER'S
- FERRY--BATTLES OF SHARPSBURG AND SHEPHERDSTOWN.
-
-
-General Lee marched his victorious army from the plains and hills of
-Manassas to Leesburg, and crossed into Maryland, fording the Potomac
-between September 4th and 7th, and concentrating at the city of
-Frederick. His reasons for this move are here given in his own words:
-
- The armies of Generals McClellan and Pope had now been brought back to
- the point from which they set out on the campaign of the spring and
- summer. The object of those campaigns had been frustrated, and the
- designs of the enemy on the coast of North Carolina and in western
- Virginia thwarted by the withdrawal of the main body of his forces
- from these regions. Northeastern Virginia was freed from the presence
- of Federal soldiers up to the intrenchments of Washington, and soon
- after the arrival of the army at Leesburg, information was received
- that the troops that had occupied Winchester had retired to Harper's
- Ferry and Martinsburg. The war was thus transferred from the interior
- to the frontier, and the supplies of rich and productive districts
- made accessible to our army.
-
- To prolong a state of affairs in every way desirable, and not to
- permit the season of active operations to pass without endeavoring
- to inflict further injury upon the enemy, the best course appeared
- to be to transfer the army into Maryland. Although not properly
- equipped for invasion, lacking much of the material of war, and
- feeble in transportation, the troops poorly provided with clothing,
- and thousands of them destitute of shoes, it was yet believed to be
- strong enough to detain the enemy upon the northern frontier until the
- approach of winter should render his advance into Virginia difficult,
- if not impracticable. The condition of Maryland encouraged the belief
- that the presence of our army, however inferior to that of the enemy,
- would induce the Washington government to retain all its available
- force to provide against contingencies which its course toward the
- people of that State gave it reason to apprehend. At the same time
- it was hoped that military success might afford us an opportunity to
- aid the citizens of Maryland in any efforts they might be disposed to
- make to recover their liberties. The difficulties that surrounded them
- were fully appreciated, and we expected to derive more assistance in
- the attainment of our object from the just fears of the Washington
- government than from any active demonstration on the part of the
- people, unless success should enable us to give them assurance of
- continued protection.
-
-The South Carolina commands with Lee in Maryland, were the brigades
-of N. G. Evans, Kershaw and Jenkins under Col. Joseph Walker; the
-Fifteenth regiment, Colonel De Saussure, in Drayton's brigade; the
-Hampton legion infantry, in Wofford's brigade, and Bachman's, Garden's,
-Rhett's and Boyce's batteries--all with Longstreet's corps; in
-Jackson's corps, the brigade of Maxcy Gregg and McIntosh's battery;
-and with the cavalry under Stuart, the Second cavalry, Col. M. C.
-Butler, of Hampton's brigade, and Hart's battery. Thus it will be seen
-that four brigades, a regiment and a battalion of infantry, six light
-batteries, and one regiment of cavalry represented South Carolina
-in the short and bloody campaign through which we are now to trace
-their career. We may not do more than make such general allusions to
-other commands as will put the positions and movements of the South
-Carolinians in their true moral and military aspect. The gallant
-comrades of other States, who fought by their side, and on whose heroic
-daring and sublime fortitude so much depended--whenever they touched
-their Carolina brethren in battle, their touch was an inspiration, and
-wherever they fought by their side, their battle was an assurance of
-strength.
-
-When General Lee took post at Frederick, his position warranted the
-expectation that the Federal forces in the valley of Virginia and at
-Harper's Ferry would retreat upon Washington, and he made dispositions
-to intercept them. In this he was disappointed. Martinsburg and
-Harper's Ferry were held fast, and Lee resolved to attack those points
-at once. He prepared an order detailing his combinations and directing
-the march of each corps and division, and the action of his cavalry.
-A copy of this, sent Gen. D. H. Hill, fell into General McClellan's
-hands, as a former order, issued on the Rapidan, had gone into the
-hands of Pope. Thus McClellan was informed that Lee's army would leave
-Frederick and cross the mountains at Boonsboro gap; that D. H. Hill's
-division was to halt at Boonsboro, while the rest of Longstreet's
-corps marched toward Hagerstown; that Jackson would cross the Potomac
-and move on Harper's Ferry; that McLaws' division, following Jackson,
-would enter Pleasant valley and possess Maryland heights, and that
-Walker's division, following McLaws, would cross the Potomac and
-possess Loudoun heights. Friday, September 12th, was to be the day when
-these combinations should result in the capture of Harper's Ferry. That
-accomplished, Jackson, McLaws and Walker were to rejoin the army at
-Boonsboro or Hagerstown.
-
-McClellan, thoroughly appreciating the situation, promptly advanced
-against Boonsboro gap. In this forward movement he was delayed
-by General Hampton, who skirmished at every available point. As
-the advance guard approached Frederick with cavalry, infantry and
-artillery, Hampton drew in his outposts and formed his brigade for
-attack. The enemy posted a gun, supported by infantry, so as to command
-the city, and this gave Hampton his opportunity. As the gun opened he
-ordered Butler to charge, with the brigade in support. One brilliant
-dash at the gun and its support, and it was in Hampton's possession,
-the enemy scattered, many killed and wounded, and Colonel Moore,
-Twenty-eighth Ohio, and 10 other prisoners taken. In this affair,
-Lieutenant-Colonel Meighan, of the Second South Carolina cavalry, and
-Captain Waring, of the Jeff Davis legion, acted with distinguished
-gallantry, and the Second, under its gallant colonel, was commended
-for its conduct. So successful was the repulse of the advance guard
-of the enemy that Hampton withdrew at a walk, and camped for the
-night at Middletown, taking with him the prisoners, and leaving
-Lieutenant-Colonel Martin, commanding the Jeff Davis legion, to cover
-his camp.
-
-At daylight, Martin was attacked in the gap of Catoctin mountain which
-he was holding. Hampton sent up a section of Hart's battery to his
-support, and Martin held his position against odds until 2 p. m.,
-the fire of Hart's guns driving the opposing artillery from several
-positions. Then the enemy, reinforced, gained a strong point for
-artillery, and Hampton withdrew Martin, and in front of Middletown
-formed for battle, which was soon joined. Hart's guns replied
-vigorously to those of the Federals, the sharpshooters became warmly
-engaged, and soon the whole brigade was in action, the fight being
-pressed by infantry on the enemy's side. Notified that Gen. D. H. Hill
-had taken position in Boonsboro gap, General Stuart, who had come
-forward, ordered Hampton to withdraw to the south, and sent Martin with
-Hart's guns through the gap in South mountain to Boonsboro. Hampton
-retired to Burkittsville, and on his way encountered a Federal cavalry
-command, which he charged with Colonel Young's Georgians, dispersed the
-force, with a loss of 30 killed and wounded on the enemy's part, and 4
-killed and 9 wounded in the Cobb legion.
-
-Hill's division, which had marched into Boonsboro gap, was composed
-of the brigades of Ripley, Rodes, Garland, Colquitt and Anderson.
-With these commands and Rosser's Fifth Virginia cavalry, Hill stood
-against the assaults of McClellan for five hours. Longstreet hurried
-back from Hagerstown to his support and arrived between 3 and 4 p.
-m. With Longstreet were the South Carolina brigades of Evans and
-Jenkins, the Fifteenth South Carolina with Drayton, and the Hampton
-legion with Wofford. Evans' brigade, under Col. P. F. Stevens, was
-marched to the left of General Hill's battle to support Rodes, who was
-nearly overwhelmed. Stevens put in the brigade on the right of Rodes,
-and was at once assailed. The Seventeenth, under Col. F. W. McMaster,
-held its ground on the right of the brigade, supported by the Holcombe
-legion, but the pressure of the attack pressed back the Twenty-second
-and Twenty-third until these regiments, rallied by their gallant
-commanders, Lieut.-Col. T. C. Watkins and Capt. S. A. Durham and Maj.
-M. Hilton, returned to the battle, and supported by the Eighteenth,
-Col. W. H. Wallace, held the battle, in line with the Seventeenth and
-the legion. But not for long; the enemy crowded up the mountain in such
-strength that Rodes and Stevens could not hold their line and were
-driven from the crest.
-
-In this brief struggle, Lieut.-Col. Thomas C. Watkins fell in the
-thick of the fight, rallying his regiment. His fall was a loss to his
-command and to his country, but he died as he wished to die, fighting
-for the independence of the Southern Confederacy. He was succeeded by
-Major Hilton, who rallied the regiment and restored its position on the
-crest. In the same contest Lieut.-Col. R. S. Means, of the Seventeenth,
-was severely wounded. At the moment of his fall the crest was carried,
-and Colonel McMaster ordered him borne from the field, but he
-generously refused the aid of his comrades, seeing they must inevitably
-be captured.
-
-Colonel Stevens especially commended the conduct of Colonel McMaster,
-Major Hilton, Captain Durham and Adjt. W. P. DuBose. The latter
-officer was captured after night while endeavoring with a small
-force to reconnoiter the enemy's front. The loss in the brigade was
-comparatively small: Seventeenth, killed 7, wounded 37, missing 17;
-Twenty-second, killed 10, wounded 57, missing 4; Twenty-third, killed
-4, wounded 16, missing 4; no reports for the Eighteenth and the legion.
-
-The rapid march of Longstreet from Hagerstown on the 14th had thinned
-the ranks of all his brigades. Men overcome with fatigue fell by the
-way in large numbers, and the rush up the mountain in the afternoon
-almost depleted some commands. Colonel McMaster, reporting the strength
-of the Seventeenth in the battle, said: "In this battle we had engaged
-10 officers and 131 men, rank and file, and ambulance corps." General
-Longstreet, referring in his recent book to the effect upon the troops
-of the march from Hagerstown, and the marches and countermarches on the
-mountain, says:
-
- It was near night when the brigades under Generals Kemper and Garnett
- and Colonel Walker (Jenkins') returned from their march down the
- mountain and reached the top. They were put in as they arrived, to try
- to cover the right of Rodes and Evans, and fill the intervening space
- to the turnpike. As they marched, the men dropped along the road as
- rapidly as if under severe skirmish. So manifest was it that nature
- was exhausted that no one urged them to get up and try to keep their
- ranks.... The Union brigades were stronger than the Confederates, mine
- having lost more than half this number by the wayside from exhaustion,
- under the forced march.
-
-Col. Joseph Walker, Palmetto sharpshooters, commanding Jenkins'
-brigade, reported his force only partially engaged. Much of his time
-in the afternoon was consumed by marches and countermarches, in
-accordance with orders, which carried his brigade first to the foot of
-the mountain on the west side, nearly 2 miles south of the Boonsboro
-pike, on which he had arrived from Hagerstown. Then he was sent to take
-position at the hotel on top of the mountain and north of the pike.
-From that post he was ordered to move across the pike obliquely to
-the south, and down the east slope of the mountain, where he made his
-partial battle. The First regiment, Lieut.-Col. D. Livingston, the
-Sixth, Lieut.-Col. J. M. Steedman, and the Fifth, Capt. T. C. Beckham,
-were advanced to a stone fence, where they stood against the fire of
-the infantry and artillery in their front, the Sharpshooters, Second
-rifles and the Fourth battalion supporting. Walker held this post all
-through the evening and night, moving off on the morning of the 15th
-and covering the retirement from that part of the field, the Second
-rifles marching as rear guard. The losses in Jenkins' brigade were
-comparatively light, 3 killed and 29 wounded, total, 32, distributed
-as follows: Palmetto sharpshooters, 2 wounded; First, 1 killed, 15
-wounded; Second rifles, 1 wounded; Fifth, 6 wounded; Sixth, 2 killed, 5
-wounded.
-
-The writer regrets that he can find no record of the service of the
-Fifteenth South Carolina, in Drayton's brigade, and the Hampton legion
-infantry, in Wofford's. Gen. D. H. Hill, in his report of the action of
-his troops, refers to the brigade of Drayton in the following words:
-
- In answer to a dispatch from General Longstreet, I urged him to
- hurry forward troops to my assistance. General Drayton and Col. G.
- T. Anderson [the latter commanding a brigade of Georgians] came up,
- I think, about 3 o'clock, with 1,900 men.... Anderson, Ripley and
- Drayton were called together, and I directed them to follow a path
- until they came in contact with Rosser, when they should change their
- flank, march in line of battle and sweep the woods before them....
- Anderson soon became partially and Drayton hotly engaged.... Three
- brigades moved up in beautiful order against Drayton and the men were
- soon beaten.
-
-This is the only reference to Drayton's brigade in the action at
-Boonsboro, by which it appears that the Fifteenth South Carolina, and
-Fiftieth and Fifty-first Georgia, the three regiments that composed
-it, stood against the attack of three Union brigades until they were
-"beaten."
-
-The battle of Boonsboro Gap was not anticipated by General Lee, and it
-came, on the 14th, in the nature of a surprise. Certainly Lee's army
-was not prepared for it. All that could be done was done--the brigades
-of Hill and Longstreet, with such artillery as could be operated on
-the mountain, held back the advancing columns of Hooker and Reno until
-night put an end to the conflict. General McClellan reported the battle
-on his side as fought by the divisions of Hatch, Ricketts and Meade,
-of Hooker's corps; Willcox, Sturgis and Cox, of Reno's corps; and the
-brigade of Sedgwick, of Sherman's corps; with artillery and cavalry.
-That this force did not drive Hill in rout from the mountain before
-Longstreet came up is due to the firmness and heroism of his defense.
-That it did not envelop both Longstreet and Hill late in the afternoon,
-and force them down upon Boonsboro, is due to the skill of those
-generals, and the conduct of their troops and their commanders.
-
-Having already stated the order for the investment of Harper's
-Ferry, we will have now to do with the part taken by Kershaw's and
-Gregg's South Carolina brigades in its capture. Kershaw was with
-McLaws and Gregg with A. P. Hill. To Kershaw, commanding his own and
-Barksdale's brigades, was assigned the task of capturing the south
-end of Elk ridge, called Maryland heights, which overlooked Harper's
-Ferry. The heights captured, McLaws was to plant his rifled guns
-there to co-operate with Walker, on Loudoun heights, and Jackson, on
-Bolivar heights. Kershaw marched on the 12th and ascended Elk ridge
-by Solomon's gap. The Union pickets offered a feeble resistance at
-the gap and retired, Kershaw ascending to the top of the ridge and
-marching on its crest toward the point of attack. Capt. G. B. Cuthbert,
-Second South Carolina, commanding Kershaw's right flankers, and Major
-Bradley, Mississippi regiment, commanding skirmishers in advance, met
-and easily drove back the outposts along the ridge. But the road was so
-obstructed, and so impracticable, that it was 6 p. m. before General
-Kershaw came up on the first line of defense, within one mile of the
-south end, or Maryland heights. This was a strong abatis running
-across the ridge and flanked by high boulders. Here the enemy was
-standing in force.
-
-Kershaw put his brigade in two lines of attack and held Barksdale in
-reserve. Henagan's Eighth South Carolina and Aiken's Seventh made the
-first line, Nance's Third, and Kennedy's Second in rear. Before these
-dispositions were made night came on, and the troops lay on their
-arms within sight of the battlefield. Early on the 13th the South
-Carolinians moved to the attack in beautiful order, and came under the
-heavy fire of the enemy. The Eighth encountered a ledge of rock which
-completely stopped its advance, but the Seventh had a clear field
-to the abatis. Aiken led his regiment on with a dash, mounted the
-obstruction, poured a volley into the faces of his adversaries, and the
-abatis was won, the enemy retreating a quarter of a mile to a still
-stronger position across the ridge. Kershaw sent Barksdale to his left
-to make a detour on the east slope, and gain the flank of the position.
-The Seventh and Eighth again advanced to the abatis and carried it,
-but the fire from a log breastwork in rear checked their progress. The
-Third, under Nance, reinforced the fire of the Seventh and Eighth, and
-these three regiments made the battle, losing severely.
-
-Meanwhile Barksdale had worked his way around to the rear and right
-of the Federals and opened fire. Seeing himself assailed in front
-and flank, the enemy retreated down the south end of the mountain
-and across the river, by pontoon, into Harper's Ferry. Kershaw and
-Barksdale moved to the position captured, overlooking the enemy in his
-stronghold. Major McLaws, of the division staff, directed the cutting
-of a road by which four rifled guns were brought to the heights, and
-by 2 p. m. on the 14th, while the battle at Boonsboro gap was raging,
-and the enemy had penetrated Pleasant valley by Crampton's gap and was
-marching on McLaws' rear, Captains Read and Carlton opened their guns
-on Harper's Ferry and Bolivar heights.
-
-Kershaw's work was done and well done, and he was ordered into the
-valley early on the morning of the 15th. While on the mountain the
-brigades suffered from want of water; not a drop could be obtained
-except at the foot of the ridge. The march on the crest was over
-crags and boulders, and the advance to battle was impeded by fallen
-trees and every possible obstruction. General Kershaw reported that
-not a man retired from his line who was not wounded, and especially
-spoke of the Seventh, Colonel Aiken, as bearing the brunt of the
-battle and suffering the heaviest loss. Lieut. Moultrie Dwight, of the
-brigade staff, was severely wounded by a fall from a precipice while
-communicating a message from Kershaw to Barksdale. Barksdale's loss was
-2 killed and 15 wounded. Kershaw lost 33 killed and 163 wounded; total,
-196. The Second South Carolina, not being engaged directly, suffered no
-casualties. The three regiments engaged numbered 100 officers and 863
-soldiers. The Third had 14 killed, 35 wounded, total 49; the Seventh,
-13 killed, 100 wounded, total 113; the Eighth, 6 killed, 28 wounded,
-total 34.
-
-Gregg's South Carolina brigade marched with Jackson's corps from the
-vicinity of Boonsboro on the 11th and camped at Williamsport on the
-Potomac. On the 12th, crossing the Potomac, Jackson marched upon
-Martinsburg, occupied by a Federal force under Brigadier-General
-White. Gregg was in front and deployed for battle, but White retired
-upon Harper's Ferry. Jackson entered the town and the inhabitants
-rejoicingly received him and his troops. His hungry men were feasted,
-their general caressed and honored, and the sutler's stores and army
-provisions left by the enemy duly appropriated. Marching on for
-Harper's Ferry, Jackson was in position before that place, on Bolivar
-heights, by noon of the 13th. Next day Gregg was sent to Jackson's
-right (with Branch's brigade) to take position on the Shenandoah, move
-along its north bank, and be ready on the morning of the 15th to
-assault from that point. Early on the 15th all the batteries opened on
-the defenses of Harper's Ferry, among them McIntosh's South Carolina
-battery. McLaws' rifled guns from Maryland heights, Walker's batteries
-from the Loudoun hills, and Jackson's from Bolivar heights poured
-their shot and shell into every opposing fort and battery, and the
-signal was about to be given to "cease firing" to give chance for the
-concerted assault of Jackson's infantry, when the banner of surrender
-was raised and Harper's Ferry was captured. The enemy replied from
-every one of his batteries with vigor, and kept up his defense until he
-saw his doom. Gregg had not lost a man, and remaining with A. P. Hill's
-division to secure the spoil of battle, his brigade reaped a harvest
-of good things at Harper's Ferry. The situation is thus described by
-Captain Caldwell:
-
- We fared sumptuously. In addition to meat, crackers, sugar, coffee,
- shoes, blankets, underclothing, etc., many of us captured horses, of
- which the quartermaster, however, duly deprived us.
-
- Jackson was the great theme of conversation. The Federals seemed
- never weary of extolling his genius and inquiring for particulars of
- his history. They were extremely anxious to see him. He came up from
- the riverside late in the afternoon. The intelligence spread like
- electricity. Almost the whole mass of prisoners broke over us, rushed
- to the road, threw up their hats, cheered, roared, bellowed, as even
- Jackson's own troops had scarcely ever done. We, of course, joined in
- with them. The general gave a stiff acknowledgment of the compliment,
- pulled down his hat, drove spurs into his horse, and went clattering
- down the hill away from the noise.
-
-The garrison of Harper's Ferry, surrendered, gave Jackson over 11,000
-prisoners, 73 pieces of artillery, 13,000 small-arms, and a large
-supply of military stores.
-
-General McClellan did not push his advantage gained at Boonsboro gap.
-It was 8 o'clock on the morning of the 15th before his troops appeared
-on the west of the mountain, and General Lee had the columns of D. H.
-Hill and Longstreet beyond his reach by that time. Marching all the
-night of the 14th, these commands were in front of Sharpsburg early
-on the morning of Monday, the 15th. Jackson left Harper's Ferry on
-the night following, with McLaws', Walker's and Anderson's divisions,
-marched up to Shepherdstown, and crossed the river and reported to
-General Lee on the battlefield early on the 16th. He had left A. P.
-Hill's division at Harper's Ferry to parole the prisoners, secure the
-property captured, and hold the place. As will be seen, McLaws and R.
-H. Anderson did not reach the field of battle until it had been raging
-for hours, but they came up, as did A. P. Hill, in time to reinforce
-Lee at critical moments.
-
-In writing of Sharpsburg there are particular features of that
-battlefield to which reference must frequently be made in order to
-comprehend the struggle, and these will first be noted.
-
-The town of Sharpsburg is about a mile from the southward bend of the
-Potomac. A straight line running due east from the Potomac and passing
-through Sharpsburg would cross the Antietam river about 1½ miles from
-the town. The general direction of the Antietam in front (east) of
-Sharpsburg is a little west of south. And this, too, is the general
-direction of the Potomac in the vicinity of the battlefield. About 3
-miles below Sharpsburg the Potomac makes a sweeping bend to the east
-and the Antietam to the west, the latter entering the former just below
-the point where the river turns sharply to the south. Lee's line was in
-front of Sharpsburg and behind the Antietam, which was easily forded,
-and crossed by good stone bridges in Lee's front and on each flank.
-
-Two main roads gave direction to the battle, one running north to
-Hagerstown, and the other a little north of east to Boonsboro. About
-1¼ miles from the town, on the Hagerstown road, was a church known as
-the Dunker's chapel, with a heavy wood north, south and west of it.
-The hills along the Antietam, on both sides, were high and commanding,
-and gave the best positions for artillery. The country between the
-Antietam and the Hagerstown road was undulatory, with good elevations
-for artillery, and south of Sharpsburg very much the same. The Antietam
-makes a very long bend to the west about 1½ miles below the town and
-then bends south again. General Lee's right rested on this bend, the
-hills being high and steep on the Sharpsburg side. Lee formed two lines
-of battle on the hills described, its direction parallel with the
-Antietam, bending toward the Potomac on the left.
-
-On the 15th, Longstreet was posted on the south of the Boonsboro road,
-and D. H. Hill north of it. Hood's division prolonged the line on
-Hill's left bending west until it touched the Hagerstown road. Jackson,
-early on the 16th, was put on Hood's left, with his right on the
-Hagerstown road. Stuart with cavalry and horse artillery guarded the
-extreme left next the Potomac. Walker, with his two brigades, came up
-from Harper's Ferry by afternoon, and was posted on the extreme right
-and immediately on the Antietam bluffs. As the divisions slept on arms,
-on the night of the 16th, they stood for battle, from right to left, in
-the following order: Walker, D. R. Jones, Evans (brigade), D. H. Hill,
-Hood, Lawton, J. R. Jones, cavalry. The artillery opened the great
-battle at dawn on the 17th, and before the sun had risen Jackson was
-hotly engaged with Hooker's corps on the Confederate left.
-
-Jackson's and Hood's troops held their ground with great courage and
-firmness, sometimes advancing in triumph and then repulsed by the front
-lines of the enemy. The history of Jackson's battle is a history of
-violent and bloody contention, advances and retirements, with ground
-lost, gained, relost and regained, until at last the enemy was forced
-to the defensive and the Confederate battle held on nearly its chosen
-line. The three corps of Hooker, Mansfield and Sumner were engaged in
-these battles with Jackson and Hood, while the latter were reinforced
-from time to time by three brigades from D. H. Hill, one from D. R.
-Jones, and two with Walker. These forces, with Jackson's two small
-divisions and Hood's two brigades, had forced the battle beyond the
-Hagerstown road, and were on the successful offensive, as against
-Hooker's and Mansfield's corps, when Sumner entered the battle. His
-advance was against Jackson's right and center, two of his divisions
-(Richardson's and French's) operating east of the turnpike and south of
-the church, and one (Sedgwick's) moving against the woods just north
-of the church. Sumner's line operated at once to check the tide of his
-retreating friends, and to stem that on his advancing foes. Fresh,
-strong and admirably handled, the divisions of Richardson, French and
-Sedgwick moved to renew the waning battle. Richardson, supported by
-French, moved against D. H. Hill's left center, and Sedgwick attacked
-in front and north of the church.
-
-Sumner's account of affairs on the battlefield when he reached it shows
-the work which had been done by the troops of Jackson, Hood, D. H. Hill
-and the brigade from D. R. Jones. He said: "On going upon the field,
-I found that General Hooker's corps had been dispersed and routed.
-I passed him some distance in the rear, where he had been carried
-wounded, but I saw nothing of his corps as I was advancing on the
-field. There were some troops lying down on the left which I took to
-belong to Mansfield's command. In the meantime, General Mansfield had
-been killed, and a portion of his corps thrown into confusion."
-
-Sedgwick had pushed his battle successfully, and was now south and
-west of the church and about to clear the woods, when the head of
-McLaws' division arrived from Harper's Ferry, worn down by their
-forced march, without food, and many of them footsore. But they were
-ready for battle, and appreciated the emergency. Portions of Hooker's
-and Mansfield's corps were attacking farther to Jackson's left, and
-Sumner's fresh corps was terribly aggressive. General Lee had ordered
-Walker from the extreme right, and he arrived in good time to join
-with McLaws. These commands, with portions of the troops that had been
-fighting all the morning, confronted the new advance, assailed it, beat
-it back, broke its order, and gained the position from which Sumner had
-advanced. Sedgwick was overwhelmed, but Richardson retired in order.
-The attack of Sumner on Lee's left and left center had failed, and
-failed by reason of the heroic, aggressive battle of McLaws and Walker,
-and the rallied fragments of Jackson's, Hood's, Hill's and Jones'
-troops.
-
-In this great achievement Kershaw's South Carolina brigade, of McLaws'
-division, bore a distinguished part. Arriving on the field just as
-Jackson's battle had been driven into the woods south of the chapel and
-the enemy were in plain view, McLaws advanced Kershaw against him in
-direct attack, the Second South Carolina leading. The struggle to be
-made was for the possession of the wood west and north of the chapel.
-Kershaw threw the Eighth, Seventh and Third forward to Kennedy's
-support, and they pressed their battle into the wood and beyond the
-chapel, supported right and left by their comrades, and by the fire
-of Read's battery. Aiken approached within 30 yards of a Federal
-battery, drove its gunners off, and was about to seize the guns when
-a flanking battery opened upon him with canister and drove him back.
-The enemy reinforced made assault after assault, and were as often
-repelled. Kershaw had established his line beyond the church, and here
-he held his battle throughout the day. Reporting upon the conduct of
-his brigade, he said that the Eighth, under Lieut.-Col. A. J. Hoole,
-carried in 45 men, rank and file, and lost 23; the Second, first to
-attack and drive the enemy, suffered the loss of Colonel Kennedy from
-a severe wound, and its gallant major, Franklin Gaillard, led it on
-against a front line, broke it, and pressed it beyond range of fire;
-the Third, under Nance, twice changed front under fire, and as often
-drove the opposing line; the Seventh, led by Aiken, trailed their
-progress to the cannon's mouth with the blood of their bravest, and
-out of 268 carried into action, lost 140, Colonel Aiken being among
-those most seriously wounded. The death of its gallant Maj. W. C. White
-deprived the service of an accomplished officer, a noble gentleman, and
-an elevated character.
-
-Without a supply of rations from Monday to Wednesday; constantly under
-arms, marching, or in action during that period, no sleep and but brief
-halts for rest, Kershaw's gallant command fought at Sharpsburg as if
-they had come to the field from a well-provided camp.
-
-But Sumner's work was not yet done. Richardson and French, supported
-by their famous batteries, many of them rifled guns, returned to the
-attack, directing their march directly against D. H. Hill's center
-on the Boonsboro road. He had sent Ripley, Garland and Colquitt to
-reinforce the struggle on the left, and had with him only two brigades
-of his own division (Rodes' and G. B. Anderson's), his batteries,
-Evans' brigade under Col. P. F. Stevens, and Boyce's battery. With
-these troops Hill met and repelled Richardson's first advance. General
-Lee sent up R. H. Anderson's division to his support, and Hill formed
-that command behind his front line. By the mistake of a subordinate,
-Rodes' brigade was moved from the front line and a broad gap left
-in Hill's defense. At once Richardson saw his advantage and pressed
-his troops into and beyond the gap. We give, substantially, General
-Hill's account. G. B. Anderson held his brigade in position, while
-the Federals poured through the gap, making all the defense he could,
-until he was wounded, when his brigade broke in panic, but Colonel
-Bennett and Major Sillers of North Carolina rallied a portion of the
-brigade. There were no troops near, except some rallied fragments of
-commands, to hold the center. Hill was now back to the hill which
-commanded Sharpsburg and the rear. Affairs looked critical. A battery
-in a cornfield was ordered up, and proved to be Boyce's South Carolina
-battery, attached to Evans' brigade. It moved out most gallantly, in
-full view, and exposed to a terrible direct and reverse fire from
-rifled guns beyond the Antietam. A caisson was exploded, but the
-battery unlimbered and with grape and canister poured volley after
-volley so fast into the advancing troops that they halted, wavered,
-and then broke in retreat. With such of his troops as he could call to
-his immediate command, Hill charged, was checked, repulsed and charged
-again, and at last the center was secure.
-
-The part borne by Evans' brigade of South Carolinians in this defense
-of the center is described by Colonel Stevens, commanding:
-
- Sickness, fatigue and casualties of battle had reduced the brigade to
- a mere skeleton. Placed in position near the town and north of the
- Boonsboro road, the brigade acted as support with various batteries,
- until the afternoon, when the attack in front pressing, General Evans
- ordered it deployed as skirmishers to meet the enemy. In this position
- we were forced back, until I again advanced, and with Boyce's battery
- broke the line in my front and drove them back. The force in our
- front having retired, and Colonel Walker, commanding Jenkins' South
- Carolina brigade, on our right, having sent to me for artillery, I
- ordered Captain Boyce with his battery to report to him. Night coming
- on, the brigade bivouacked on the field.... During the engagement at
- Sharpsburg my men behaved well, obeyed orders, and never gave back
- except at my command.
-
-Boyce lost 15 horses. Sergt. Thomas E. Dawkins and Private James Rogers
-were killed, Privates B. Miller and E. Shirley mortally wounded,
-and Lieut. H. F. Scaife and 15 of the battery more or less severely
-wounded. Sergt. B. T. Glenn continued to work his piece long after
-receiving a very severe wound.[E]
-
-[Footnote E: Captain Boyce mentions all his officers, Lieutenants
-Jeter, Porter, Scaife and Monro, and Sergeants Glenn, Humphreys,
-Bunch, and Young, and Corporals Rutland, Byrd, Watts and Schartle; and
-Privates Scaife, Garner, Hodges, Shirley, Simpson, Gondelock, A. Sim,
-L. H. Sims, Willard, Peek, Gossett and Franklin, for distinguished
-gallantry in the battles from the Rappahannock to Antietam.]
-
-Colonel McMaster, of the Seventeenth South Carolina, Evans' brigade,
-reports that he carried into the battle only 59 officers and men, so
-great had been his losses from sickness and wounds and straggling.
-Out of these he lost 19 in battle. There are no separate returns of
-the losses of Evans' brigade at Boonsboro gap and Sharpsburg, but in
-these two they are reported as follows: Holcombe legion, 18 wounded;
-Seventeenth, 18 killed, 49 wounded; Eighteenth, 3 killed, 39 wounded;
-Twenty-second, 8 killed, 64 wounded; Twenty-third, 14 killed, 66
-wounded; aggregate, 43 killed, 236 wounded.
-
-While D. H. Hill was defending the center, Longstreet's line was
-assailed, on Lee's right. Crossing at the bridge and fords General
-Burnside's troops threw their masses against D. R. Jones' division.
-Jenkins' brigade under Colonel Walker was on the left of Jones'
-division, and the operations are reported by Colonel Walker. During
-the 16th the brigade lay in line south of the Boonsboro road exposed
-to an incessant fire of artillery from batteries posted east of the
-Antietam. In the afternoon of the 17th Walker was moved forward, and
-supported a part of the Washington artillery, of New Orleans. These
-gallant batteries were constantly engaged, and drew an unceasing fire
-upon Walker as well as themselves. The guns withdrew for ammunition
-and Walker went forward 400 yards to an apple orchard. The enemy being
-near, Walker attacked with the Palmetto sharpshooters and the Second
-rifles on the right, the Sixth, Fifth and First continuing the line to
-the left.
-
-The fire of the brigade was so steady and so well delivered, that
-when about to advance, the force in its front broke and retired to
-the woods on the Antietam. On Walker's right, the attack on Generals
-Kemper and Drayton was so heavy that those brigades were giving ground,
-and the enemy was pressing up a ravine in their rear and on their
-right. Walker changed his front, and attacking the flagging force, in
-concert with Drayton and Kemper, drove back the advancing line. In this
-repulse the guns of Rhett's battery, under Lieut. William Elliott, did
-splendid service, firing at short range on the infantry masses as they
-came up from the Antietam against Jones. The losses of the brigade at
-Sharpsburg were 26 killed and 184 wounded, the heaviest loss falling
-on the Palmetto sharpshooters. Capts. J. E. Lee and N. W. Harbin, of
-the sharpshooters, were killed; and Lieut.-Col. D. Livingston, of
-the First; Capt. E. B. Cantey, commanding the Sixth; Lieut. J. C.
-McFadden, of the Sixth; Lieuts. H. H. Thompson and W. N. Major, of the
-sharpshooters, were wounded. To that part of the action of Jenkins'
-brigade in which it was turned by Walker to deliver its fire upon the
-forces driving back Kemper and Drayton, Gen. D. R. Jones, the division
-commander, makes complimentary reference in a paragraph in which he
-also refers to the Fifteenth, in Drayton's brigade: "The Fifteenth
-South Carolina, Colonel De Saussure, fell back very slowly and in
-order, forming the nucleus on which the brigade rallied." In the two
-engagements of Boonsboro Gap and Sharpsburg, the Fifteenth lost 110
-killed and wounded.
-
-The attack upon Jones on the right, coming from a whole corps, and met
-by his division alone, numbering less than 2,500, and the artillery
-on his line, gave illustration of endurance, courage and resolution
-seldom if ever surpassed in the annals of war. General Toombs, with his
-artillery and two Georgia regiments, repulsed five separate assaults
-by Burnside's forces, and only retired when every cartridge had been
-fired and his position had been turned by a passage below him. Just
-at the moment when Jones was driven back upon the town and the corps
-of General Burnside under General Cox was sweeping up on his front
-and right and making for a lodgment on the Shepherdstown road in his
-rear, Lee's line of retreat, the division of A. P. Hill, which had been
-marching all day, reported on Jones' right and formed forward into
-battle. This arrival saved the day.
-
-Hill placed his batteries rapidly and opened with canister; but before
-his infantry could be formed the enemy had charged the guns and
-captured McIntosh's battery and flag. Not a moment was to be lost if
-Lee's line to Shepherdstown was to be saved, and A. P. Hill and Jones
-ordered the charge. "My troops were not in a moment too soon," says
-Hill. With a yell of defiance Archer charged [with Toombs] recaptured
-McIntosh's battery and drove the enemy pell-mell down the slope;
-Gregg and Branch, from Archer's left, poured in a deadly fire as they
-steadily moved down the slope, and the whole line of attack broke and
-retired to the Antietam. Night settled down upon the battlefield of
-Antietam and the bloodiest struggle of the war was over.
-
-Gregg's casualties were 163 killed and wounded, of which the First lost
-4 killed and 30 wounded; Orr's Rifles, 3 killed and 9 wounded; Twelfth,
-20 killed and 82 wounded; Thirteenth, 1 killed and 14 wounded. The
-Fourteenth was not engaged.
-
-The brave and accomplished Col. Dixon Barnes, of the Twelfth, fell
-mortally wounded. Lieut. Archibald McIntire, of the First, and Capt.
-F. A. Irwin and Lieut. J. B. Blackman, of the Twelfth, were killed.
-Capt. M. P. Parker, of the First; Capts. J. L. Miller and H. C. Davis
-and Lieut. R. M. Carr, of the Twelfth; Lieuts. J. M. Wheeler and W. L.
-Litzsey, of the Thirteenth, and Capt. James Perrin, commanding Orr's
-Rifles, were wounded.
-
-Space does not permit a review of this great battle. It was a gigantic
-struggle of eighteen hours. General McClellan referred to it as a
-mighty contest in which 200,000 men contended for mastery! General
-Lee reported it as a protracted and sanguinary conflict in which
-every effort of the enemy to dislodge him from his position had been
-defeated with severe loss. The battle was not renewed on the 18th.
-General McClellan, reporting to his government, said that a sense of
-duty to the army and the country forbade a renewal of the fight on the
-18th without reinforcements, the probabilities of defeat being too
-great. Whatever General McClellan's strength, it is certain General
-Lee fought around Sharpsburg with less than 40,000 men of all arms.
-When Lee was at Frederickstown, his army numbered, by its returns, in
-round numbers, 61,000 of all arms. The battles of Boonsboro, Crampton's
-Gap and Harper's Ferry, with the cavalry engagements, followed. These,
-of course, reduced the fighting force, but his heaviest losses were
-from straggling incident to the rapid marches and the actual suffering
-of the troops for the want of sleep and food between Boonsboro and
-Sharpsburg. The remarks of Gen. D. H. Hill will apply to most of the
-divisions. He says:
-
- My ranks had diminished by straggling, and on the morning of the 17th
- I had but 3,000 infantry.... Our wagons had been sent off across
- the river on Sunday, and for three days the men had been sustaining
- life on green corn and such cattle as they could kill in the field.
- In charging through an apple orchard with the immediate prospect of
- death before them, I noticed men eagerly devouring apples.... Had all
- our stragglers been up, McClellan's army would have been completely
- crushed.
-
-In leaving the battlefield of Sharpsburg, the writer pauses to pay a
-tribute of respect and love to a brave and accomplished soldier, his
-preceptor at the South Carolina military academy, and his honored
-friend. Col. Charles Courtney Tew, the gallant commander of the Second
-North Carolina, in Anderson's brigade of D. H. Hill's division, fell at
-the head of his regiment in Hill's defense of the center against the
-attack of Richardson in the afternoon. After graduating at the head of
-the first class to leave the South Carolina military academy, Colonel
-Tew became one of its able and distinguished professors. Removing
-to North Carolina, he established a military academy at Hillsboro,
-and when the time came for battle he was at the head of the second
-regiment raised in the old North State. Modest, resolute, sincere,
-devoted to study and to work, he was an accomplished scholar, a true
-and noble spirit, and a resolute character. General Hill said of him,
-while reporting his ability and gallantry, and lamenting his loss:
-"He had no superior as a soldier in the field." Knowing him well, we
-can understand how his efficiency at the head of a regiment and his
-fine attainments as a soldier, would make such an impression upon his
-major-general. How many such men did the South yield up in willing and
-costly sacrifice on the altar of Southern independence!
-
-The last guns of the Maryland campaign of 1862 were fired at
-Shepherdstown and by the cavalry in front of Williamsport, on the 20th
-of September. In both these actions South Carolina troops took part,
-under Generals Gregg and Hampton. General Lee's army was behind the
-Opequon on the 19th; that of McClellan was threatening the passages
-of the Potomac. The cavalry under Stuart, with Hampton's brigade in
-advance, had moved up the right bank of the Potomac and crossed into
-Maryland, at Williamsport, to watch and threaten the enemy's right and
-rear. Advancing from Williamsport, Hampton met a strong force of all
-arms sent to oppose Stuart, successfully skirmished with it all day of
-the 20th, and recrossed the river into Virginia without loss at night.
-
-On the evening of the 19th, General Porter with the Federal Fifth corps
-was at the Shepherdstown ford, with his artillery on the Maryland
-hills and his sharpshooters lining the left flank. Under cover of his
-artillery, he successfully crossed a portion of his command, stormed
-the position on the Virginia side, drove off the infantry force of 600
-men, and captured four guns of General Pendleton's artillery. Early on
-the 20th, A. P. Hill was sent with his division to drive Porter's force
-back and hold the crossing. In executing this command General Hill
-fought the battle of Shepherdstown.
-
-General Porter in his report represents the attack of General Hill to
-have been made upon two of his brigades, and a part of a third, who, by
-his order, recrossed the river, under the cover of his batteries, with
-little injury, except to the One Hundred and Eighteenth Pennsylvania
-regiment. He gives as the reason for his retrograde movement that the
-enemy (Hill) was reported as advancing in force. Reading the Federal
-general's report, one not conversant with the facts would naturally
-suppose that Hill's division met the Pennsylvania regiment alone in
-actual battle, and as Porter says that this regiment became "confused"
-early in the action, and their arms were ineffective, it would appear
-that Hill had little to do.
-
-General Hill, after stating that the brigades on the Virginia side
-were making preparations to hold their position, thus describes the
-situation: "I formed my division in two lines--in the first, Pender,
-Gregg and Thomas, under Gregg; in the second, Lane, Archer and
-Brockenbrough, under Archer. The enemy had lined the opposite hills
-with some 70 pieces of artillery, and the infantry who had crossed
-lined the crest of the high banks on the Virginia shore.... The advance
-was made in the face of the most tremendous fire of artillery I ever
-saw." Mr. Caldwell, in his history, says: "We were under the fire
-of their batteries the whole time, though they did not open heavily
-upon us until we cleared the cornfield; then their fire was terrific!
-Shot, shell and canister swept the whole surface of the earth. Yet
-the advance was beautifully executed. It excelled even the marching
-of the enemy at Sharpsburg.... The roar of the pieces and the howl
-and explosion of shells were awful. Sometimes a shell burst in the
-ranks, tearing and mangling all around it. In Pender's brigade I saw a
-man lifted in the air. But all in vain. The ranks closed up, and the
-advance continued without a falter." Alluding to this heroic advance,
-General Hill says: "Too much praise cannot be awarded to my regiments
-for their steady, unwavering step."
-
-Describing the fighting with the infantry, General Hill said that
-his left brigade was so hotly engaged with the enemy's infantry that
-Pender called on Archer for help, and the latter moved his own brigade
-to Pender's, thus putting four brigades on the front line. The One
-Hundred and Eighteenth Pennsylvania, confused as it was, with damaged
-arms, could hardly have done so much against a line of battle that had
-marched to the attack through such an artillery fire as both sides
-report was poured upon it. At close quarters with General Porter's
-troops, Hill ordered the final charge, and the brigades of the Fifth
-corps were driven into and across the river, hundreds being drowned,
-over 200 prisoners taken, and the dead and wounded left on the field of
-battle.
-
-In this battle the heaviest loss fell on Hill's left flank. The
-greatest loss of the South Carolina brigade was in the Fourteenth
-regiment, which had 10 killed, among them the gallant Capt. James H.
-Dunlap, and 45 wounded, most of them by the artillery fire. In the
-other regiments of Gregg's brigade, 8 were wounded, including Lieut. D.
-H. Hamilton, adjutant of the First.
-
-After this engagement General Lee camped his army behind the Opequon,
-and the weary soldiers enjoyed a rest. Regiments and brigades were
-assigned new commanders to take the places of those who had fallen on
-the field. Men who had greatly distinguished themselves for personal
-gallantry in the ranks, were either elected to office by their fellow
-soldiers, or promoted upon special recommendation of their superiors.
-
-The description which Mr. Caldwell gives of the condition of
-the troops at this time is so graphic, and the writer, from his
-observations and experiences, knows it to be so true to the facts, that
-he quotes it here entire, as applicable to all the commands of Lee's
-army, after their marches and battles and toil and suffering in the
-memorable months of August and September, 1862:
-
- It is difficult to describe the condition of the troops at this time,
- so great and various was their wretchedness. They were sunburnt,
- gaunt, ragged, scarcely at all shod--specters and caricatures of their
- former selves. Since the beginning of August they had been almost
- constantly on the march, had been scorched by the sultriest sun of the
- year, had been drenched with the rain and the heavy dews peculiar to
- this latitude, had lost much night rest, had worn out their clothing
- and shoes, and received nothing but what they could pick up on the
- battlefield. They had thrown away their knapsacks and blankets, in
- order to travel light; had fed on half-cooked dough, often raw bacon
- as well as raw beef; had devoured green corn and green apples, and
- contracted diarrhea and dysentery of the most malignant type. They now
- stood, an emaciated, limping, ragged mass, whom no stranger to their
- gallant exploits could have believed capable of anything the least
- worthy. Orders were published for instant and thorough ablution, and
- the men were marched by squads and companies to the Opequon.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX.
-
- HAMPTON'S CAVALRY IN THE MARYLAND RAID--THE BATTLE OF
- FREDERICKSBURG--DEATH OF GREGG--SOUTH CAROLINIANS AT MARYE'S
- HILL--CAVALRY OPERATIONS.
-
-
-EARLY in October, General Lee, from his camp at Winchester, in the
-Virginia valley, directed J. E. B. Stuart to take a picked force of
-1,500 cavalry, cross the Potomac above Williamsport, penetrate the
-rear of General McClellan's army, damage his railroad communications,
-and gain such information of his positions, strength, etc., as
-this opportunity would afford. He was to return by such route as
-circumstances would determine. In this expedition, Hampton's brigade
-was in advance, and crossed at McCoy's ford by the dawn of day on
-October 10th. A section of Hart's South Carolina battery, and 175
-picked men of the Second South Carolina cavalry, under Colonel Butler,
-were with Hampton. Lieutenant Phillips, Tenth Virginia, with 25
-dismounted men, at the appointed moment waded the river and surprised
-the enemy's pickets above the ford, while Butler dashed across with
-his troopers and routed the guard, and in five minutes the ford was
-secured. Hampton's brigade leading, rode on rapidly, passing through
-the narrow strip of Maryland into Pennsylvania, and arrived before
-Chambersburg at night. Placing Hart's guns in position, the town
-surrendered upon demand (made through Lieut. T. C. Lee, Second South
-Carolina), and General Hampton moved his little brigade into it at 10
-o'clock at night and established a rigid provost guard, with Capt.
-J. P. Macfie, Second cavalry, in command. The night was spent in
-Chambersburg, and on the morning of the 11th, Hampton was ordered to
-destroy the depot and such storehouses as contained munitions of war.
-This was promptly done, and as rear guard General Hampton took up his
-march behind Stuart's column. The march was continued through the day
-and night of the 11th, and the early morning of the 12th found the rear
-guard at Barnesville, on the Potomac, with the enemy's advance pressing.
-
-Hampton sent part of his command and one of Hart's guns down the
-Poolesville road on his left, and with the other and the Second
-South Carolina and Phillips' legion, he defended the crossing of the
-wagons, led horses and the two other brigades of Stuart. This being
-successfully accomplished, he crossed most of his brigade under cover
-of one of Hart's pieces, then sent the gun over, and brought his last
-regiment to the Virginia shore, without losing a man or a horse. The
-brigade brought over 260 horses captured on the raid. General Hampton
-mentioned in terms of praise the conduct of his whole brigade, and
-especially commended the service rendered by Captain Macfie, Second
-South Carolina; Capt. W. H. H. Cowles, First North Carolina; Capt. T.
-G. Barker, adjutant-general of the brigade, and Lieutenants Hamilton
-and Phillips.
-
-Early in November, the Federal army, under McClellan, was concentrated
-about Warrenton, Va., and General Lee had thrown Longstreet in its
-front, at Culpeper Court House. McClellan's plan was to move directly
-upon Culpeper and Gordonsville. President Lincoln thought his movements
-too slow and cautious, losing much time after the battle of Sharpsburg,
-and had written him to this effect under date of October 13th. In this
-letter Mr. Lincoln revealed the insight of an experienced soldier and
-admirable common sense, incidentally paying the Confederate army and
-its chief so many tributes that we quote the paragraphs: "Are you not
-overcautious [he asked McClellan], when you assume that you cannot do
-what the enemy is constantly doing? Should you not claim to be at least
-his equal in prowess and act upon the claim?" McClellan had called
-for the rebuilding of the road from Harper's Ferry to Winchester, in
-order to supply his army if he moved against Lee, then at Winchester.
-Mr. Lincoln reminded him that Lee was subsisting his army without a
-railroad, hauling his supplies twice the distance from Harper's Ferry
-to Winchester. The President rallied his general for not operating on
-Lee's communications and for being so anxious about his own, and said:
-"Change positions with the enemy, and think you not he would break your
-communication with Richmond in the next twenty-four hours?... You are
-now nearer Richmond than the enemy is, by the route that you can and
-he must take. Why can you not reach there before him, unless you admit
-that he is more than your equal on a march? His route is the arc of a
-circle, while yours is the chord. The roads are as good on yours as on
-his." The President was for aggressive action, and urged his general
-to strike at Lee directly, through the gaps in the mountains, on his
-communications, in any way, so he fought and beat him. "I would press
-closely to him; fight him if a favorable opportunity should present,
-and at least try to beat him to Richmond on the inside track. I say
-'try;' if we never 'try,' we shall never succeed.... We should not so
-operate as merely to drive him away. As we must beat him somewhere, or
-fail finally, we can do it, if at all, easier near to us than far away.
-If we cannot beat the enemy where he now is [at or about Winchester],
-we never can, he again being within the intrenchments of Richmond."
-
-This letter, written on the 13th of October, did not have the effect
-of either breaking up General Lee's wagon communications, or beating
-him in direct battle. The first week of November found the Federal army
-cautiously concentrating about Warrenton, and on the 5th of November,
-President Lincoln issued an order relieving McClellan from command and
-giving the army to General Burnside. The new commander took charge on
-the 9th, and on the 15th began his march on the "chord," while Lee took
-the "arc." Burnside's plan was to "beat" Lee to Fredericksburg, cross
-the river on pontoons and seize the heights, and "move upon Richmond
-from that point."
-
-The advance of Burnside's army reached Falmouth on the 17th. Colonel
-Ball, with a regiment of Virginia cavalry, a regiment of infantry and
-two batteries of artillery, prevented a crossing and held the city of
-Fredericksburg.
-
-On the 22d, at 8 p. m., General Lee informed President Davis by
-telegram from Fredericksburg, that General Burnside's whole army was on
-the left bank of the river opposite Fredericksburg; that he was on the
-heights with four divisions of Longstreet's corps, Pendleton's reserve
-artillery, and two brigades of Stuart; that the Fifth division of
-Longstreet would be up on the 23d, and that he would resist an attempt
-to cross the river.
-
-On the 23d, Lee ordered Jackson, in the Valley, to move east of the
-mountains and put his corps in position at Warrenton, or Culpeper,
-on the flank of Burnside, where he would be in calling distance when
-needed. On the 25th he again wrote Jackson, that as far as he could
-judge, Burnside was repairing the railroad to the Potomac, getting up
-supplies, and making ready for a move on Richmond. "To delay him,"
-said General Lee, "and throw him into the winter, I have determined to
-resist him from the beginning. From the circumstances which surround
-you, if you see that no good can be obtained from a flank movement
-on Culpeper or Warrenton, you can march directly to this point."
-Accordingly, on December 1st, Jackson was in position on Longstreet's
-right, and General Lee's army was united.
-
-General Burnside's army was arranged in three grand divisions--right,
-center and left--commanded by Generals Sumner, Hooker and Franklin.
-In each grand division there were six divisions, with cavalry and
-numerous batteries attached. According to General Burnside's report,
-he had in battle line in Lee's front, December 13th, an army 113,000
-strong. There were four brigades of cavalry on his immediate flanks,
-and twenty-three batteries with Franklin's wing and nineteen with
-Sumner's and Hooker's. In the battle, as reported by the chief of
-artillery, all of Franklin's batteries were engaged on the field (116
-guns), and only seven batteries of Sumner's and Hooker's. To cover the
-crossing of the river on the 12th, General Hunt reported 147 guns in
-battery along the Stafford hills.
-
-Confronting this magnificent array of guns and infantry, Lee's army
-was drawn up on the hills behind Fredericksburg, "with a view to
-resist the enemy's advance after crossing," as General Lee expressed
-it. Longstreet's corps, five divisions, was the left, and Jackson's,
-four divisions, the right wing of Lee's army. From Longstreet's left,
-resting on the river at Taylor hill, to Jackson's right on the wooded
-height at Hamilton, the divisions stood as follows: Anderson's,
-McLaws', Pickett's and Hood's, of Longstreet's wing; and A. P. Hill's,
-of Jackson's wing. Ransom's division was in support of the guns on
-Marye's and Willis' hills. Behind A. P. Hill were the divisions of
-Early, Taliaferro and D. H. Hill in columns of division. A. P. Hill's
-division was in two lines, the brigades of Archer, Lane and Pender in
-front, and Gregg and Thomas behind them. There was a gap between Archer
-and Lane, and Gregg was some distance behind this gap. The woods hid
-the front line of A. P. Hill from its supports. Jackson had fourteen
-guns on his right and twenty-one on his left, posted in good positions
-to sweep his front and flank. Walton's and Alexander's battalions of
-artillery occupied the Marye's height and the hills to right and left,
-on which were also posted the batteries of the divisions of Anderson,
-Ransom and McLaws.
-
-In this disposition of the troops the South Carolina commands were
-posted as follows: Gregg's brigade on the right, as has been noted;
-McIntosh's battery, with Lieut.-Col. R. L. Walker's guns, on the
-extreme right of A. P. Hill; Jenkins' brigade with Pickett's division;
-Bachman's and Garden's batteries on Hood's line; Rhett's battery in
-Alexander's battalion; Kershaw's brigade in McLaws' line, with the left
-of the brigade resting on Hazel run. The brigade of Gen. N. G. Evans,
-with Boyce's battery, had been ordered to South Carolina early in
-November.
-
-The part which fell to the South Carolina commands in the battle of
-Fredericksburg will now be related. That allotted to Gregg's brigade
-is sad to relate, for it involved the death of the gallant commander.
-The first attack of the day was made on Walker's guns and A. P. Hill's
-division, on the extreme right. The enemy's batteries, from the plain
-and from the Stafford hills, had been raking Hill's front for hours.
-Stuart had held the Federal infantry advance in check, with Pelham's
-enfilade fire, as long as he could maintain his exposed position in
-front of Jackson's right, and had been forced to retire. At noon, the
-division of General Meade, supported on its right by that of General
-Gibbon and on its left by that of General Doubleday, advanced to the
-assault of the position at Hamilton's, held by A. P. Hill. Meade
-received the fire of McIntosh's and Pegram's, Crenshaw's and Latham's
-guns, which checked, then broke, and finally drove back his advance.
-Promptly reforming, Meade and Gibbon marched steadily on through the
-artillery fire, and rushed against Hill. Archer and Lane and Pender met
-the assault, and the battle was sternly contested. Meade and Gibbon
-pressed their attack and entered the woods in the unfortunate interval
-between Archer and Lane. Lane and Archer were flanked right and left.
-Lane gave away slowly, and Archer's left was overwhelmed.
-
-Thomas came to Lane's help in answer to his call, and they held Gibbon
-back, but Meade pressed on through the woods and took Gregg by
-surprise. Gregg was fully persuaded that the time had not come for his
-advance, and being without orders from Hill, unaware of the interval
-between Archer and Lane, unable to see in the thick woods, and not
-believing the enemy near him, he had resisted the request of his men
-to fire for fear of damaging Lane and Archer. Suddenly Meade's troops
-came in sight of Orr's rifles on his right and opened a fire upon them
-before they could return it. This threw the rifles into confusion, and
-but for the firmness of the First regiment, immediately on the left,
-and the conduct of the left company of the rifles, under Lieut. J. D.
-Charles, the whole brigade would have been routed, for General Gregg,
-who had promptly ridden to his right, was immediately shot from his
-horse, and at the critical moment the brigade was without its head.
-
-Col. D. H. Hamilton, of the First, senior officer, quickly grasping
-the situation, changed his front on his tenth company, to the rear,
-and opened on the mass of the enemy at close quarters, the left
-company of the rifles, under Lieutenant Charles, taking post on his
-right. Holding his position, Hamilton was immediately supported by
-the other regiments of the brigade, the Twelfth coming up on his left
-and the Thirteenth and Fourteenth, under McGowan, on his right, and
-they stood firmly against Meade's attack, delivering their fire at
-close quarters, without giving a foot. Driven from their guns, Orr's
-rifles were helpless, but every man who survived hailed the moment of
-his ability to regain his place in the front. Some of them, seizing
-their guns from the stacks, fought in the ranks of the First regiment.
-Sergeant Pratt, of Company B, rallied a number of the men, and took his
-place on the right of Lieutenant Charles' company. The Fifth Alabama
-battalion, the Twenty-second Virginia battalion, and the Forty-seventh
-Virginia regiment, from Archer's and Brockenbrough's brigades, came up
-to Hamilton's assistance, and together the Carolinians, Alabamians and
-Virginians charged and drove back the bold assault of Meade. Jackson
-sent Early forward, and a sweeping charge of his division drove Meade
-and Gibbon back and beyond the railroad. The attack on Gregg was wholly
-unexpected by that brave and gallant soldier, who had exerted himself
-to keep his brigade quiet, particularly cautioning them that their
-friends were in front.
-
-The casualties of the brigade were reported as follows: Orr's Rifles,
-21 killed, 149 wounded; First South Carolina, 15 killed, 58 wounded;
-Twelfth South Carolina, 1 killed, 7 wounded; Thirteenth South Carolina,
-3 killed, 52 wounded; Fourteenth South Carolina, 28 wounded; aggregate,
-336. The main loss was sustained by Orr's rifles, who were attacked
-lying down behind their stacks, and 170 of them killed and wounded and
-their general slain, before they could grasp their arms in defense. In
-the First regiment Capt. T. H. Lyles was killed. Capt. T. P. Alston,
-Lieutenant Armstrong, Lieut. Thomas McCrady, and Lieut. W. J. Delph
-were wounded. Captain Alston returned to the field, after his wound
-was dressed, despite the remonstrances of the surgeon. Adjt.-Gen. A.
-C. Haskell, severely wounded, refused to leave the field until he sank
-fainting from loss of blood.
-
-General Gregg was shot through the spine, and died the day after the
-battle. Seeing he must die, he sent his respects to the governor of
-his State, and assured him that he "gave his life cheerfully for South
-Carolina." General Hill said of him, in his official report, "A more
-chivalrous gentleman and gallant soldier never adorned the service
-which he so loved." General Jackson, in his report, deplored the loss
-of "a brave and accomplished officer, full of heroic sentiment and
-chivalrous honor." General Lee wrote to Governor Pickens to claim a
-share in South Carolina's sorrow, and to express his appreciation of
-her loss and the loss to his army. "He has always been at the post of
-duty and of danger," said General Lee. "His services in this army have
-been of inestimable value, and his loss is deeply lamented. In its
-greatest triumphs and bloodiest battles he has borne a distinguished
-part.... The death of such a man is a costly sacrifice, for it is to
-men of his high integrity and commanding intellect that the country
-must look to give character to her councils, that she may be respected
-and honored by all nations." Mr. Caldwell, the brigade historian, pays
-his general a worthy tribute, and speaks of his high character, his
-heroic courage, his careful, unswerving, unselfish equity. He was a Ney
-on the battlefield and a Rhadamanthus in giving judgment.
-
-The distinguished part borne by Kershaw's brigade at Fredericksburg
-will now be referred to. As already stated, Kershaw was in McLaws'
-line, to the right of Marye's hill. His brigade included, besides the
-Second, Third, Seventh and Eighth, the Fifteenth, transferred from
-Drayton's brigade, and the Third battalion, known as James' battalion.
-These transfers were made by General Lee on November 26th, and the
-policy adopted, as far as possible, of brigading troops of the same
-State together.
-
-On the morning of the 11th, being called on to reinforce General
-Barksdale's pickets on the river, at Deep run, General Kershaw sent
-the Fifteenth, Colonel De Saussure, upon this duty. During the night,
-so bitterly cold was the weather, one of De Saussure's men was
-frozen to death, and others so badly as to be temporarily disabled
-for service. Under such circumstances of suffering the fortitude and
-courage required of the soldier on picket are as great and as noble
-as when displayed in charging the batteries of the enemy. The brigade
-was at work on the line strengthening the position, until the hour of
-its battle. At 10 o'clock on the 13th, while Meade and Gibbon were
-assaulting A. P. Hill, and Sumner and Hooker were throwing their
-divisions against Marye's hill, Kershaw was ordered to reinforce
-the position held by General Cobb at the foot of the hill. The
-Second regiment, Col. A. D. Kennedy, and the Eighth, Capt. E. T.
-Stackhouse, were sent forward. Before these regiments could reach their
-destination, Kershaw was directed by General McLaws to go with his
-whole brigade and take personal command, as the gallant and noble Cobb
-had been mortally wounded, and General Cooke, who supported him from
-the crest in rear, was also wounded.
-
-Riding rapidly forward, General Kershaw reached the point with the
-Second and Eighth just in time to meet and assist in repulsing a fresh
-assault. Kershaw describes the position at the stone wall so clearly
-that we quote his report:
-
- Marye's hill, covered with our batteries--then occupied by the
- Washington artillery, Colonel Walton commanding--falls off abruptly
- toward Fredericksburg to a stone wall, which forms a terrace on the
- side of the hill and the outer margin of the Telegraph road, which
- winds along the foot of the hill. The road is about 25 feet wide, and
- is faced by a stone wall about 4 feet wide on the city side. The road
- having been cut out of the side of the hill, in many places this wall
- is not visible above the surface of the ground. The ground falls off
- rapidly to almost a level surface, which extends about 150 yards,
- then, with another abrupt fall of a few feet, to another plain which
- extends some 200 yards, and then falls off abruptly to a wide ravine,
- which extends along the whole front of the city and discharges into
- Hazel run.
-
-The brigade of General Cobb had held the position behind the stone wall
-against the attack of the Federal Second corps, the three divisions of
-that corps, French's, Hancock's and Howard's, assaulting successively
-in the order named. In making his heroic defense, Cobb was supported
-by the artillery fire from the hill in his rear, and the infantry fire
-from the crest, delivered by the brigade of General Cooke. When Kershaw
-arrived, the attack of the Ninth corps was pending, and Sturgis'
-division of that corps was moving forward. Throwing his two regiments
-behind the wall, in the sunken road, the line of Confederates, four
-deep, delivered their fire with such deadly effect that the column
-of Sturgis was checked, broken and driven in confusion back on its
-supports. Meanwhile the remaining regiments of Kershaw's brigade were
-reporting for position as they successively came up. Col. James Nance,
-with the Third, formed to the left of the Marye house with his right
-at the house, and the Seventh, Lieut.-Col. Elbert Bland, formed on the
-right of the house with his left in front of the house and touching the
-Fifteenth North Carolina, of Cooke's brigade. Bland's position was not
-so exposed as that of Nance, as he was partially protected by an abrupt
-rise along his front. Nance was in the open and terribly exposed.
-The Fifteenth, Colonel De Saussure, was placed in rear of Walton's
-battalion as a support.
-
-These regiments took their position under the enemy's artillery and
-infantry fire. De Saussure being under the crest, could not reply, but
-Nance and Bland, firing over the troops at the stone wall, delivered
-their volleys into Getty's column of attack as it advanced boldly
-against Kershaw to make the fifth division assault of the day. Getty
-made a gallant charge, but all in vain. Walton's guns, the fire from
-the North Carolinians and the volleys of Nance and Bland, all pouring
-down on him from the hills, and the steady stream from the Georgians
-of Cobb and the Carolinians of Kershaw at the stone wall, broke up his
-front and his march, and he, too, went to the rear in confusion.
-
-Three divisions of the Second and two of the Ninth corps had now been
-beaten in detail in the attempt to carry the Confederate position.
-General Sumner's right grand division had been repulsed by three
-brigades and the artillery. General Burnside, bitterly disappointed
-that Franklin, with 60,000 troops, had not crushed Jackson and turned
-Lee's right, and unwilling to accept General Hooker's assurance that
-it was a "hopeless" task to attack the stone wall again, determined
-that it must be done, and ordered Hooker forward with his Fifth corps.
-Calling all his batteries at his command into service, and ordering
-General Butterfield to form Humphreys' and Sykes' divisions of the
-Fifth corps for attack, Hooker directed all his guns to open their
-fire, with the intention of breaking all "barriers" and clearing the
-way for "Butterfield's attacking column to carry the crest."
-
-Seeing these preparations in progress in his front, Kershaw ordered
-down the Third, Seventh and Fifteenth regiments to take position in the
-road and behind the stone wall. General Kershaw described the artillery
-fire of Hooker's batteries as terrific. It was continued until near
-sunset, when Humphreys and Sykes advanced to carry the position with
-the bayonet. General Hooker says the attack was made with a spirit of
-determination "seldom, if ever, equaled in war." He assigns as the
-reason for its "almost immediate repulse," that the enemy had the
-advantage of an "impregnable position."
-
-General Kershaw reports that the attack was gallant and impetuous,
-and assailed his whole front, lasting from 5 to 6 p. m., but that
-the columns were shattered and beaten by the time they came within a
-hundred paces of the position. Some of the assailants came as near as
-thirty paces, but were shot down, or, being unsupported, retreated with
-the mass. With this last assault the battle was practically ended, and
-the Confederate victory won. General Lee reports that not more than
-20,000 of his army were engaged during the day.
-
-At the last assault of General Hooker's, Kershaw had behind the stone
-wall and in the sunken road, his own and Cobb's brigades, and a brigade
-from General Ransom's division. It is not clear from the reports
-whether this last-mentioned brigade was not General Cooke's. If so, it
-is certain that Cooke's brigade fought from the hill, and the brigade
-from Ransom's division, to which Kershaw refers as being engaged in
-defense of the position, was not behind the wall. If this was the case,
-then only Cobb's and Kershaw's brigades defended the wall against the
-successive attacks of eight divisions and their batteries!
-
-The loss of General Kershaw's brigade was 373 killed and wounded,
-distributed as follows: Second South Carolina, 6 killed, 56 wounded;
-Third, 25 killed, 138 wounded; Seventh, 4 killed, 57 wounded; Eighth, 2
-killed, 29 wounded; Fifteenth, 1 killed, 52 wounded; Third battalion, 1
-killed, 1 wounded. The heaviest loss fell on Colonel Nance's regiment.
-Taking his position on the crest of the hill to the left of the Marye
-house, just as an assault was being made, and being in the open and
-in full view of the assaulting column and its supports, the Third was
-subjected to a terrible infantry fire, as well as the fire of the
-batteries. Seeing the importance of delivering a steady fire on the
-advancing column of attack, Colonel Nance held his men in position and
-delivered his fire until the attack was repulsed. Meanwhile he fell
-wounded, and Lieut.-Col. D. W. Rutherford, Maj. Robert C. Maffett,
-Capt. W. W. Hance and Capt. John C. Summer, who in succession took
-command, were all shot down. Colonel Nance lay on the field, and
-continued to direct his men, and when carried off, ordered up a fresh
-supply of ammunition and directed them to move more under cover.
-Captain Hance lost a leg, and Capts. J. C. Summer and L. P. Foster and
-Lieuts. James Hollingsworth and James C. Hill, all officers of high
-character and gallant men, were killed on the field. Capt. R. P. Todd,
-the senior captain of the regiment, was among those first wounded. The
-three field officers and the three senior captains were wounded or
-killed, leaving the fourth captain, John K. G. Nance, in command.
-
-In the Second, Maj. Franklin Gaillard was twice wounded. Lieuts. R.
-E. Elliott and R. Fishburne, Jr., of Captain Cuthbert's company, were
-wounded. Captain Cuthbert was detailed to skirmish with the enemy's
-advance in front of McLaws' division early in the morning, and
-remained on that duty all day. The Third battalion was also detailed
-for special duty at Howison's mill, on Hazel run, and was not with the
-brigade in the engagement. In the Seventh, Capts. Benjamin Roper and T.
-A. Hudgens and Lieut. J. C. Lovelace were wounded. In the Eighth most
-of the casualties were met while the regiment was taking position and
-exposed to the enemy's view. In the Fifteenth, Lieuts. B. P. Barron and
-J. A. Derrick were wounded.
-
-Of the general staff, Adjt.-Gen. C. R. Holmes, Lieut. A. E. Doby,
-Lieut. J. A. Myers and Lieut. W. M. Dwight were specially mentioned.
-Doby's gallant and efficient conduct in directing the posting of
-troops under fire is particularly referred to by the regimental
-commanders. Dwight, not yet recovered from his injuries on Maryland
-heights, was again at his post, and was wounded by a fragment of
-shell. The Georgians and Carolinians who defended the stone wall
-against the assaults of eight divisions, with their powerful artillery,
-throughout the memorable battle of Fredericksburg, made it a veritable
-Thermopylæ, and won from their gallant assailants the declaration that
-their defense made the position "impregnable," and to attack it was
-a "hopeless" task. The name and death of Gen. Thomas R. R. Cobb will
-forever be associated with this heroic defense, and the honor and glory
-of sustaining the position which he held against such odds, will be the
-lasting possession of Kershaw and his brigade.
-
-Jenkins' brigade, though under artillery fire and suffering the loss
-of 8 men, was but slightly engaged; Bachman's and Garden's batteries
-did effective service against the flank of the Federal attack on
-the extreme right. The rifle battery of Captain Rhett, attached to
-Alexander's battalion, was posted on an eminence south of the plank
-road. From this position Rhett's guns commanded the Stafford hills, a
-mile and a half away, and the approach to the stone wall. On the 12th,
-Rhett opened on the bridge parties and enfiladed two of the streets of
-the city. The rifles of the enemy replied vigorously, but the battery
-was so well protected that no harm was done. On the 13th, the battery
-shared in the honors of that eventful day, and is associated with other
-batteries of Alexander's battalion and the batteries of Colonel Walton
-in the immortal defense of Marye's heights.
-
-General Hampton's cavalry brigade, after November 10th, included two
-South Carolina regiments, the First, Col. J. L. Black, and Second,
-Col. M. C. Butler. While General Lee was concentrating his army at
-Fredericksburg, before the battle, Longstreet being already in position
-and Jackson halted at Orange Court House, General Hampton crossed
-the Rappahannock and made a brilliant dash into the enemy's lines,
-capturing an outpost on his immediate right flank. On the morning of
-November 27th, with 50 men from the First North Carolina, 50 from
-the Cobb legion, 40 from the Jeff Davis legion, 34 from the Phillips
-legion, and 34 from the Second South Carolina, a force of 208 men,
-Hampton crossed the river at Kelly's mill and moved northeast to
-Morrisville. Learning of an outpost stationed at a church 8 miles east
-of Falmouth, immediately on Burnside's right flank, and on the road
-from Morrisville to Fredericksburg, General Hampton at once determined
-upon its capture. The pickets of this outpost were advanced toward
-Morrisville as far as Deep run, a tributary of the Rappahannock, and on
-the roads leading toward Warrenton. Moving from Morrisville in an arc
-through the country, so as to avoid the picket on the Morrisville road
-and to get between those on the other roads and the post at the church,
-Hampton lay concealed the night of the 27th, within two miles of the
-church.
-
-At 4 a. m. of the 28th, he left the Morrisville road, passed through
-the woods in a circuit and came into the marsh road a half mile from
-the church. The attack was ordered, and Maj. J. H. Whittaker, leading
-the detachments of the First North Carolina and the Jeff Davis legion,
-dashed into camp, and Hampton coming up with the rest of his command,
-the surprise was complete, and the whole Federal squadron captured.
-The Cobb legion, sent up the White Ridge road, took the pickets in
-rear, and surprised and captured them. Taking his prisoners, except
-those too badly wounded to be moved, General Hampton went up the road
-toward Morrisville, and swept the picket at Deep run, thus completing
-the capture of two squadrons of the enemy's cavalry. The achievement
-was completed by 8 o'clock. This was a brilliant morning's work. With a
-small force, numbering 208 men, General Hampton had eluded the outpost
-pickets on two roads, surprised and captured the outpost, and then, in
-turn, swept in his pickets! With 2 captains, 3 lieutenants, 2 stand of
-colors, 87 privates, 100 horses and as many carbines as the fruit of
-his brilliant dash at the enemy, and without the loss of a man, General
-Hampton moved on to Morrisville and to the Rappahannock, and was in
-camp again by night of the 28th. To General Stuart he reported in high
-terms of praise the conduct of his men and their officers, mentioning
-particularly Major Whittaker, Capt. T. G. Barker and Lieut. T. P.
-Hampton of his staff.
-
-On December 10th, General Hampton again left his camp at Culpeper Court
-House and rode out to capture Dumfries and operate on the Telegraph
-road up to the Occoquan. This would bring him on the line between
-Alexandria and Fredericksburg. His detachments were from the First
-South Carolina, Lieut.-Col. J. D. Twiggs; Second South Carolina, Col.
-M. C. Butler; First North Carolina, Lieut.-Col. James B. Gordon; Jeff
-Davis legion, Lieutenant-Colonel Martin, and the Cobb legion, Capt.
-Jerry Rich, a force of 520 men. Butler commanded the First North
-Carolina, Second South Carolina, and Cobb legion; Martin the First
-South Carolina and Davis legion. On the night of the 11th, the command
-bivouacked within 16 miles of Dumfries, and by daylight on the 12th,
-Hampton had his troops on the main approaches immediately at the
-town. The surprise was complete, and Butler, dashing in, received the
-surrender after firing a few shots. Fifty-odd prisoners, 24 sutler's
-wagons and the telegraph operator with his battery, were the only
-fruits of this dash. The command was disappointed at not finding the
-large garrison they confidently expected, but Hampton proposed to sweep
-up the Telegraph road toward the Occoquan.
-
-In this move, however, he was disappointed. General Sigel's corps
-was marching to Dumfries by the only road open to General Hampton's
-retreat, and he was compelled to retrace his march in order to save his
-wagons and prisoners. Marching in retreat on the 12th for 40 miles,
-he camped near Morrisville, and on the morning of the 13th, while the
-battle of Fredericksburg was in progress, recrossed the Rappahannock at
-Kelly's again, without losing a man.
-
-Resting for three days, General Hampton left camp on the 17th for a
-third expedition against the enemy's communications, this time aiming
-to sweep up the Telegraph road and attack the garrison at Occoquan.
-His force, numbering 465 men, was made up of detachments from his
-regiments, as in the other expeditions; 100 from the First South
-Carolina, Col. J. L. Black; 75 from the First North Carolina, Capts.
-J. C. Blain and N. M. Addington; 75 from the Second South Carolina,
-Capt. T. H. Clark; 80 from the Phillips legion, Maj. W. B. C. Puckett;
-75 from the Cobb legion, Maj. William C. Delony, and 60 from the Davis
-legion, Lieutenant-Colonel Martin.
-
-Crossing the river at the railroad on the 17th, the brigade marched to
-the wood road and bivouacked at Cole's store at night. Moving rapidly
-down this road before day, Hampton by dawn was at Kanky's store, on
-the Neabsco creek, 8 miles from Occoquan. At Kanky's a small post was
-surprised and captured, with eight wagons. Sweeping up the Telegraph
-road Major Deloney in advance, every picket was successively surprised
-and captured. Hampton moved on the town of Occoquan in three columns,
-commanded by himself, Deloney and Martin. The latter dashed into the
-town from the south side, and found a wagon train of Sigel's corps in
-the act of crossing the river, by ferry-boat. Dismounting his men, he
-deployed them on the south bank as sharpshooters, and compelled the
-wagon guard on the opposite bank to surrender. General Hampton entered
-the town from the north side, and Deloney came up the Telegraph road
-with his prisoners and two captured wagons, loaded with army stores.
-A force of 2,500 cavalry, marching from Alexandria, appeared at this
-juncture at Selectman's ford, 1½ miles south of Occoquan, and were
-about to cross, but General Hampton sent Captain Clark with part of his
-own and part of the Phillips legion to hold the ford, while he secured
-the wagon train.
-
-Clark successfully disputed the crossing, and the enemy sent part of
-his force to recapture the wagons on the north side. In this they were
-defeated and driven off, and returned to the ford. Hampton sent word
-to Captain Clark to resist the crossing for an hour, and he would save
-the train. But the single boat was his only means of crossing the
-river, and the banks were high and the passage difficult. After twenty
-wagons, loaded with army stores, had been ferried over, General Hampton
-sent them off under Colonel Black, with the prisoners, and commenced
-his return march, Captain Clark covering his rear. The enemy's cavalry
-crossed, but Clark gallantly dashed at the head of their column and
-drove them back and across the river. Resuming the retreat, Clark
-skirmished with the advance of the enemy for two miles, when he gave up
-the pursuit. Marching by Greenwood church and Cole's store, the brigade
-camped on Cedar run on the night of the 18th, and on the 19th the
-march was promptly resumed, the wagons and prisoners securely crossed
-over the Rappahannock, and General Hampton was "safely home without the
-loss of a man."
-
-He brought in 157 prisoners, 20 loaded wagons, 30 stand of infantry
-arms, and 1 stand of colors. Again he reported to General Stuart the
-gallant bearing and spirit of his command, staff, field, line, rank
-and file. The wonderful escape from casualties on this expedition is
-hard to be accounted for, especially in the operations of Captain
-Clark while disputing the passage of Selectman's ford and charging
-the enemy's head of column. It seems ungracious to say that the only
-explanation is that the enemy were badly demoralized and fired wildly,
-for they fired abundantly. At the town and on the Telegraph road, there
-was no decided resistance offered. The surprise was complete, and the
-show of force and dash compelled almost immediate surrender.
-
-These brilliant achievements of General Hampton's command were
-followed by a fourth expedition, led by General Stuart, with "select
-detachments" from the brigades of Hampton, Fitzhugh Lee and W. H. F.
-Lee. Hampton's command was composed of 175 of the First North Carolina,
-under Maj. J. H. Whittaker; 150 of the First South Carolina, Capt.
-W. A. Walker; 150 of the Second South Carolina, Col. M. C. Butler;
-180 of the Cobb legion, Maj. William G. Delony; 130 of the Phillips
-legion, Lieut.-Col. W. W. Rich, and 85 of the Jeff Davis legion,
-Lieutenant-Colonel Martin; a force 870 strong. A section of artillery,
-under Lieut. F. M. Bamberg, was also with Hampton. General Stuart's
-purpose was to operate mainly on the Telegraph road, assured of finding
-it at this time well filled with trains moving to General Burnside's
-army. Gen. W. H. F. Lee was ordered to move on Dumfries, General
-Hampton on Occoquan, and Gen. Fitzhugh Lee on the Telegraph road
-between these points, the brigades being in supporting distance.
-
-Gen. W. H. F. Lee found the force at Dumfries too strong for successful
-attack. He captured all the pickets he encountered, about 50, and
-drove in the outposts, but the infantry and artillery defending the
-town were too well posted for his small cavalry brigade. Fitzhugh Lee
-was more fortunate. Encountering two regiments of cavalry drawn up in
-line of battle, he charged and routed them, following them for 8 miles
-and taking over 100 prisoners; captured 8 loaded wagons, and their
-guard, on the Telegraph road; crossed the Occoquan at Selectman's ford,
-attacked and routed a body of cavalry posted there, and took their
-camp and burned the railroad bridge over the Accotink, on the Orange &
-Alexandria railroad.
-
-Hampton crossed the Rappahannock with the division, and pushed on
-to Cole's store with his brigade, capturing the pickets beyond that
-point. Butler, with most of the brigade, moved directly on the
-town of Occoquan; Hampton, with Martin's and Delony's detachments,
-supporting him. Colonel Butler drove in the pickets, charged into the
-place and routed several hundred cavalry, taking 19 prisoners and 8
-loaded wagons, with the loss of 1 man wounded, the first casualty in
-Hampton's command on his repeated expeditions. Camping for the night
-at Cole's store, General Hampton returned toward Occoquan on the 28th.
-At Greenwood church, General Stuart sent Butler, with his detachments,
-to attack the enemy's force north of that point, at Bacon Race church,
-and ordered Hampton, with the other detachments, to follow Fitzhugh Lee
-across the Occoquan at Selectman's ford. Crossing in Lee's rear, he
-turned up the river, met and routed a small force of the enemy, and was
-joined by Butler at night, when the darkness stopped his pursuit of the
-enemy.
-
-Colonel Butler, before joining Hampton north of the Occoquan, had
-extricated his command on the Bacon Race road in the most skillful
-manner. Meeting a force of the enemy within a mile of the church,
-Butler's advance, under Lieut. W. H. Perry, charged and drove it back
-on its supports. Coming up with his main force, Colonel Butler charged
-the squadron in his front, and drove them in precipitous retreat.
-Following up their retreat, he came upon General Geary's division of
-cavalry, with artillery, on the march from Fairfax to Dumfries. Geary
-was in position to meet him, and at once opened with canister. Taking
-in the seriousness of his situation, he promptly retired a short
-distance, and by the time the enemy had formed column for advance, he
-wheeled about and presented a bold front, compelling a halt and the
-forming of a new line of battle by this movement. This gave time for
-retreat, but a strong force of Geary's division was on the road in his
-rear. Before either force of the enemy could attack him, Colonel Butler
-moved off on his flank, and by making a circuit of four miles, rejoined
-his friends and saved his command, with the loss of several horses and
-two of his men wounded. Colonel Butler had understood that his attack
-at the church was to be supported by General Hampton, and pushed his
-little force against Geary with the expectation of this co-operation.
-Finding himself in front of a division and under its artillery fire,
-he made the best of the situation, and extricated his command with
-admirable tact and the coolest judgment.
-
-Hampton recrossed the Rappahannock on the 29th, with his captured
-wagons and 33 prisoners. General Stuart reported over 200 prisoners
-captured by his brigade, a large number of horses, mules, wagons,
-saddles, sabers, and other valuable property. He was disappointed in
-his expectation of finding loaded trains on the Telegraph road, and
-ascribed his ill luck to the numerous "descents upon that road by
-General Hampton and detachments from his command."
-
-These brilliant achievements of the cavalry were acknowledged and
-published in orders to the army by General Lee, as follows:
-
-
-General Orders, No. 29.
-
-Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia,
-
- February 28, 1863.
-
- The general commanding announces to the army the series of successes
- of the cavalry of Northern Virginia during the winter months, in spite
- of the obstacles of almost impassable roads, limited forage, swollen
- streams and inclement weather.
-
- I. About the 1st of December [November 27th] General Hampton, with a
- detachment of his brigade, crossed the upper Rappahannock, surprised
- two squadrons of Federal cavalry, captured several commissioned
- officers and about 100 men, with their horses, arms, colors and
- accouterments, without loss on his part....
-
- III. On the 10th of December, General Hampton crossed the Rappahannock
- with a detachment of his brigade, cut the enemy's communications at
- Dumfries, entered the town a few hours before Sigel's corps, then
- advancing to Fredericksburg, captured 20 wagons with a guard of
- about 90 men, and returned safely to his camp. On the 17th of the
- same month, he again crossed the river with a small force, proceeded
- to Occoquan, surprised the pickets between that place and Dumfries,
- captured 50 wagons, bringing many of them across the Occoquan in
- a ferry-boat, and beating back a brigade of cavalry sent to their
- rescue. He reached the Rappahannock with 30 wagons and 130 prisoners.
-
- IV. On the 25th of December, General Stuart, with detachments of
- Hampton's, Fitz Lee's and William H. F. Lee's brigades, under the
- command of these officers respectively, made a forced reconnoissance
- in rear of the enemy's lines, attacked him at Dumfries, capturing men
- and wagons near that place, advanced toward Alexandria, drove his
- cavalry with considerable loss across the Occoquan, captured his camp
- on that stream, burned the Accotink bridge, on the Orange & Alexandria
- railroad, then, passing north of Fairfax Court House, returned to
- Culpeper with more than 200 prisoners and 25 wagons, with a loss on
- his part of 6 men wounded and Captain Bullock, a most gallant officer,
- killed....
-
- IX.... A detachment of 17 men of Hampton's brigade, under the brave
- Sergeant Michael, attacked and routed a body of Federals near Wolf Run
- shoals, killing and wounding several and bringing off 15 prisoners,
- with the loss on our part of Sergeant Sparks, of the Second South
- Carolina regiment, who, a few days before, with 2 of his comrades,
- attacked, in Brentsville, 6 of the enemy sent to take him, killed 3
- and captured the rest.
-
- In announcing these achievements, the commanding general takes
- special pleasure in adverting to the promptness of the officers in
- striking a successful blow whenever the opportunity offered, and the
- endurance and gallantry with which the men have always supported their
- commanders. These deeds give assurance of vigilance, activity and
- fortitude, and of the performance of still more brilliant actions in
- the coming campaign.
-
- R. E. LEE, General.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X.
-
- OPERATIONS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, SPRING OF 1863--CAPTURE OF THE ISAAC
- SMITH--INGRAHAM'S DEFEAT OF THE BLOCKADING SQUADRON--NAVAL ATTACK ON
- FORT SUMTER--HUNTER'S RAIDS.
-
-
-The operations of the Federal naval and land forces on the coast of
-South Carolina at the beginning of the year 1863, pointed to an attack
-upon either Charleston or Savannah. General Beauregard, commanding the
-department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, with the active
-co-operation of the Confederate government and the governors of the
-States, was making every preparation for the defense of both cities.
-
-In South Carolina, on January 1, 1863, Gen. Joseph H. Trapier commanded
-from the North Carolina line to the South Santee; Gen. R. S. Ripley
-from the South Santee to the Stono and Rantowles creek; Gen. Johnson
-Hagood from Rantowles to the Ashepoo, and Gen. W. S. Walker from the
-Ashepoo to the Savannah. These officers had under their command a
-force of 14,500 of all arms, present for duty; more than half this
-force being stationed in the forts and on the immediate approaches
-to Charleston. The district, commanded by General Ripley, embraced
-the harbor defenses, Christ Church and St. Andrew's parishes, and the
-islands surrounding the harbor. Each island constituted a separate
-subdivision of the district, the parish of St. Andrew's being attached
-to James island.
-
-Col. L. M. Keitt, Twentieth South Carolina, commanded on Sullivan's
-island; Col. William Butler, Fort Moultrie and the batteries outside.
-On Morris island Col. R. F. Graham, of the Twenty-first, was in
-charge. Gen. States R. Gist, on his return from Wilmington, commanded
-on James island and in St. Andrew's. Fort Sumter, garrisoned by the
-First artillery, was in charge of Col. Alfred Rhett, and Forts Ripley
-and Castle Pinckney were commanded by Capt. H. S. Farley.
-
-The following South Carolina troops were at this time on duty in the
-State:
-
- Infantry: First regiment regulars, Col. William Butler, Fort Moultrie;
- Third volunteers, Col. C. J. Colcock, Third district; Eleventh,
- Colonel Heyward, Third district; Sixteenth, Col. James McCullough,
- Second district; Twentieth, Col. L. M. Keitt, Sullivan's island;
- Twenty-first, Col. R. F. Graham, Morris island; Twenty-fourth, Col.
- C. H. Stevens, Third district; Twenty-fifth, Col. C. H. Simonton,
- James island; Twenty-sixth, Col. A. D. Smith, Second district;
- Charleston battalion, Lieut.-Col. P. C. Gaillard, city; Seventh
- battalion, Lieut.-Col. P. H. Nelson, Second district; First battalion
- sharpshooters, Maj. Joseph Abney, Third district.
-
- Artillery: First regiment regulars, Col. Alfred Rhett, Fort Sumter
- and batteries; Second regiment volunteers, Colonel Lamar, James
- island; Lucas' battalion, Maj. J. J. Lucas, James island; Palmetto
- battalion, Maj. E. B. White, James island; siege train, Maj. Charles
- Alston, city. Batteries: German, Company A, Capt. D. Werner,
- Sullivan's island; German, Company B, Capt. F. Melchers, James island;
- Ferguson's, Capt. T. B. Ferguson, Christ Church; Santee, Capt. C.
- Gaillard, Christ Church; Gist Guards, Capt. C. E. Chichester, Morris
- island; Mathewes', Capt P. N. Bonneau, Morris island; Ward's, Capt.
- J. Ward, Georgetown; Parker's, Capt. E. L. Parker, Second district;
- Washington, Capt. G. H. Walter, Second district; Horse artillery,
- Capt. W. L. Trenholm, Third district; Beaufort, Capt. S. Elliott,
- Third district; Lafayette, Capt. J. T. Kanapaux, Third district;
- Palmetto, Capt. W. E. Earle, Third district.
-
- Cavalry: Ferguson's regiment, Colonel Ferguson; Third regiment, Col.
- C. J. Colcock; Sixth regiment, Colonel Aiken; Rutledge cavalry, Col.
- B. H. Rutledge; Company, Capt. J. H. Tucker; Stono scouts, Capt. J. B.
- L. Walpole; rangers, Capt. M. J. Kirk.
-
-In aggregate the South Carolina commands were nine regiments and
-three battalions of infantry; two regiments and three battalions of
-heavy artillery; thirteen light batteries; four regiments and three
-independent companies of cavalry. Besides the South Carolina commands,
-General Beauregard had under his command in the State the North
-Carolina brigades of Generals Clingman and Cooke, and several regiments
-and batteries from Georgia. His total effective force of all arms, in
-February, was about 15,500 for the defense of the State, with 10,000
-near Savannah and on the coast of Georgia.
-
-It will be recalled that when General Beauregard assumed command in
-South Carolina, October 1, 1862, General Pemberton, at his request,
-estimated the troops necessary for the defense of the State against
-a probable force which might be sent to attack Charleston, at 30,000
-infantry, cavalry and heavy artillery, and fifteen light batteries, an
-estimate which General Beauregard approved as the minimum required.
-It was with great concern, therefore, that he contemplated the attack
-which was evidently pending in January, 1863, when his total of all
-arms in South Carolina was but a little over 15,000, with about 10,000
-in Georgia. But with the war raging in Virginia and in the West, and
-a Federal army threatening North Carolina, the military resources of
-the Confederate government were taxed to the utmost. South Carolina
-had put all her fighting material in the field, and thousands of her
-noblest sons had fallen in Virginia, in Tennessee, and on her own soil.
-Meanwhile every preparation was being made to defend Charleston and the
-line of railroad connecting it with Savannah. January closed with two
-brilliant incidents in the history of this defense.
-
-The Federal gunboats had control of the Stono river up to the range
-of Fort Pemberton. This strong work, mounting fifteen heavy guns,
-commanded the Stono and flanked the defensive line on James island to
-the west. John's island, on the west side of the Stono, was occupied
-only by a cavalry picket, and gunboats ran up and down the river
-with impunity. It was arranged by Generals Beauregard and Ripley to
-surprise and capture one or more of them. These arrangements were most
-successfully carried out on the 30th of January. Maj. J. J. Lucas,
-commanding at Fort Pemberton, sent Capt. John H. Gary with three
-rifled 24-pounders to put them in battery, and under cover, at Thomas
-Grimball's place on James island. This was done in the night, and the
-guns carefully secreted from the enemy's view. They were commanded by
-Lieuts. W. G. Ogier, E. B. Colhoun and Capt. T. B. Hayne respectively,
-officers of Companies A, B and C, of Lucas' command. In the same way,
-lower down the Stono, at Battery island, Maj. J. W. Brown, Second
-artillery, concealed two rifled 24-pounders in the woods, at night,
-built platforms for them in the old battery, and kept in hiding for
-the event. Brown's guns were commanded by Lieuts. John A. Bellinger,
-Company B, and F. Lake, Company K. Fifty men of the Eighth Georgia
-battalion, under Lieuts. R. Hays and George Johnson, were detailed
-as sharpshooters. Lieut.-Col. Joseph A. Yates, First regulars, made
-a secret disposition of a larger force, on John's island, between
-the guns of Gary and Brown. He took two companies of Major Alston's
-siege train, A and B, commanded by Capt. B. C. Webb and Lieut. S. W.
-Willson, Jr.; Company F, Palmetto battalion, Capt. F. C. Schulz; a
-light battery, commanded by Capt. F. H. Harleston; one Parrott gun, in
-charge of Lieut. T. E. Gregg; Capt. John C. Mitchel's company, I, First
-artillery, and Companies H and I of the Twentieth infantry, Capt. S.
-M. Roof and Lieut. M. Gunter. Yates masked his guns at Grimball's and
-Legaré's points, on John's island, and awaited his opportunity.
-
-The gunboat Isaac Smith, carrying a 30-pounder Parrott in her bow, and
-eight 8-inch columbiads, steamed up the river on the afternoon of the
-30th, passed Brown at Battery island and Yates on John's island, and
-dropped anchor opposite Gary's position, within 500 yards. Waiting a
-few moments for her to become settled in her anchorage, Gary unmasked
-his guns and opened fire. The Smith promptly replied with shot, shell
-and canister, but suffering from Gary's fire, she slipped her anchor
-and retreated down the river, followed by the shots of Gary's rifled
-guns and replying vigorously. But as she began her retreat, she was
-met by the batteries of Yates, which opened immediately. Reaching
-Legaré's point, she was too badly crippled in her machinery to proceed,
-and dropped anchor and surrendered. She lost 8 killed, 44 wounded,
-and surrendered 10 officers and 95 men. Private McQueen, of Alston's
-command, was mortally wounded, the only casualty on the Confederate
-side. The Isaac Smith was towed up under the guns of Pemberton, and
-subsequently did service in the harbor. In this affair the Stono
-scouts, Captain Walpole, rendered Colonel Yates valuable service.
-
-Brown, at Battery island, was only to fire in case the batteries above
-him had failed to arrest the boat, and was silent until one of her
-friends attempted to go to her rescue. When within range, Brown opened
-with his rifles, and after a sharp conflict drove her down the river.
-Next morning a larger boat steamed up and engaged Brown's battery, but
-she would not stand long and expose her sides to rifles, and doing
-Brown no harm, after being hit several times she dropped down out of
-range. The guns were all removed on the night of the 31st, having done
-their work well.
-
-Flag Officer D. N. Ingraham, commanding the Confederate naval forces
-in Charleston harbor, with the Confederate ironclad gunboats Palmetto
-State and Chicora, made a brilliant attack on the blockading squadron
-on the early morning of January 31st. The Palmetto State was commanded
-by Lieut.-Com. John Rutledge, and the Chicora by Capt. J. R. Tucker.
-The Palmetto State carried Commodore Ingraham's flag. Waiting for a
-full tide in order to cross the bar with safety, the two steamers took
-position near the bar before day and passed over at 4:30 a. m., the
-Palmetto State leading. The plan of attack was to engage the enemy at
-close quarters and sink his vessels by ramming.
-
-Rutledge encountered the United States steamer Mercedita immediately
-after crossing, took her by surprise, rammed and sunk her. The Chicora
-encountered a schooner-rigged propeller, engaged and set her on fire.
-A large side-wheel steamer was next met and engaged at close quarters,
-and ran out of sight, it being yet before day. The Keystone State
-was then met by Tucker and with her consort, a propeller, quickly
-engaged. The larger vessel struck, being on fire, but after Captain
-Tucker ceased his fire, she ran off. Meanwhile, Rutledge was vainly
-endeavoring to bring others to close quarters. The ironclads were
-slow, and except when taking the enemy by surprise they were at a
-disadvantage. Seeing the whole squadron in full retreat to the south
-and east, the flag officer chased them out of sight, and anchored his
-vessels outside at 8 o'clock.
-
-Temporarily the blockade of the port was raised, but the fleet soon
-returned, much strengthened, and the gallant gunboats waited another
-chance.
-
-The Federal land and naval forces had held possession of Port Royal
-harbor, and the islands surrounding it, since November, 1861. It was
-now April, 1863. During that period their only achievement had been
-the capture of Fort Pulaski, at the mouth of the Savannah river.
-Repeated attempts had been made to destroy the bridges and break the
-railroad communication between Savannah and Charleston, all of which
-had been signally repulsed. Battles had been fought at Pocotaligo,
-Coosawhatchie, and at numerous points along the line of the railroad,
-and repeated skirmishes with raiding parties of the enemy had always
-resulted in "driving him back to his gunboats." The enemy advanced in
-force against Charleston, by way of James island, in June, 1862, but
-the Confederate victory at Secessionville, on the 16th of that month,
-compelled his retreat and return to his base at Port Royal. Charleston
-or Savannah being his objective, he had been threatening both cities
-for a period of seventeen months, without accomplishing anything
-more than the practical ruin of the sea-island planters and their
-property, the capture of Fort Pulaski, and the possession of the waters
-surrounding the islands.
-
-The beginning of April, 1863, found the Federals concentrating in the
-Stono and North Edisto, for another attempt to take Charleston, in
-which the land attack was to be for the possession of Morris island,
-by way of Folly island, the objective being Fort Sumter; and the naval
-attack, by the ironclad fleet, was to be on that fort, Fort Moultrie,
-and the batteries defending the outer harbor.
-
-On April 7th, General Beauregard commanded a force of 22,648
-effectives, of all arms, for the defense of Charleston and the coast
-of South Carolina. In the forts and batteries, and on the islands
-surrounding the harbor, the effective force amounted to 12,856. The
-remainder of the troops were disposed along the main line of defense
-between Rantowles creek and the Savannah river, guarding the water
-approaches from Beaufort and the Edistos, while a small force of
-cavalry and light artillery operated in Christ Church, and beyond the
-Santees. On the 4th of April, seven monitors had been collected in
-North Edisto and twenty transports were in the Stono, landing troops on
-Cole's and Folly islands. On the 6th, the steam frigate Ironsides and
-eight monitors were off the bar, and on the morning of the 7th, having
-crossed, were lying off the south end of Morris island. The Federal
-land forces were commanded by Maj.-Gen. David Hunter, and the fleet by
-Rear-Admiral S. F. Du Pont.
-
-No attempt by General Hunter's forces was made, or appeared to be
-in preparation, to attack either Morris island from Folly island,
-or James island from Cole's island. On James island General Gist
-commanded a force fully adequate to hold the enemy's advance until he
-was reinforced; but on Morris island Colonel Graham was not strong
-enough to resist a division attacking from Folly island under the fire
-of gunboats, which lay off the north end of the latter island. If the
-Federal general had known his opportunity, he might have possessed
-himself of the south end of Morris island, and overwhelmed the gallant
-little force standing in his path. Graham's command on Morris island
-was his regiment, the Twenty-first South Carolina, Chichester's and
-Mathewes' companies of artillery at Battery Wagner, under Lieut.-Col.
-C. K. Hughes, and a detachment from the First South Carolina artillery
-at Cummings point, under Lieutenant Lesesne. Morris island was at
-the mercy of the Federal general, but happily he did not possess the
-military insight and the aggressive capacity to perceive and use his
-advantage. He remained inactive and secure in his island isolation,
-while Du Pont went into battle with the forts and batteries. After the
-defeat of the admiral, he wrote to that officer from the transport
-Ben DeFord, that he had been "a mere spectator," and that he "could
-do nothing but pray for him," which he assured him he had done "most
-heartily."
-
-Du Pont moved to the attack at 2 p. m., on April 7th, in single file,
-steaming up Ship channel, the monitor Weehawken leading, and the
-flagship Ironsides in the center of the column. The plan of attack
-contemplated the destruction of Fort Sumter, whose high walls and broad
-sides were a noble target for the admiral's 15 and 11-inch turreted
-guns.
-
-If there had been no Fort Moultrie, or Batteries Bee and Beauregard on
-Sullivan's island, and no Wagner or Cummings point battery, the noble
-walls of Sumter might have crumbled beneath the powerful impact of
-tons of iron; but the writer believes that the barbette and casemate
-batteries of the east and northeast faces of Sumter, directed, as they
-were, by skilled and heroic officers, and manned by gallant soldiers,
-would have been equal to the disabling of the fleet before its powerful
-guns could have effected a serious breach.
-
-The action began at 3 p. m., by a shot from Fort Moultrie, directed
-at the Weehawken. Fort Sumter and Batteries Bee, Beauregard, Wagner
-and Cummings Point opened their fire, and the action at once became
-general. All the batteries had been instructed to concentrate on the
-leading assailants, and following these directions, the concentration
-of fire soon disabled the Weehawken, and she steamed out of range,
-giving place to the next monitor, which steamed into action on the
-curve of an ellipse. The Ironsides came into action first against
-Moultrie, and then Sumter, approaching within 1,600 or 1,700 yards, but
-the fire of the forts and the batteries directed upon her drove her
-beyond range. The Keokuk, a double-turreted monitor, gallantly steamed
-under the walls of Sumter, within 900 yards of her batteries, and
-opened with her 11-inch guns. Sumter, Moultrie, Bee and Cummings Point
-concentrated their fire upon her, and for forty minutes she fought
-heroically for the breach in Sumter. The 10-inch shot and 7-inch bolts
-penetrated her armor, her hull and turrets were pierced, her boats
-shot away, the plating at her bow was ripped up for six feet in length
-and two and a half in width, and she was barely able to retreat to an
-anchorage off Morris island, where she sank. The battle was continued
-for two hours and twenty-five minutes, when Admiral Du Pont signaled
-his vessels to retreat. He had made a gallant fight, but his ironclads
-could not stand the fire of Ripley's guns, and his defeat was decisive.
-"I attempted to take the bull by the horns," he wrote General Hunter,
-the day after the battle, "but he was too much for us. These monitors
-are miserable failures where forts are concerned; the longest was one
-hour and the others forty-five minutes under fire, and five of the
-eight were wholly or partially disabled."
-
-By the 12th of April the surviving monitors had been taken to Port
-Royal or sent north for repairs, and the Ironsides, much damaged, was
-being repaired at her moorings on the blockading line outside the bar.
-There is no report at hand of the casualties in the fleet.
-
-In the forts and batteries the casualties were very few. At Fort Sumter
-five men were wounded by splinters from a traverse. Their names are not
-reported. At Fort Moultrie the flagstaff was shot away, and falling,
-mortally wounded Private Lusty, Company F. Private Joseph Harrison,
-Company G, lost a finger, but after having his wound dressed, returned
-to his gun. Both these gallant men were of Colonel Butler's regiment.
-At Battery Wagner there were 8 casualties, 3 killed and 5 wounded, by
-the explosion of an ammunition chest. Sergt. G. W. Langley and Privates
-Amos Fitzgerald and Jerry Dyer were killed, and Lieut. G. E. Steedman,
-Corp. Matthew Martin and Privates Samuel Red, Marion Quillan and Thomas
-Prince were wounded. Total casualties, 4 killed and 11 wounded. Fort
-Sumter suffered some damage, but none of a serious nature. The other
-forts were entirely unhurt. At Sumter an 8-inch columbiad burst, a
-42-pounder rifled gun was dismounted by recoil, and a 10-inch gun was
-dismounted by having part of its carriage shot away. The walls of the
-fort were not materially damaged. Fifty-five shot struck the east and
-northeast faces, damaging several of the embrasures to the casemates,
-cracking the parapet wall in places, and dislodging the masonry
-surrounding the spot struck. Three shot, striking very near each
-other, on the east face and near the parapet, made a crater 10 feet
-high, 8 feet wide, and 2 feet deep. In other places the penetrations
-were 2, 3 and in two instances as much as 5 feet, with craters from 2
-to 6 feet in height, and from 1 to 5 feet in width. This damage was
-speedily repaired, and the fort stood as strong as ever for battle in
-forty-eight hours after the action.
-
-The brilliant victory of the forts over the much-dreaded ironclad fleet
-was celebrated on every hand, and the gallant commanders of batteries,
-their officers, and their men, were the boast and the toast of the
-day. The legislature being in session at the time, passed, amid much
-enthusiasm, a joint resolution of thanks to the officers and men for
-the gallant defense of Charleston "against the onset of the foe,"
-and hailed their achievement as the bright harbinger of a still more
-glorious victory.
-
-The forts and batteries engaged were garrisoned and commanded by the
-following troops and officers:
-
-Fort Moultrie was garrisoned by a detachment of the First South
-Carolina regular infantry, drilled as artillery, and commanded by Col.
-William Butler, Maj. T. M. Baker second in command. The guns engaged
-were manned by Company A, Capt. T. A. Huguenin; Company E, Capt. R.
-Press. Smith; Company F, Capt. B. S. Burnet; Company G, First Lieut. E.
-A. Erwin, and the mortars, Company K, Capt. C. H. Rivers. Staff: Capt.
-W. H. Wigg, Lieut. Mitchell King, Capt. G. A. Wardlaw, Lieut. Thomas
-Williams.
-
-Battery Bee was garrisoned by another detachment of the First South
-Carolina, and commanded by Lieut.-Col. J. C. Simkins. The guns were
-fought by Company C, Capt. Robert De Treville; Company H, Capt. Warren
-Adams, and Company I, Capt. W. T. Tatom.
-
-Battery Beauregard was commanded by Capt. J. A. Sitgreaves, with
-Company K, First artillery, Lieut. W. E. Erwin commanding, and Company
-B, First infantry, Capt. J. H. Warley commanding. The commanders on
-Morris island have already been referred to.
-
-Fort Sumter was garrisoned by seven companies of the First South
-Carolina regular artillery, Col. Alfred Rhett, Lieut.-Col. Joseph
-A. Yates, Maj. Ormsby Blanding. Colonel Rhett commanded the fort,
-Lieutenant-Colonel Yates the barbette guns, and Major Blanding the
-casemate batteries. Lieutenant Clarkson's detachment of Company
-B, Charleston battalion, was posted in second tier of casement as
-sharpshooters. Companies B and D, Capts. D. G. Fleming and F. H.
-Harleston, fought the guns on the east and northeast parapet batteries.
-The other companies were stationed as follows: Company F, Capt. J. G.
-King, northwest parapet; Company I, Capt. J. C. Mitchel, west parapet;
-Company E, Capt. J. R. Macbeth, mortar battery and east casemate
-battery; Company G, Capt. W. H. Peronneau, northeast casemate battery;
-detachments of Companies C and E, Capt. C. W. Parker, northwest
-casemate battery. Lieut. W. H. Grimball, with regimental band, battery
-in second tier of casemates. Staff: Lieut. S. C. Boyleston, adjutant;
-Capt. T. M. Barker, quartermaster; Capt. S. P. Ravenel, chief of staff;
-Lieut. J. B. Heyward, ordnance officer; Rev. N. Aldrich, chaplain;
-Lieut. Edward J. White, engineer officer. Signal corps: T. P. Lowndes,
-Arthur Grimball, Joseph Seabrook.
-
-The following extracts from the reports are of interest:
-
- The nearest the enemy ventured at any time to Fort Moultrie was
- estimated at 1,000 yards; to Battery Bee, 1,600 yards; to Battery
- Beauregard, 1,400 yards. (Gen. J. H. Trapier's report.)
-
- The enemy's fire was mostly ricochet and not very accurate; most of
- their shots passed over the fort and several to the right and left.
- The greater portion of their shots were from 1,300 to 1,400 yards
- distant, which appeared to be the extent of their effective range.
- Some shots from a greater distance did not reach the fort at all.
- (Col. A. Rhett's report.)
-
- The advance vessels took their positions alternately, ranging
- from 1,800 to 2,000 yards from this battery.... Two hundred and
- eighty-three solid shots were fired from this battery.... Of this
- number, many were distinctly seen to strike the vessels aimed
- at, and it is believed, doing serious damage in many instances.
- (Lieutenant-Colonel Simkins' report.)
-
- I am satisfied that the Ironsides was struck several times by shot
- from this battery, and I think one or two others were also struck,
- with what effect it is impossible to say, except from reports
- since the engagement, which lead us to believe that the enemy were
- considerably damaged. (Captain Sitgreaves' report.)
-
- The guns of this battery were of too light a caliber to be of much
- service, but those at Cummings point were much heavier, and the firing
- was particularly good. (Maj. C. K. Huger's report.)
-
- Our batteries were admirably served by our skilled artillerists. Much
- of the rapidity and accuracy with which the heavy guns were fired
- was due to the use of Colonel Yates' traverser, with the merits of
- which the general commanding has been fully impressed. Our batteries
- discharged 2,200 shot of all sorts, the enemy's fleet about 110,
- chiefly 15-inch shell and 11-inch solid shot; not less than 80 of
- which were directed at Fort Sumter. The sinking of the Keokuk, and
- the discomfiture of the other ironclads have established their
- vulnerability to our heavy projectiles at a range, say, of from 900 to
- 1,200 yards. (Maj. D. B. Harris, chief engineer.)
-
-The Weehawken, which led the attack, carried on her bow a huge raft for
-finding and exploding torpedoes, popularly called the "devil," which
-greatly retarded her advance, and was ultimately shot adrift by the
-batteries. Maj. W. H. Echols, of the engineers, in his report says of
-this raft:
-
- The "devil" floated ashore on Morris island; the cables by which
- it was attached to the turrets' bow being cut away. It is probable
- that the "devil" becoming unmanageable, was the cause of the turret
- retiring early from the action, it being a massive structure,
- consisting of two layers of white pine timbers 18 inches square,
- strongly bolted together; a re-entering angle 20 feet deep to receive
- the bow of the vessel; 50 feet long, 27 feet side; a layer of beveled
- timbers on the front, forming a bow; seven heavy iron plates, through
- which passed chains directly down and over the sides through hawser
- plates; to these were attached grappling irons, with double prongs,
- suspended underneath at the sides and bow; in the countersinks were
- loose iron rollers, apparently to facilitate the drawing of the chains
- through the holes over them when the grapplings took hold, to drag up
- to the "devil" whatever he may catch with his hooks.
-
-It was a miserable contrivance and proved of no use to the fleet and
-only an object of merriment and curiosity to the garrisons and their
-officers.
-
-Says General Ripley in his report:
-
- In this the first trial of the Abolition iron fleet against brick
- fortifications and their first attempt to enter the harbor of
- Charleston, in which they were beaten before their adversaries thought
- the action had well commenced, they were opposed by 76 pieces in all,
- including mortars.... While service in immediate action is that which
- is most conspicuous, after such a result as has been accomplished,
- the greatest credit is due to that long, patient and laborious
- preparation by which our works and material, never originally intended
- to withstand such an attack as has been encountered, have been so
- resecured as to enable our gallant and well-instructed officers
- and men to obtain their end with comparatively small loss. In that
- preparation the late Lieut.-Col. T. M. Wagner contributed much on both
- sides of the channel, and Colonel Rhett, Lieutenant-Colonel Yates,
- Major Blanding and other officers of Fort Sumter have been more or
- less engaged since the fort fell into our hands, two years ago.
-
-On the morning of April 9th the United States steamer Washington was
-attacked in the Coosaw river by light batteries under Capt. Stephen
-Elliott, crippled and set on fire by shells, and totally destroyed. On
-the night of the 10th, Lieutenant-Colonel Dargan, of the Twenty-first,
-made a night attack upon the picket at the north end of Folly island,
-crossing from Morris island a small detachment in boats. The attack was
-a surprise, and completely stampeded the enemy's picket force, which
-fled to the south of the island. Colonel Dargan returned, after fully
-locating the enemy's camp, bringing off a single prisoner, and leaving
-one of the enemy's pickets severely wounded.
-
-General Hunter addressed his energies to making raids up the river,
-destroying the property of the planters and carrying off their negroes,
-keeping his negro troops, employed in this business, always under
-the protection of the gunboats. One of these gunboat raiding parties
-steamed up the Combahee on the 2d of June, burned four fine residences,
-with all their valuable contents, and six mills, and carried off about
-700 negroes. Later in the month a greater part of the town of Bluffton,
-on May river, was burned by a gunboat raid, and the utmost vigilance
-was required by troops stationed on the rivers to protect the property
-of citizens from wanton destruction. In reporting the raid up the
-Combahee to the secretary of war, General Hunter, after expressing
-pleasure at the success which Colonel Montgomery had achieved,
-continues:
-
- This expedition is but the initial experiment of a system of
- incursions which will penetrate up all the inlets, creeks and rivers
- of this department, and to be used in which I am now having several of
- our light draught transport steamers supplied with bulwarks of boiler
- iron, etc.... Colonel Montgomery with his forces will repeat his
- incursions as rapidly as possible in different directions, injuring
- the enemy all he can and carrying away their slaves, thus rapidly
- filling up the South Carolina regiments in the departments, of which
- there are now four. The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts regiment (colored),
- Colonel Shaw commanding, arrived to-day in good condition, and appears
- to be an excellent regiment, over 900 strong. They will soon have
- abundant and very important employment, as will all other regiments,
- white or colored, that may be sent to reinforce this department.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI.
-
- SOUTH CAROLINA TROOPS IN MISSISSIPPI--ENGAGEMENT NEAR JACKSON--THE
- VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN--SIEGE OF JACKSON.
-
-
-On May 2d the secretary of war telegraphed General Beauregard as
-follows: "Advices show the enemy abandoning their attack on the eastern
-coasts and concentrating great forces on the Mississippi. Send with
-utmost dispatch 8,000 or 10,000 men to General Pemberton's relief."
-General Beauregard replied that he had returned to North Carolina
-Cooke's and Clingman's brigades, but would send at once 5,000 men and
-two light batteries to General Pemberton's relief. He added that he
-would then have left only 10,000 infantry available for the defense of
-South Carolina and Georgia, and if he sent more troops to Pemberton,
-he would lose command of the Savannah railroad. This satisfied the
-secretary, and on the 4th he telegraphed General Beauregard to hurry
-the 5,000 troops on as soon as possible.
-
-Accordingly, orders were issued, assigning Brig.-Gens. S. R. Gist
-and W. H. T. Walker to the command of brigades, with a light battery
-attached to each, and directing them to report to General Pemberton.
-These two brigades were composed of Georgia and South Carolina troops,
-the Fourth Louisiana battalion being attached to Walker's brigade.
-
-By General Beauregard's order of May 4, 1863, the command of
-Carolinians and Georgians known in the Western army as Gist's brigade
-was duly formed. The following was its composition: Sixteenth South
-Carolina, Col. James McCullough; Twenty-fourth South Carolina, Col. C.
-H. Stevens; Eighth Georgia battalion, Capt. Z. L. Watters; Forty-sixth
-Georgia, Col. P. H. Colquitt; Ferguson's battery, Capt. T. B. Ferguson.
-
-On the 5th, General Beauregard telegraphed General Pemberton that he
-would send two brigades of his best troops, and requested that they
-be kept together under General Gist. On the 6th, the first of Gist's
-troops, five companies of the Forty-sixth Georgia, under Col. P. H.
-Colquitt, and the Twenty-fourth South Carolina, under Lieut.-Col.
-Ellison Capers (Col. C. H. Stevens remaining to bring on the stores of
-the regiment), left Charleston for Jackson, Miss., by way of Atlanta,
-Montgomery, Selma and Meridian. Delayed on the way, these commands
-reached Jackson on the evening of May 13th, and went into bivouac near
-the depot, with orders to be ready to march out on the Clinton road
-at dawn next day. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston reached Jackson by the same
-train.
-
-The situation was most critical in Mississippi. General Grant's army
-was thrown between Jackson and Vicksburg, holding the railroad at
-Clinton, where McPherson's corps was encamped. Sherman's corps was
-between Jackson and Raymond, McClernand's in supporting distance.
-General Pemberton, with 17,000 men, was at Edwards depot and marching
-to give battle. General Johnston did not have exceeding 6,000 men in
-and about Jackson. The three corps of General Grant numbered about
-45,000 effectives.
-
-It was easy to beat Johnston at Jackson before Pemberton could possibly
-come to his aid, as the latter had only reached Edwards on the 13th,
-and formed for defensive battle at that point. Clinton was 8 miles from
-Jackson, and Edwards was distant 25 miles, so that Grant was between
-Pemberton and Johnston, 25 miles from the former and 8 miles from
-the latter. This was the situation on the night of the 13th of May.
-McPherson advanced upon Jackson early on the 14th, on the Clinton road,
-and Sherman at the same time, on the Raymond and Mississippi Springs
-road, both corps converging on Jackson, while Pemberton was in line of
-battle at Edwards, and General Grant's cavalry was demonstrating in his
-front to keep up a show of attack. To check McPherson and Sherman while
-valuable stores were being removed from Jackson toward Canton, General
-Johnston sent the troops he could command out on the roads leading to
-Clinton and Raymond.
-
-The Twenty-fourth South Carolina, Lieutenant-Colonel Capers, five
-companies of the Forty-sixth Georgia, Capt. T. B. Hancock, of Gist's
-brigade, with the Fourteenth Mississippi and Capt. J. A. Hoskins'
-battery of four pieces, were ordered out at daylight on the 14th, under
-Colonel Colquitt, to take position on the Clinton road, at a point
-to be designated by Brig.-Gen. John Gregg. General Gregg selected a
-good position on a ridge about 3 miles from Jackson, assisted Colquitt
-in arranging his defense, and left him with orders to hold the enemy
-until ordered to retire through Jackson. The Georgians (five companies)
-and the Mississippi battalion were posted on the right of the road,
-and the Twenty-fourth and Hoskins' battery on the left. The position
-was at Wright's farm, the command being on the right and left of his
-house. The Twenty-fourth was advanced some distance to take advantage
-of a garden fence, and the artillery placed in battery on the crown
-of the hill, one gun behind the Twenty-fourth, in support, and three
-at the main road. This little brigade, which did not number over 900
-men and officers, was attacked at 9 a. m. by the Seventh division of
-the Seventeenth army corps, composed of three brigades with four light
-batteries, and held its position until 2 p. m. before it was forced to
-retire.
-
-The enemy's official reports give his losses as follows: Second brigade
-215, Third brigade 37, Fourth brigade 13; total in division, 265,
-exclusive of artillery. In defending this position Colquitt's little
-brigade of two battalions, one regiment and four guns lost 198 men and
-officers, killed, wounded and captured. The heaviest loss was in the
-Twenty-fourth South Carolina, which held its position longest and lost
-105 men and officers. Lieutenant-Colonel Capers was wounded, and Lieut.
-A. F. Cunningham, of Company F, was killed. On the enemy's part their
-main loss was in the center brigade, which made the direct attack in
-front.
-
-The fighting in the final assault, which carried the position and
-forced a retreat on Jackson, is described as follows by the commander
-of the Tenth Missouri, which, with the Seventeenth Iowa, Eightieth
-Ohio, Thirty-sixth Illinois, and Company E, of the Twenty-fourth
-Missouri, made up the Second brigade:
-
- Colonel Holmes, commanding the brigade, now ordered bayonets fixed
- and a charge made upon the enemy. The troops moved forward at
- double-quick, cheering wildly, driving in first the skirmishers, and
- then the main line, passing over about 500 yards under a terrific fire
- of shell, canister and musketry to the house of O. P. Wright, in and
- behind which, and the hedges, fences and trees surrounding it, the
- rebels were hidden and protected. Here ensued an almost hand-to-hand
- conflict, with the Twenty-fourth regiment South Carolina volunteers.
- The Tenth Missouri suffered severely from the stream of fire which
- issued from behind every object which could furnish protection to
- the enemy. We succeeded finally in dislodging them and driving them
- some 200 yards to the left [enemy's left] and toward the main road to
- Jackson. Reforming our line, a section of the Sixth Wisconsin battery
- was rapidly brought upon the field....
-
-But the Twenty-fourth, now under Major Appleby, had followed the
-remainder of the brigade in retreat, and joined General Johnston's
-little army moving out from Jackson on the Canton road. In the fight
-above described, the attack on the Georgia and Mississippi battalions
-was made principally by the Iowa and Ohio regiments, and was well
-sustained by the Georgians and Mississippians. The conduct of Captain
-Hoskins' battery was beyond praise. But for the service of his four
-guns, the position could not have been held two hours against the
-attack of the Federal division. Writing to General Beauregard from
-Canton, on the 25th of May, General Gist said:
-
- None of the troops from your department reached Jackson in time
- for the affair at Raymond, and only two regiments of Gen. W. H. T.
- Walker's brigade, Martin's battery, Twenty-fourth South Carolina, five
- companies of the Forty-sixth Georgia, and Eighth Georgia battalion
- arrived in time to participate in the skirmish and evacuation of the
- city. I got within 6 miles, and was ordered back by General Johnston
- with remainder of Walker's and my own brigade.... The only troops of
- my brigade engaged at Jackson were those mentioned above, and all
- officers join in awarding them highest praise for soldierly conduct
- and gallantry. The Twenty-fourth regiment South Carolina volunteers,
- Lieutenant-Colonel Capers commanding, particularly distinguished
- themselves. [War Records, Vol. XXIV, Pt. III, p. 919.]
-
-General Walker's troops were not engaged in the battle at Wright's
-house. The Eighth Georgia battalion of Gist's brigade arrived in
-Jackson by train on the morning of the 14th, too late to take part with
-the Twenty-fourth South Carolina and the Forty-sixth Georgia.
-
-Looking back upon the event and reflecting on the performance of the
-little brigade at Wright's house, it seems almost ludicrous to read in
-the report of Major-General McPherson, commanding the Seventeenth army
-corps, an account of the formidable disposition he made to attack it.
-Erroneously stating that he found the enemy "posted in strong force
-under Gen. W. H. T. Walker," he continues:
-
- The position of the enemy was carefully reconnoitered, and Lieut.
- J. W. McMurray's battery, Parrott guns, brought up to reply to
- their artillery, which had already opened on our lines. While the
- dispositions for the attack were being made, a very heavy shower set
- in which delayed the attack an hour and a half, the rain coming down
- in such torrents that there was great danger of the ammunition being
- spoiled if the men opened their cartridge boxes. The time, however,
- was well employed in putting the men in position, and bringing up
- Logan's division as a reserve. The enemy occupied a semi-circular
- ridge, stretching across the main road, his right holding a piece of
- woods, and his center and left commanding rolling ground in his front,
- over which it would be necessary to pass to attack him. Two [only one,
- Hoskins'] batteries were in position, one covering the road and the
- other near his left, having a good range across the open field. The
- disposition of my troops was as follows: Boomer's brigade on the left
- of the road in the timber; Holmes' brigade on his right, in the open
- fields; Sanborn's brigade on the right of Holmes, with skirmishers
- well out on his flank; John E. Smith's brigade, Logan's division, in
- the woods in rear of Boomer, about 400 yards, in column of regiments
- as a reserve; Stevenson's brigade across a ravine on Boomer's left,
- with directions to advance and gain a road which entered the city from
- the northwest; Dennis' brigade remained a short distance in the rear
- to guard the trains.
-
-Six brigades arrayed in battle by the accomplished General McPherson,
-against two battalions, one regiment, and a battery of four guns!
-
-General Johnston's forces, about 6,000 strong, encamped the night of
-the 14th, 5 miles from Jackson on the Canton road. As many of the
-stores as could be run out of the city by railroads to Canton and
-Brandon, and by wagons, were safely removed, and General Grant's army
-was free to turn upon General Pemberton.
-
-The situation in Mississippi was so serious that additional troops
-were ordered from South Carolina, and on May 15th the secretary of war
-directed General Beauregard to send Evans' brigade with all dispatch
-to General Johnston. The governor of South Carolina, the mayor of
-Charleston and General Beauregard all remonstrated with the President
-against stripping the coast of the State almost bare of infantry,
-but the President was firm in the belief that the enemy had but a
-small force in South Carolina; that his troops had gone to Virginia,
-North Carolina and to the southwest, and that 10,000 of all arms were
-sufficient for the defense of Charleston and the coast. Accordingly
-Evans' brigade--Seventeenth, Col. F. W. McMaster; Eighteenth, Col. W.
-H. Wallace; Twenty-second, Lieut.-Col. J. O'Connell; Twenty-third,
-Col. H. L. Benbow; Twenty-sixth, Col. A. D. Smith; Holcombe legion,
-Lieut.-Col. W. J. Crawley--went to Mississippi, and was assigned to the
-division of Major-General French, in Johnston's little army.
-
-On the 20th of May, General Gist, with the balance of his brigade,
-joined General Johnston at Canton, and was assigned to Walker's
-division. Meanwhile the disastrous battles of Baker's Creek and the
-Big Black had been fought and lost by General Pemberton, and Grant
-was investing Vicksburg, with his army greatly increased. By the 4th
-of June, General Johnston had collected at Jackson, Canton and Yazoo
-City, and on the Big Black, a force of 24,000 infantry and artillery,
-and 2,800 cavalry under Gen. W. H. Jackson. This force was almost
-without transportation, and was deficient in ammunition for all arms.
-The Big Black river, impassable except by bridges, interposed between
-General Johnston's army and Grant's, and was guarded at every pass by
-intrenched forces from the army investing Vicksburg.
-
-Johnston decided that an attack on Grant under these circumstances
-was impracticable, though urged by the secretary of war to make it.
-Pemberton had 18,000 or 20,000 effective troops in the defenses of
-Vicksburg, and on the 4th of June, General Johnston wrote him: "All
-we can attempt to do is to save you and your garrison." He urged a
-simultaneous attack at the same point with a view of extricating
-Pemberton, and proposed that it be made north of the railroad. But
-General Pemberton deemed himself too weak to attack his foe, strongly
-intrenched, and General Johnston held the same view on his part, so
-that the siege of Vicksburg progressed, Grant being secured in his
-intrenchments by his overwhelming numbers and powerful artillery from
-Pemberton in front, and by the fortified crossings of the Big Black
-from Johnston in rear.
-
-Finally, on June 29th, General Johnston put his army in motion for the
-Big Black, the force effective for service being reported, June 25th,
-at 28,569, of all arms. General Johnston puts it, on the 29th, at a
-little over 20,000 infantry and artillery, and 2,000 cavalry, supplied
-with transportation, full equipment of ammunition, and a serviceable
-floating bridge. "This expedition," General Johnston wrote in his
-Narrative, "was not undertaken in the wild spirit that dictated the
-dispatches from the war department." On the 21st of June, the secretary
-of war had urged Johnston to attack General Grant for the relief of
-Pemberton, and had said: "The eyes and hopes of the whole Confederacy
-are upon you, with the full confidence to fail nobly daring, than,
-through prudence even, to be that you will act, and with the sentiment
-that it is better inactive."
-
-Johnston moved to the Big Black, not indulging the sentiment of
-Mr. Seddon, that it was better to dare an attack and fail, than to
-remain only in observation of the siege. His purpose was to make a
-reconnoissance along the Big Black to find a point of attack, his
-hope being to extricate General Pemberton's army and not to raise the
-siege. These reconnoissances on the 1st, 2d and 3d of July satisfied
-him that an attack north of the railroad was impracticable, and before
-he had made his proposed examinations south of the railroad, Vicksburg
-capitulated. Learning this, General Johnston fell back to the fortified
-line around Jackson, where he was invested by three corps of Grant's
-army, under Sherman, which, by the 10th, were intrenched in front of
-Johnston's semi-circular line. Daily skirmishes took place, and the
-city of Jackson was well pelted with shot and shell until the night
-of the 16th, when Johnston crossed Pearl river, saving his stores and
-public property, and carrying off his entire force, artillery and wagon
-trains. Ultimately the army was encamped at and near Morton, Miss., on
-the 20th of July. The enemy did not follow except in small force, and
-after burning the town of Brandon, destroying the railroad bridges,
-and setting fire to the city of Jackson, which he utterly destroyed, on
-the 23d of July the ruined city was left to its distressed inhabitants,
-and Sherman's army returned to Vicksburg.
-
-In the campaign above described, from May 20th to July 20th, Gist's
-brigade formed part of Walker's division, Evans' brigade of French's.
-The marches and countermarches to which they were subjected in the
-heat of summer, the men for the most of the time badly supplied with
-shoes and actually, at times, suffering for water fit to drink, fully
-tested the spirit and discipline of the brigade. In the short siege
-of Jackson, July 10th to 16th inclusive, Walker's division occupied a
-position on the left center of the line of defense, with its right on
-the Clinton road, the brigades posted as follows: Ector's, Gregg's,
-Gist's and Wilson's. Several casualties occurred in General Gist's
-brigade on the picket line, and in the trenches, but no return of them
-is available.
-
-In the retreat from the Big Black, French's division reached Jackson
-in advance July 7th, and at daylight on the 9th, the troops were put
-in position in the trenches, Evans' brigade on the right resting on
-the Clinton road, with the batteries of J. F. Culpeper and B. A.
-Jeter on its front. On the 11th an effort was made to force in Evans'
-skirmishers, and handsomely repulsed by the Holcombe legion. The next
-attack was on Breckinridge, at the left of French, and the 13th was
-devoted to heavy cannonading. John Waties' battery was put in position
-at French's left. There was heavy firing all the morning of the 14th,
-with brisk skirmishing. Evans' line advanced, drove back the enemy,
-burned several small houses which sheltered the Federal sharpshooters,
-and then fell back to their line. Gist's brigade remained encamped near
-Morton until the latter part of August, when, in response to General
-Bragg's request for troops, Walker's and Breckinridge's divisions were
-ordered to report to him near Chattanooga.
-
-Capt. James Gist, special aide to General Gist, and Dr. Thomas L.
-Ogier, division surgeon, both died of fever at Morton, lamented by
-their comrades. Captain Gist and Doctor Ogier were both identified with
-the brigade of General Gist from its earliest history, and were greatly
-loved and respected as efficient and faithful officers.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII.
-
- SOUTH CAROLINIANS IN THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN--SERVICE OF
- KERSHAW'S AND McGOWAN'S BRIGADES--A GREAT CONFEDERATE VICTORY.
-
-
-After the defeat of General Burnside's attempt to drive the Confederate
-army from its position in rear of Fredericksburg, both armies went
-into winter quarters, and remained inactive until about the middle of
-April, 1863. In January, General Burnside was removed from command,
-and Gen. Joseph Hooker, who had commanded the center grand division of
-Burnside's army, was placed in command of the army of the Potomac, and
-charged with the task of capturing Richmond. Upon assuming command,
-General Hooker published his general orders, No. 1, in which he
-contrasted the merits of his army with those of General Lee's in the
-following sentences: "In equipment, intelligence and valor the enemy
-is our inferior. Let us never hesitate to give him battle, wherever
-we can find him." It is hardly possible that such language could have
-disparaged the character of General Lee's army in the estimation of the
-Federal soldiers who had so often felt the force of its "equipment,
-intelligence and valor."
-
-President Lincoln was not willing to give General Hooker so great a
-trust without warning and serious admonition, which he embodied in the
-following letter, under date of January 26, 1863:
-
- General: I have placed you at the head of the army of the Potomac.
- Of course, I have done this upon what appears to me to be sufficient
- reasons. And yet I think it best for you to know that there are some
- things in regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you. I
- believe you to be a brave and skillful soldier, which, of course, I
- like. I also believe you do not mix politics with your profession,
- in which you are right. You have confidence in yourself, which is a
- valuable if not an indispensable quality. You are ambitious, which
- within reasonable bounds does good rather than harm. But I think that
- during General Burnside's command of the army you have taken counsel
- of your ambition and thwarted him as much as you could, in which you
- did a great wrong both to the country and to a most meritorious and
- honorable brother officer. I have heard in such way as to believe it,
- of your recently saying that both the army and the government needed
- a dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I
- have given you the command. Only those generals who gain success can
- set up as dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and
- I will risk the dictatorship. The government will support you to the
- utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done
- and will do for all commanders. I much fear the spirit you have aided
- to infuse into the army of criticising their commander and withholding
- confidence from him will now turn upon you. I shall assist you as far
- as I can to put it down. Neither you, nor Napoleon, if he were alive
- again, could get any good out of an army while such a spirit prevails
- in it. And now beware of rashness--beware of rashness; but with energy
- and sleepless vigilance go forward and gain us victories.
-
- Yours very truly,
- A. Lincoln.
-
-How far the anxious President's candid letter influenced the
-generalship of the new commander may be seen by what follows in
-description of his unhappy experiences in "finding the enemy" and
-testing his "inferior equipment, intelligence and valor."
-
-On April 30, 1863, the Federal army under Hooker had 133,708 men
-"actually available for the line of battle," organized in seven corps;
-the First under Reynolds, the Second under Couch, the Third under
-Sickles, the Fifth under Meade, the Sixth under Sedgwick, the Eleventh
-under Howard, the Twelfth under Slocum. The artillery included 370
-guns, of all calibers. The cavalry force outnumbered General Lee's
-three to one.
-
-General Lee's army was numerically not as strong as at the battle of
-Fredericksburg, Longstreet having been sent south of the James with
-the divisions of Hood and Pickett, and Hampton's cavalry brigade
-having been sent into the interior to recruit its horses. Lee's
-army confronting Hooker numbered of all arms, on the 1st of April,
-53,303, with 170 pieces of artillery. McLaws and Anderson commanded
-the divisions of Longstreet's corps present, and Early, A. P. Hill,
-Rodes and Colston commanded Jackson's divisions; W. H. F. Lee and
-Fitzhugh Lee commanded the two brigades of cavalry under Stuart, and
-General Pendleton the artillery battalions of Alexander, Crutchfield,
-R. L. Walker, Brown, Carter, Andrews and McIntosh. McGowan's brigade,
-on April 29th, occupied the same position it held in the battle of
-December 13th.
-
-By the 29th of April, three of Hooker's corps, the Fifth, Eleventh and
-Twelfth, had marched up the Rappahannock, crossed at Kelly's ford, and
-were marching for Germanna and Ely's fords on the Rapidan, on Lee's
-left flank. The Second corps crossed at the United States ford on the
-30th, and at night Hooker was at Chancellorsville with four corps of
-his army, covering all approaches to that position. On the same day
-he ordered up the Third from in front of Fredericksburg, and by noon
-on May 1st he was in position around Chancellorsville with five army
-corps. General Sedgwick, with the remaining two corps, the First and
-Sixth, had crossed below Fredericksburg, and was demonstrating as if
-for attack. General Hooker was so much elated by the success of this
-concentration, that he published a field order congratulating his army
-on its "brilliant achievements," and declared that General Lee must
-"ingloriously fly" before such a combination, else "certain destruction
-awaits him, should he give us battle on our own ground." _Nous verrons_.
-
-On the 29th of April, General Lee had decided that Hooker's main
-attack was to be expected from the troops marching on Chancellorsville,
-and that the operations in his front at Fredericksburg were only
-demonstrations in force to deceive him. He made his dispositions at
-once, and leaving Early and Barksdale and the reserve artillery for the
-defense of the position at Fredericksburg, with the main army marched
-to meet Hooker at Chancellorsville. The divisions of Anderson and
-McLaws were advanced on the main approaches, the plank road and old
-turnpike, and became engaged with Hooker's advance on both roads, early
-on the 1st of May, about 4 miles from General Hooker's headquarters.
-Jackson, with his three divisions, was in supporting distance, and
-in immediate charge of the advance. Pressing forward, on both roads,
-the Federals were driven back upon the line immediately around
-Chancellorsville, in which they were strongly protected by natural and
-prepared defenses.
-
-On the evening and night of the 1st, General Lee put his troops in
-position across the plank road and fronting General Hooker's line.
-Lee's right extended as far as the mine road, and his left was in front
-of and beyond the Catherine furnace. General Hooker's line extended
-as far as the river on his left, and on his right along the road to
-Germanna's ferry (the old turnpike) for a distance of 3 miles. This
-line was covered from end to end by a vast forest, which hid its
-extent from observation, and was protected by abatis of fallen timber,
-rifle-pits, breastworks of logs, earthworks, etc. The forest also hid
-General Lee's line, and by the activity of the cavalry on his flanks,
-General Hooker was led to magnify both its strength and its length.
-
-Hooker was so strong in front that General Lee determined to attack
-beyond his fortified line. On the night of the 1st he held a long
-conference with General Jackson, as a result of which General Jackson
-was ordered to lead his three divisions early in the morning to the
-extreme right and rear of General Hooker's line, and assault with
-vigor. Lee was to stand in Hooker's front with McLaws' and Anderson's
-divisions, and Early was to keep back Sedgwick. Jackson marched with
-26,000 men, and left Lee in front of Hooker with 14,000. The wilderness
-was his defense. It hid his weakness and screened Jackson's march.
-
-Kershaw's brigade, with McLaws--the Fifteenth, Lieut.-Col. Joseph F.
-Gist; Seventh, Col. Elbert Bland; Third, Maj. R. C. Maffett; Second,
-Col. J. D. Kennedy; James' battalion, Lieut.-Col. W. G. Rice, and
-Eighth, Col. John W. Henagan--was in the second line of battle at
-Zoar church on May 1st, and next day formed in the front line before
-Chancellorsville, with thirteen companies thrown forward in the
-dense woods, under Maj. D. B. Miller, James' battalion, engaged in
-continually pressing the enemy.
-
-Jackson's three divisions were commanded by Gens. A. P. Hill, R. E.
-Rodes and R. E. Colston. His South Carolina brigade, in Hill's light
-division, was now commanded by Brig.-Gen. Samuel McGowan, who was
-colonel of the Fourteenth South Carolina under the lamented Gregg, and
-when that gallant and accomplished soldier fell at Fredericksburg,
-was promoted to take command of the brigade, thenceforth known in the
-army of Northern Virginia as McGowan's brigade. McGowan's brigade,
-after being engaged in skirmishing, and under artillery fire on the
-1st, moved out with Hill's division early on the 2d. As soon as the
-First regiment left the cover of the woods, said Col. D. H. Hamilton,
-it was subjected to the "most trying ordeal to which any troops could
-be subjected. As soon as we reached the open ground, we were exposed
-in open and full view to the batteries of the enemy, and under a
-deliberate and annoying fire, we passed those batteries in review.
-My regiment stood the ordeal well. Projecting hills soon screened us
-from further annoyance, and our march was rapidly and successfully
-continued until we reached a position beyond Chancellorsville, in rear
-of the enemy's line of works."
-
-By 4 p. m. on the 2d, General Jackson was on the Germanna Ford road,
-and in rear of the right flank of General Hooker. The forest enveloping
-him covered his deployments, and his three divisions were put in line
-of battle, one behind the other, and marched up the road, and actually
-began the attack from the rear and flank before General Hooker's troops
-knew that they were being approached by a Confederate force. The
-Eleventh corps, General Howard, held the Federal right. Jackson's front
-line was led by Rodes, and so impetuous was the attack, and so complete
-the surprise, that the divisions of Howard were at once thrown into
-confusion and soon into rout. Rodes pressed on up the road and through
-the forest, followed by Colston and then by Hill, the great Jackson
-directing the advance. It was known that the enemy had a fortified
-line at the Talley house, and a second at Melzi Chancellor's house.
-Jackson's order was to carry the position at Talley's, and to move
-right on against the second at Chancellor's. Both were carried, and the
-entire right of Hooker's line defeated and driven back to the heights
-of Chancellorsville. Now, late in the day, General Jackson ordered A.
-P. Hill's division to relieve the divisions of Rodes and Colston at the
-Chancellor house. It was at this juncture, while Hill's division was
-taking position, that General Jackson, he and his staff being mistaken
-in the darkness for Federal cavalry, was fired upon and mortally
-wounded. Gen. A. P. Hill was soon afterward wounded, and the command of
-Jackson's corps devolved upon General Rodes for a time. General Stuart
-was then summoned, and the night of the 2d was spent by that active
-soldier in arranging for the morning's attack.
-
-At sunset, McGowan's brigade had reached that part of the field that
-had been cleared of the enemy by Rodes' division, leaving roads
-and fields strewn with the Federal dead. Colonel Hamilton's report
-continues:
-
- Passing beyond, we were drawn up in line, by order of General McGowan,
- on the plank road, the Fourteenth regiment being deployed, and
- covering our front as skirmishers. Here we were subjected to a heavy
- fire of shells, which was annoying, but did not do us much damage.
- About 11 o'clock orders were given to advance, and the attempt was
- made, but either in consequence of the impossibility of advancing
- through the pine thickets, or a change of orders, the order was
- countermanded. At midnight the brigade was marched to a position in
- front of the enemy's breastworks, with Brigadier-General Lane on our
- left and Brigadier-General Archer on our right.
-
-At dawn on the 3d, Stuart's line was arranged for a renewal of
-battle, and by sunrise he moved forward, Archer's brigade, on the
-extreme right, being charged with the duty of uniting with General
-Anderson's left, and so reuniting Lee's separated wings. The battle of
-Chancellorsville was won by 10 a. m., by the united assaults of the two
-wings coming together at the center, where the victorious advance of
-Stuart and Anderson and McLaws swept back the heroic resistance which
-Hooker's broken forces made around the heights, and drove them from the
-entire field of battle.
-
-In this, the final and crowning assault of that great battle, the two
-South Carolina brigades, under McGowan and Kershaw, bore an honorable
-and memorable part. Kershaw on the right with McLaws, and McGowan on
-the left with Stuart, were in the front lines of advance, and carried
-their troops to the extreme limit of the great victory. The sacrifice
-which Carolina offered at Chancellorsville was costly, indeed. Over
-550 of her sons were killed and wounded in the battle of the 3d, and
-that at Salem church on the 4th, in which last engagement General Lee
-defeated Sedgwick and drove him over the Rappahannock, turning upon his
-advance toward Chancellorsville with the divisions of Anderson, McLaws
-and Early.
-
-Of the part taken by McGowan's brigade, General Heth, commanding Hill's
-division, said:
-
- I ordered Generals McGowan and Archer to move forward.... The
- light division forming the front line, opened the battle of
- Chancellorsville.... Lane's brigade, supported by part of Heth's
- brigade, and McGowan's brigade advanced and charged the enemy behind
- his breastworks and supported by twenty-nine pieces of artillery. I
- cannot conceive of any body of men ever being subjected to a more
- galling fire than this force. The brigades, notwithstanding, drove the
- enemy from his works and held them for some time.
-
-Passing beyond the breastworks, the brigade soon became very hotly
-engaged, but on account of the oblique movement of Archer's brigade on
-their right, that flank was exposed and they were compelled to hold
-the line of works they had taken. Here, in the midst of a desperate
-fight, General McGowan and his able and gallant adjutant-general,
-Capt. A. C. Haskell, were severely wounded. Col. O. E. Edwards, of
-the Thirteenth, assumed brigade command, but this heroic soldier,
-exposing himself with characteristic intrepidity, was soon mortally
-wounded. Col. D. H. Hamilton, of the First, then took charge of the
-brigade. Here, also, the brigade suffered an irreparable loss in the
-fall of the accomplished Col. James M. Perrin, of the First rifles,
-who was mortally wounded at the breastworks. Among the gallant dead of
-McGowan's brigade were Lieuts. E. C. DuBose and C. P. Seabrook, of the
-First; Lieut. H. L. Fuller, of the Thirteenth, and Lieut. J. H. Fricks
-of the First rifles. Sergt. L. A. Wardlaw, Color-bearer G. S. Bell and
-Private T. R. Puckett, of the Rifles, were wounded bearing the colors.
-Maj. G. McD. Miller, of the Rifles, was severely wounded. The total
-loss of the brigade was 46 killed and 402 wounded. Col. Abner Perrin
-commanded the Fourteenth, and was in command of part of the brigade in
-the last charge. The Twelfth was not engaged.
-
-The advance of Kershaw's brigade, early on the 3d, suffered the loss
-of its gallant leader, Capt. G. B. Cuthbert, Second regiment, who fell
-with two wounds that caused his death. About 9 o'clock, General Kershaw
-reported, "the whole line advanced to the attack of Chancellorsville,
-and by 11 o'clock our troops were in possession of the position, the
-skirmishers only having been engaged. Moving over to the turnpike road
-to form a new front, under orders from the major-general commanding,
-I was directed by Gen. R. E. Lee to move with General Mahone toward
-Fredericksburg, to check the advance of a column of the enemy reported
-coming up from that point, along the plank road." This movement brought
-Kershaw's brigade into the battle of Salem Church, in which the Third
-regiment and part of James' battalion were engaged, on the right of
-Wilcox's brigade. Late in the evening of the 4th, the brigade took part
-in the engagement at Banks' ford, driving the enemy across the river.
-They spent all the night beating the thickets for Federals, finding
-only straggling prisoners; bivouacked at 4 a. m., arose at sunrise, and
-gathered over 800 stand of arms. About noon they marched to a point
-near the United States ford, and relieved Heth's brigade, and on the
-6th, after the heavy rain had ceased, advanced and found there were no
-Federals on the south side of the Rappahannock.
-
-Colonel Henagan's regiment was with General Jackson from the 2d. The
-loss of Kershaw's brigade was not great, 11 killed and 89 wounded; but
-the death of Captain Cuthbert and Capt. C. W. Boyd, of the Fifteenth,
-who fell together before Chancellorsville, _par nobile fratrum_,
-was deeply mourned. They were young men of the brightest promise,
-of commanding talents, high social position, and most attractive
-personality.
-
-General Hooker's loss at Chancellorsville was greater than Lee's.
-The former lost in both wings, according to his statement before the
-committee on the conduct of the war, 17,197; by the returns in the War
-Records, 1,575 killed, 9,559 wounded, 5,711 prisoners or missing.
-General Lee's loss was 1,581 killed, 8,700 wounded. Both generals lost
-artillery, Lee eight pieces and Hooker thirteen, with 1,500 rounds of
-ammunition. General Lee gathered from the field, besides tents and army
-stores of various kinds, 19,500 rifles and muskets, and over 300,000
-rounds of infantry ammunition.
-
-After the battle, in his general orders of congratulation, General Lee
-recommended that the troops "unite on Sunday next, in ascribing to the
-Lord of Hosts the glory due unto His name," and quoted the following
-letter from President Davis:
-
- General Lee: I have received your dispatch, and reverently unite with
- you in giving praise to God for the success with which He has crowned
- our arms. In the name of the people I offer my thanks to you and the
- troops under your command for this addition to the unprecedented
- series of great victories, which your army has achieved. The universal
- rejoicing produced by this happy result, will be mingled with general
- regret for the good and brave who are numbered among the killed and
- wounded.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
- OPERATIONS IN SOUTH CAROLINA--OPENING OF GILLMORE'S CAMPAIGN
- AGAINST FORT SUMTER--THE SURPRISE OF MORRIS ISLAND--FIRST ASSAULT
- ON BATTERY WAGNER--DEMONSTRATIONS ON JAMES ISLAND AND AGAINST THE
- RAILROAD--ACTION NEAR GRIMBALL'S LANDING.
-
-
-The attempt of Admiral Du Pont and Major-General Hunter to reduce and
-capture the outer defenses of Charleston on April 7, 1863, having been
-signally repulsed, and the ironclad squadron badly crippled, both of
-those officers were relieved, and the energies and resources of the
-Federal government concentrated upon the capture of Morris island.
-Brig.-Gen. Q. A. Gillmore took command in place of General Hunter, and
-Rear-Admiral J. A. Dahlgren supplanted Du Pont. General Gillmore had
-confidently expressed his ability to reduce Fort Sumter from Morris
-island, and was an officer of recognized energy and skill. After the
-defeat of April 7th, it was well known in Washington that Admiral Du
-Pont had lost faith in the fighting qualities of his iron fleet, and
-General Hunter, in communicating with the government at Washington,
-had several times complained of "the inactivity of the admiral."
-The failure of the general himself to do more than organize raiding
-parties, which pillaged plantations, burned planters' residences, mills
-and barns, and were invariably driven back to the ubiquitous gunboat
-protection, must have impressed his superiors unfavorably. General
-Hunter complained of his removal from command as a reflection upon his
-military conduct, but Mr. Lincoln assured him that he was held in high
-esteem, that no reflection upon him was meant, and that other and
-controlling reasons had determined the appointment of Gillmore.
-
-On quitting the Stono, after the repulse of the ironclads on April 7th,
-General Hunter had left a brigade, under Brigadier-General Vogdes, on
-Folly island, with light artillery and some cavalry. This brigade had
-orders to conceal its encampments among the sand-hills, and in the
-dense woods and behind the growth of the island, and so effectually
-carried out the directions, that the force on Folly island baffled the
-attempts made to locate it or determine its strength. The island was
-unassailable by the Confederate forces on James island, and there were
-no troops in the department to spare for an attack from Morris island,
-across Lighthouse inlet. General Vogdes was known to be on Folly island
-with some force, but what he was doing, or what he was there to do, was
-a matter of frequent discussion, and was certainly never determined
-until Gillmore developed his force on Stono inlet, when Morris island,
-Battery Wagner and Fort Sumter were seen to be his objectives.
-
-The department commanded by General Beauregard had been stripped almost
-bare to reinforce other points. Against this depletion of his infantry,
-General Beauregard, the governor of the State, the mayor of Charleston,
-and numerous prominent citizens had remonstrated, but the reply of the
-secretary of war was both inevitable and unanswerable: "It cannot be
-helped, however much it is deplored."
-
-Gillmore's force of all arms amounted to 10,950, supplied with field
-batteries and siege guns of the highest capacity, supported in the
-Stono and on its left flank by a flotilla of gunboats, and on the right
-by the admiral's armored fleet. For the immediate defense of the city,
-General Beauregard had in position, on the islands and in the forts and
-batteries, a total of 5,841 men: On Morris island 927, on James island
-2,906, on Sullivan's island 1,158, and in the city 850.
-
-Morris island, the selected point of real attack, lies along the main
-ship channel, about 3½ miles in length, north and south, its north end,
-Cummings point, being three-quarters of a mile south by east from Fort
-Sumter. At Cummings point, Battery Gregg, named in honor of Brig.-Gen.
-Maxcy Gregg, mounted guns of the heaviest caliber which the department
-could command. This battery was an important outpost of Fort Sumter,
-and one of the strong defenses of the harbor. Three-quarters of a
-mile south of Battery Gregg stood, square across a narrow neck of the
-island, Battery Wagner, named in honor of Lieut.-Col. Thomas M. Wagner.
-Wagner touched the beach on its sea flank, and Vincent's creek on its
-west flank, covering the whole island width of about 280 yards. It is
-noteworthy that the Star of the West battery, which fired the first
-gun of the war, was located, in January, 1851, just in advance of the
-ground on which Wagner stood.
-
-At the time of which we write (July, 1863), Battery Wagner mounted
-two heavy guns on the sea face, and some twelve or more, of lighter
-caliber, on the south and west faces. It was a strong earthwork,
-constructed of compact sand, upon which the heaviest projectiles
-produced little effect, with well-built traverses protecting the
-guns from the sea fire, high merlons, thoroughly protected magazine
-and bomb-proof, with a strong parapet on the north or gorge face,
-for the protection of the opening. The salients on the east and west
-were flanked by infantry and howitzer fire. The barbette guns of
-Sumter, distant a mile and a half from Wagner, commanded its immediate
-approaches from the south, while from the parapet of Sumter, with a
-good glass, Morris island for its entire length was in plain view for
-observation.
-
-Late in May, General Ripley, commanding the defenses of Charleston,
-became dissatisfied with the progress of constructing batteries on the
-extreme south end of Morris island, designed to prevent an attack by
-boats from Folly island. The enemy's strength on the latter island
-was unknown, boats and barges were at Vogdes' command, and if two or
-three thousand troops were to make a determined attack, Ripley felt
-unprepared to meet it. These representations were made by him to
-General Beauregard on the 24th of May, and the work on the south end
-was pushed slowly forward by an inadequate force. Meanwhile General
-Gillmore had come into command, and by the middle of June was preparing
-his plans for attack at the south end of Morris island.
-
-When the attack came, on the early morning of July 10th, it was a
-surprise and overwhelming. Gillmore had put forty-seven guns and
-mortars in battery, facing the nine separate 1-gun batteries of the
-Confederates, within three-eighths of a mile of the rifle-pits, and
-without their knowledge. Observant officers and men were satisfied
-that batteries were being constructed on Folly island, but so well
-was the work screened, that not until the brushwood was cut away, the
-embrasures opened out, and the fire opened, did the little force on the
-south end of Morris island, or the general commanding the district,
-or General Beauregard, realize the true character of the attack that
-had been so secretly prepared. "With lookout stations on the ruins of
-the old lighthouse on Morris island; on the mast-head of a wrecked
-blockade-runner, off Lighthouse inlet, and at Secessionville on James
-island, there was yet no discovery of these Federal works. So far from
-it, that General Ripley (district commander) reports, that 'up to the
-8th or 9th of July the enemy, so far as ascertained, had constructed no
-works on Folly island, except to shelter his pickets from our shells.'"
-(Johnson's "Defense of Charleston.") On this subject Major Gilchrist
-says, in his pamphlet on the defense of Morris island, himself a
-participant in that defense:
-
- It has always been a vexed question on whom should rest the blame for
- the neglect of this strategic point. There were mutual recriminations
- and much bad blood between those who were thought to be responsible
- for the success of the Federals on July 10th, which involved the
- destruction of Fort Sumter and the long and bloody siege of Wagner.
- But the truth is, General Beauregard did not believe an attack would
- be made by this route, and was firmly persuaded that the enemy would
- again essay an advance by way of James island. He therefore withdrew
- the negro laborers from Morris island to strengthen the fortifications
- elsewhere, leaving the Gist Guard and Mathewes' artillery to finish
- half-completed Fort Wagner. And when General Ripley, on his own
- responsibility, and by his own engineer, commenced to fortify the
- neighborhood of Lighthouse inlet, he commanded the work to stop.
- Later, when it was discovered that General Vogdes was doing some
- work--its extent unknown--on Folly island, General Ripley again, with
- the tardy consent of General Beauregard, sent two companies of the
- First South Carolina artillery, Capt. John C. Mitchel commanding, who,
- with the assistance of the Twenty-first South Carolina, Col. R. F.
- Graham, built among the sand-hills of the south end of Morris island
- nine independent 1-gun batteries, which were eventually to meet the
- concentrated fire of forty-seven guns in the masked batteries on Folly
- island, and 8, 11 and 15-inch guns in the monitors.
-
-The writer of the pamphlet quoted cannot have been aware of the fact,
-that as early as March 10th General Beauregard had ordered the south
-end of Morris island fortified, that the work was promptly begun, and
-that when General Ripley complained, May 24th, of its slow progress,
-Capt. Langdon Cheves, of the engineers, was prosecuting it with an
-inadequate force, and no wood material furnished, necessary for
-magazine and bomb-proof. As a precautionary measure the works were
-ordered by General Beauregard, and more appreciated as being necessary
-by General Ripley, but neither of these generals expected them to be
-attacked except by boat howitzers and rifle guns of light batteries
-covering an attack by infantry landing from small boats. In such an
-attack the batteries on the south end, supported by 1,000 men, could
-have successfully repelled the enemy. If an attack at that point should
-come, it was looked for only in that shape.
-
-On July 4th, from his headquarters at Hilton Head, General Gillmore
-issued his order for the disposition of two divisions designed to
-attack Morris island. The First was commanded by Brigadier-General
-Terry, its brigades by Brigadier-General Stevenson and Colonel
-Davis; the Second by Brigadier-General Seymour, its brigades by
-Brigadier-Generals Vogdes and Strong. The brigade of Vogdes was already
-on Folly island, and had been since April 7th; Strong landed on the 6th
-of July, and Stevenson subsequently.
-
-On the 9th, General Beauregard telegraphed Mr. Davis of the presence in
-Stono and off the bar of thirty-eight vessels and five monitors, and
-at noon of the same day to Governor Bonham, and to Richmond, that "an
-attack on Sumter along Folly and Morris islands is evidently imminent."
-General Mercer, at Savannah, and General Whiting, at Wilmington, were
-asked for support, and Generals Hagood and Walker were ordered to hold
-all available troops in the Second and Third districts in readiness to
-march or take the cars for Charleston at a moment's warning.
-
-The batteries on Folly island were then under cover and still unknown.
-The only certain indication of the impending attack was reported by
-Capt. C. T. Haskell early on the morning of the 9th. That gallant
-and energetic officer had made a reconnoissance to the west of Folly
-island, by boat, and had plainly discovered the flotilla of barges and
-small boats in Folly Island creek, "moored and ready for crossing."
-This reconnoissance by Captain Haskell, and the landing of Strong's
-brigade on Folly island, persuaded General Beauregard to look for the
-attack on the south end of Morris island. How was he prepared to meet
-it? Eleven guns were in position, in unconnected, detached batteries,
-three 8-inch navy shell guns, two 8-inch howitzers, one 24 and one 30
-pounder rifled Parrott, one 12-pounder Whitworth, and three 10-inch
-mortars. Rifle-pits were dug in front, covering Oyster point. The guns
-were manned by 200 artillerists from the First regulars, under Capts.
-John C. Mitchel and J. R. Macbeth, and Lieut. H. W. Frost. The infantry
-supports were 400 men of the Twenty-first, under Maj. G. W. McIver, and
-one company of the First South Carolina infantry, commanded by Capt.
-Charles T. Haskell. The whole force amounted to 650 men!
-
-Against this defense General Gillmore was to make his attack with
-forty-seven guns from his masked batteries, the guns of four of the
-monitors, and a brigade of infantry 3,000 strong, composed of four
-regiments and two battalions of four companies each. Just at daylight
-on the morning of the 10th, the guns on Folly island were unmasked and
-opened their fire on the Confederate detached batteries. The surprise
-was complete. The gallant men and officers on duty were expecting an
-attack, but such a volume and weight of metal was overwhelming. But
-Mitchel and Macbeth ordered their guns opened in reply, and McIver and
-Haskell manned the rifle-pits.
-
-After the unequal combat of artillery had lasted about two hours,
-General Strong advanced from the northwest end of the island against
-McIver and Haskell. The few guns left mounted were turned upon the
-flotilla of boats, sinking a barge and killing and wounding many in the
-boats, but the advance was unchecked, and the brigade landed, stormed
-and carried the pits, and drove off the little force remaining unhurt
-by the assault. The gallant Haskell fell, cheering his men, sword in
-hand; Macbeth, badly wounded, was taken prisoner; Lieut. John S. Bee
-had fallen at his gun, and Lieut. T. H. Dalrymple on the infantry line.
-Fighting yet the last guns, the contest was ended by the charge of
-the Sixth Connecticut on the rear and sea flank, met by the advance of
-General Strong from the west side. The Connecticut regiment had passed
-by the entire front and landed under cover of the sand-hills, and took
-the batteries in reverse. It was an unequal contest, but continued
-for hours. Seeing its hopelessness, Colonel Graham ordered retreat
-upon Wagner, covered by Nelson's South Carolina battalion, under Maj.
-James H. Rion, which arrived just as the retreat was ordered. Four
-monitors followed along, pelting the retreating and almost exhausted
-Confederates with their 15-inch shell and showers of grape. Colonel
-Graham reported a total loss in killed, wounded and missing, of 295;
-183 in the Twenty-first, 12 in Captain Haskell's company, and 100 in
-the artillery.
-
-The south end of Morris island was lost, and General Gillmore
-immediately reinforced Strong, and General Seymour took command of
-the division on Morris island, now in a position to assault Battery
-Wagner. On the 9th, General Terry, with about 4,000 men, had sailed
-up the Stono, supported by gunboats, and made such a demonstration of
-landing on James island as to keep all the troops there, under Colonel
-Simonton, under arms, and to turn others, arriving from Charleston, in
-that direction. Reports from James island, coming to the commanding
-general on the morning of the 9th, made it doubtful, for a time, where
-the most formidable attack was to be made, but the concentration of
-force on Morris island, and the action of the squadron, soon settled
-all doubts as to General Gillmore's designs.
-
-Wagner was reinforced as soon as the troops could be sent over, and
-during the night of the 10th the garrison was increased to 1,000
-infantry and 200 artillerists. A gallant band of Georgians, under Col.
-C. H. Olmstead, came to stand on the ramparts by the side of their
-Carolina brethren. There were thus assembled, for the defense of the
-fort, the following commands:
-
-Infantry: Twenty-first South Carolina, Major McIver; Seventh South
-Carolina battalion, Maj. J. H. Rion; Company D, First South Carolina
-regular infantry, Lieut. J. M. Horlbeck; four companies First Georgia,
-Col. C. H. Olmstead; four companies Twelfth Georgia battalion,
-Lieut.-Col. H. D. Capers; three companies Eighteenth Georgia battalion,
-Maj. W. L. Basinger. Artillery: Detachments of Companies E, I and H,
-First South Carolina regular artillery, Capt. John C. Mitchel; Gist
-Guard, Capt. C. E. Chichester, and the Mathewes artillery, Capt. J. R.
-Mathewes. Lieut.-Col. Joseph Yates commanded the batteries, and Colonel
-Graham the fort. Colonel Graham kept his force in the fort under arms
-and on watch, all night, while Major Rion covered the front with 150
-skirmishers. The infantry was stationed, in support of the guns,
-from right to left, in the following order: Seventh South Carolina
-battalion, Twelfth Georgia battalion, Twenty-first South Carolina,
-First South Carolina infantry, Eighteenth Georgia battalion, First
-Georgia volunteers.
-
-At dawn on the 11th the assault came and the pickets were driven
-in. The attacking column was led by four companies of the Seventh
-Connecticut, Lieutenant-Colonel Rodman, followed by the Seventy-sixth
-Pennsylvania and the Ninth Maine. The Third and Seventh New Hampshire
-formed the reserve. The Connecticut detachment charged gallantly
-and followed Rion's pickets so closely that they were nearly at the
-left salient of the fort before the fire opened, the light being so
-imperfect that it was difficult to distinguish an object 100 yards in
-advance. The Georgians on the left opened the fire of the infantry,
-and then in rolling succession every gun was fired. The ranks of the
-Seventh Connecticut were broken and swept away, and the Seventy-sixth
-Pennsylvania was so stunned by the fire as to halt and lie down.
-Recovering, they arose and made for the center of the fort, while the
-Ninth Maine charged gallantly at the right salient. It was all in
-vain. The withering fire of canister and musketry broke up the ranks,
-and the whole column retreated in wild confusion. General Strong
-blamed the Seventy-sixth for his failure to carry the fort, because
-they halted and fell on the ground under "the sudden, tremendous and
-simultaneous fire" which they met. But that same fire would have had
-an identical effect upon them if they had not lain down, as it had
-when they rose and rushed to the charge. No regiment can preserve its
-line of assault under the fire of canister from a dozen guns and the
-continued discharge of 1,000 rifles. If the two New Hampshire regiments
-had followed this first assault, and they, in turn, had been followed
-by still a third column of attack, they might have carried the fort;
-but to attempt its assault with two regiments and a battalion of four
-companies was to presume upon the character of its defenders and the
-strength of its defense.
-
-General Strong reported his loss at 8 officers and 322 non-commissioned
-officers and soldiers. Colonel Graham lost 1 officer and 5 soldiers
-killed, and 1 officer and 5 soldiers wounded. Capt. C. Werner, of the
-First Georgia, was the officer killed, and all the casualties in the
-fort were among the Georgia troops.
-
-Four monitors, lying a mile off, bombarded Wagner on the 10th, and on
-the morning of that day, Capt. Langdon Cheves, the engineer of Fort
-Wagner, just after receiving the intelligence of the death of his
-gallant kinsman, was killed in the fort by a fragment of shell, fired
-from one of the monitors, the first shot fired at the fort that day.
-Captain Cheves was an accomplished engineer, a devoted patriot and a
-gallant soldier. Battery Wagner was built under his direction, and his
-name, with those of others hereafter to be mentioned, who gave their
-lives in its defense, will be forever commemorated in its history.
-
-Gillmore's third demonstration, on July 10th, the attempt to cut the
-railroad at Jacksonboro, was a failure. It was made by Col. T. W.
-Higginson, commanding a regiment of recently enlisted negroes. With
-three armed steamers he ascended the South Edisto under the cover of a
-dense fog, until arrested at Willtown bluff by the obstructions in the
-river. Landing at that point a force of 100 or more Confederates, a
-section of artillery, without infantry supports, was surprised in camp
-and driven off, 2 men being taken prisoners. Removing the obstructions,
-Colonel Higginson steamed up the river with the purpose of burning
-the railroad bridge at Jacksonboro. At Dr. Glover's plantation, about
-3 miles from the bridge, he encountered a section of Capt. George
-Walter's battery, under Lieut. S. G. Horsey, and after an action of
-an hour's duration the boats were beaten and turned down stream. Col.
-H. K. Aiken, commanding the Second military district, sent a section
-of the Marion artillery, Lieut. Robert Murdoch, to the plantation of
-Mr. Gibbes, below; and being joined at this point by Lieutenant White,
-with the section which had been surprised at Willtown bluff, the two
-sections caught the boats on their retreat, and badly crippled them.
-One of the vessels was set on fire and burned to the water's edge, and
-two of them made their escape out of the Edisto.
-
-Colonel Higginson reported that the vessel destroyed grounded on the
-obstructions, was abandoned and fired by her commander, while Colonel
-Aiken reported her set on fire by shells from the section at Gibbes'.
-Two brass rifled guns were taken from the wreck and added to Aiken's
-artillery on the river. Higginson carried off over 100 negroes, several
-bales of cotton, burned the barns of Colonel Morris, and pillaged the
-residences in the neighborhood of Willtown bluff. Colonel Aiken had 2
-men wounded and 2 captured. Colonel Higginson reported 3 killed and
-several wounded, himself among the latter. This expedition and the
-demonstration of General Terry on James island, were made at the same
-time as the attack on the south end of Morris island, and were intended
-to mask that important movement.
-
-General Terry was still on James island on the 16th, with his forces
-at Battery island and Grimball's on the Stono, and at Legaré's on the
-Folly river side of the island. They were attacked at Grimball's and
-Legaré's on the 16th by General Hagood, and driven down on Battery
-island. They embarked at that point and evacuated the island on the
-following night. In this affair General Hagood commanded portions of
-Clingman's North Carolina and Colquitt's Georgia brigades, and the
-Twenty-fifth South Carolina under Lieut.-Col. J. G. Pressley, Colonel
-Simonton riding with General Colquitt to give that general the benefit
-of his accurate knowledge of the island. Perkins' (Marion) battery
-followed and engaged with Colquitt's column at Legaré's, and the North
-Carolinians, under Col. J. D. Radcliffe, with artillery under Colonel
-Kemper, attacked the gunboats Marblehead and Pawnee in the Stono above
-Grimball's. Colquitt's attack at Legaré's, led by the Twenty-fifth
-South Carolina, was followed by the quick retreat of the force before
-him, and that at Grimball's retired on Battery island before Colonel
-Radcliffe had defeated the gunboats above the point. General Hagood
-reports that his troops were under the fire of the gunboats mainly;
-that the troops of the enemy were mostly negroes and behaved poorly;
-that his loss was 3 killed, 12 wounded and 3 missing, and that of the
-enemy, as far as ascertained, 30 killed on the field and 14 taken
-prisoners.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV.
-
- SECOND ASSAULT ON BATTERY WAGNER--SIEGE OF WAGNER AND BOMBARDMENT OF
- FORT SUMTER--EVACUATION OF MORRIS ISLAND.
-
-
-The bloody repulse of the assault on Battery Wagner, July 11th, left
-General Gillmore in possession of two-thirds of the island, Colonel
-Graham holding the northern end for about a mile, with his outposts
-about 200 yards in advance of Wagner on a sand ridge. It was determined
-to hold Wagner to the last, and to relieve the garrison frequently
-by sending over fresh troops at night. Such reliefs were landed at
-Cummings point and marched up to Wagner, always subject to the shells
-of the fleet and the fire of Gillmore.
-
-In what follows in this chapter the writer has taken the facts
-stated mainly from the official reports; the admirable pamphlet of
-Major Gilchrist, already referred to; and the account given by the
-accomplished engineer on duty at Fort Sumter, Maj. John Johnson, in his
-valuable book on the "Defense of Charleston Harbor."
-
-Gen. W. B. Taliaferro, who had commanded a division in Jackson's
-corps, army of Northern Virginia, and was now serving under General
-Beauregard, was ordered to take command on Morris island on the 13th of
-July, and relieved Colonel Graham on the 14th. He reported the enemy
-had his pickets three-quarters of a mile in front; was busy erecting
-batteries along the hills 1,300 and 2,000 yards distant; that his
-riflemen were annoying, and that the fleet had thrown some 300 shell
-and shot during the day. On the night of the 14th, General Taliaferro
-ordered Major Rion to make a reconnoissance of the position in front,
-and gave him command of 150 men for this purpose, detachments
-from Colonel Graham's garrison--Seventh South Carolina battalion,
-Twenty-first South Carolina, Twelfth and Eighteenth Georgia, and
-Fifty-first North Carolina. Major Rion was directed to drive in the
-enemy's pickets and feel his way until he encountered a supporting
-force. The duty was gallantly and well done. Rion pushed the pickets
-back, first upon their reserves and then upon a brigade in position,
-and moved on them so rapidly that the fire of the brigade was delivered
-into its retreating comrades. Accomplishing the purpose of the
-reconnoissance, Rion withdrew to the ridge 200 yards in advance of the
-fort.
-
-Graham's gallant garrison was now relieved and Fort Wagner occupied by
-the Charleston battalion, Lieut.-Col. Peter C. Gaillard; Fifty-first
-North Carolina, Col. Hector McKethan; Thirty-first North Carolina,
-Lieut.-Col. C. W. Knight; the companies of Capts. W. T. Tatom and
-Warren Adams, of the First South Carolina infantry (drilled as
-artillery); Captains Dixon's and Buckner's companies, Sixty-third
-Georgia infantry and heavy artillery; section of howitzers, De
-Saussure's artillery, under Capt. W. L. De Pass, and a section of
-howitzers under Lieut. L. D. Waties, First South Carolina artillery.
-Lieut.-Col. J. C. Simkins was in command of all the batteries, as chief
-of artillery.
-
-The right flank was assigned to Lieutenant-Colonel Gaillard, the center
-to Colonel McKethan, and the left to Lieutenant-Colonel Knight. The
-mortar battery, which fired at intervals of thirty minutes, was under
-charge of Captain Tatom. Outside the fort, two of Colonel Gaillard's
-companies, under Capt. Julius Blake, held the sand-hills along the
-beach and the face extending from the sally-port to the beach.
-
-The artillery commands fired on the Federal working parties and the
-monitors at intervals. The bombardment was continued by the fleet
-throughout the 15th, 16th and 17th, three hundred or more heavy shot
-and shell being thrown on each of these days. The casualties in the
-fort were not numerous, and the damage done in the day was repaired at
-night. Meanwhile the enemy's land batteries were pressed forward, the
-nearest being within the fort's range.
-
-On the morning of the 18th, the batteries in front and the fleet on the
-flank opened on Wagner a concentrated fire from guns of the heaviest
-caliber. The Ironsides, five monitors and the gunboats Paul Jones,
-Ottawa, Seneca, Chippewa and Wissahickon, steamed within close range.
-General Gillmore's 10-inch mortars, 10, 20 and 30 pounder Parrott
-rifles, thirty-six pieces of powerful artillery, all opened on the
-fort, and kept up the bombardment for the whole day and until 7:45 in
-the evening. Major Johnson's careful estimate is that the bombardment
-was from a total of sixty-four guns and mortars. Wagner, Gregg, Sumter,
-Moultrie and batteries on James island replied, but the fire from the
-island and from Moultrie was at too great a range to be effective. The
-bombardment became heaviest about midday, and for nearly eight hours
-one hundred guns, in attack and defense, were filling the air with
-clouds of smoke and peals of thunder. Most of the men were kept in the
-bomb-proof. The gun detachments filled the embrasures with sand-bags
-and covered the light pieces in the same way, keeping close under the
-merlons. Gaillard and Ramsay stuck to the parapet on the right, and
-the gallant battalion stuck to them. With only the protection of the
-parapet and the merlons, "with an heroic intrepidity never surpassed,"
-says General Taliaferro, "the Charleston battalion maintained their
-position without flinching during the entire day."
-
-As night came on, General Seymour formed his column of three brigades
-for the assault. We quote from his report:
-
- It was suggested to me that the brigade of General Strong would
- suffice, but it was finally understood that all the force of
- my command should be held ready for the work. The division was
- accordingly formed on the beach and moved to the front. It consisted
- of three fine brigades: The First, under Brigadier-General Strong, was
- composed of the Forty-eighth New York, Colonel Barton; Seventy-sixth
- Pennsylvania, Captain Littell; Third New Hampshire, Colonel Jackson;
- Sixth Connecticut, Colonel Chatfield; Ninth Maine, Colonel Emery, and
- Fifty-fourth Massachusetts [negro troops], Colonel Shaw. The Second
- brigade, under Colonel Putnam, consisted of the Seventh New Hampshire,
- Lieutenant-Colonel Abbott; One Hundredth New York, Colonel Dandy;
- Sixty-second Ohio, Colonel Pond; Sixty-seventh Ohio, Colonel Voris.
- The Third brigade was commanded by Brigadier-General Stevenson, and
- consisted of four excellent regiments.
-
-General Strong's brigade was to lead, with the Massachusetts regiment
-in front; Colonel Putnam's promptly to support General Strong, "if
-it became necessary," and Stevenson's was held in reserve. The hour
-of twilight was selected "to prevent accurate firing by the enemy".
-The bayonet alone was to be used by the assailants. "The Fifty-fourth
-Massachusetts, a colored regiment of excellent character, well
-officered, with full ranks, that had conducted itself commendably a
-few days previously on James island, was placed in front." Then, says
-Seymour, "the First brigade launched forward. It had not moved far,
-before the fort, liberated somewhat from the presence of our fire,
-opened with rapid discharges of grape and canister, and its parapet was
-lit by a living line of musketry. More than half the distance was well
-passed when, present myself with the column, I saw that to overcome
-such resistance, overpowering force must be employed."
-
-Seymour, now wounded, ordered up Putnam, as Strong's brigade "as a mass
-had already retired, although detached portions, principally from the
-Forty-eighth New York and Sixth Connecticut, with the colors of those
-regiments, still clung to the fort." Putnam at first declined to obey
-General Seymour, alleging that he had Gillmore's order to remain where
-he was. Meanwhile, portions of the Sixth Connecticut and Forty-eighth
-New York were vainly endeavoring to scale the parapet or were bravely
-dying on its crest. Some had gained the crest and the interior of the
-southeast salient, where the defense was assigned to the Thirty-first
-North Carolina. This regiment, which had an honorable record, and was
-yet to distinguish itself on many a field, was seized with panic in the
-bomb-proof at the first alarm and could not be got to the parapet. The
-whole bastion was undefended by infantry at the crisis of the attack.
-
-Finally, Putnam came on and met the grape and canister and musketry
-of the fort, which broke his column to pieces. He gallantly led the
-mass of survivors against the left bastion, and mounting the parapet,
-entered the bastion enclosure with a hundred or more of his men.
-Here they maintained themselves for an hour until finally overcome,
-Colonel Putnam being killed, and the whole Federal attacking force on
-the outside of the bastion retreating along the beach. On leaving the
-field, impressed with the force and character of the defense, General
-Seymour had twice ordered the brigade under General Stevenson to follow
-Putnam, but the order was not obeyed, and that brigade took no part in
-the action. In the above account of the attack we have followed the
-report of General Seymour.
-
-General Taliaferro says:
-
- As the enemy advanced, they were met by a shower of grape and canister
- from our guns, and a terrible fire of musketry from the Charleston
- battalion and the Fifty-first North Carolina. These two commands
- gallantly maintained their position and drove the enemy back quickly
- from their front, with immense slaughter. In the meantime, the
- advance, pushing forward, entered the ditch and ascended the work at
- the extreme left salient of the land face, and occupied it. I at once
- ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Gaillard to keep up a severe enfilading
- fire to his left, and directed the field pieces on the left of the
- fort outside the sally-port to direct their fire to the right, so as
- to sweep the ditch and exterior slope of that part of the work thus
- occupied, thus preventing the escape or reinforcement of the enemy at
- that point. The main body of the enemy, after a vain attempt to pass
- over our field of fire, retreated under the fire of our artillery and
- the shells of Fort Sumter.
-
-Calling for volunteers to dislodge the force in the salient, Maj. J.
-R. McDonald, Fifty-first North Carolina, and Captain Ryan, Charleston
-battalion, promptly responded, with their men. Ryan was selected and
-ordered to charge the salient. Instantly leading his men forward, he
-was killed in front of them, and this caused his command to hesitate
-and lose the opportunity. Fighting bravely, the Connecticut men and
-those of Putnam's brigade clung to the parapet and the interior of the
-salient, and suffered from the fire of the Fifty-first North Carolina
-whenever they exposed themselves above the work, or made any advance
-toward the interior of the fort. It was now past 10 o'clock, and
-General Hagood reached the fort with the Thirty-second Georgia. This
-regiment was sent along the parapet on the left and took position on
-the bomb-proof, and so completely commanded the force in the salient,
-that on demand they surrendered.
-
-Thus the second assault on Wagner terminated after a bloody and heroic
-struggle. It cost the Confederates a small loss in numbers, but a rich
-sacrifice in the character of the men who lost their lives in its
-splendid defense. Lieutenant-Colonel Simkins, standing on the ramparts
-and cheering his artillery, fell in the heat of the battle, "a noble
-type, living and dying, of the gentleman and the brave soldier." Capt.
-William H. Ryan, devoted to his adopted country, honored and prized by
-his comrades, the gallant chief of the Irish volunteers, was killed
-leading them against the force who occupied the salient. Capt. William
-T. Tatom, an educated soldier, cool, true and brave, fell by the side
-of his guns. Maj. David Ramsay, worthy to stand by the side of the
-heroic commander of the Charleston battalion, type of the cultured
-citizen, worthy of the blood of Henry Laurens, scholar, soldier and
-hero, yielded his life at Battery Wagner, an offering of his love for
-South Carolina, though he had opposed her secession from the Union
-he cherished. The commanding general lost his gallant aide, Capt. P.
-H. Waring, who was killed by the side of his chief. Two others of
-his staff, Capt. W. E. Stoney, adjutant-general, and Capt. H. D. D.
-Twiggs, were severely wounded. The total loss in the fort was 181; 5
-officers and 31 soldiers killed; 17 officers and 116 soldiers wounded;
-1 officer and 4 soldiers captured. The Federal loss reported was 1,515;
-28 officers and 218 soldiers killed; 75 officers and 805 soldiers
-wounded; 8 officers and 381 soldiers captured. Among the slain were
-Brigadier-General Strong and Colonels Putnam, Chatfield and Shaw. Each
-of these officers displayed the highest gallantry, and died on the
-rampart or in the immediate front of the attack.
-
-Major Gilchrist, describing the scene of conflict the morning after
-the battle, thus speaks of the heroic dead: "In the salient and on the
-ramparts they lay heaped and pent, in some places three deep. Among
-them Colonel Putnam, with the back part of his head blown off; still
-the remarkable beauty of his face and form evoked from his victorious
-foes a sigh of pity. On the crest, with but few of his "sable troop"
-beside the flag he had vainly planted, was the corpse of the youthful
-Colonel Shaw." The wounded, Confederate and Federal alike, were sent
-to the hospitals in Charleston, and received every attention from
-the medical corps. The Federal dead were buried on the field "to be
-unearthed again by the advancing sap and Federal shells."
-
-We extract from the reports and accounts the following incidents: By
-the explosion of a 15-inch shell and the falling of tons of sand,
-General Taliaferro was so completely buried that it was necessary
-to dig him out with spades. During the heaviest period of the
-bombardment, about 2 p. m., the flag halyards were cut and the flag
-fell into the fort. Instantly Major Ramsay, Lieutenant Readick,
-Sixty-third Georgia (artillery), Sergeant Shelton and Private Flinn,
-Charleston battalion, sprang upon the parapet, raised and refastened
-the flag. Seeing the flag fall, Capt. R. H. Barnwell, of the engineers,
-seized a battle-flag and planted it on the ramparts. Again the flag was
-shot away, and Private Gilliland, Charleston battalion, immediately
-raised and restored it to its place. Lieut. J. H. Powe, of the First
-South Carolina artillery, so distinguished himself at his gun as to
-be specially and conspicuously mentioned, with Lieutenant Waties and
-Captains Adams, Buckner, Dixon and De Pass, for unsurpassed conduct.
-Lieut.-Col. D. B. Harris, chief engineer of the department, came down
-to the fort in the midst of the terrific cannonade. His cool and
-gallant bearing and well-known ability and judgment inspired confidence
-and contributed to the morale of the garrison. The signal made by
-General Gillmore to Admiral Dahlgren, fixing twilight as the time of
-assault, was read by the Confederate signal corps and duly transmitted
-to General Beauregard.
-
-Maj. Lewis Butler, Sixty-seventh Ohio, in Colonel Putnam's column, was
-by the side of that officer when he was killed. He bore testimony to
-the care of the Federal wounded, saying that General Beauregard's order
-directed "that special care be taken of the wounded captured at Wagner,
-as men who were brave enough to go in there deserved the respect of the
-enemy;" and that "the effects, money and papers, belonging to members
-of the Sixty-seventh Ohio who died in Charleston hospital, were sent
-through the lines by flag of truce."
-
-About the 11th of August, during a heavy fire on Wagner, a 15-inch
-shell burst in one of the gun chambers, doing much damage, and mortally
-wounding and killing several at the gun. Among the former was First
-Sergt. T. H. Tynes, Company A, Lucas' battalion of artillery. Capt.
-John H. Gary, seeing his gallant sergeant fall, went at once to him,
-and was overcome by the sight of his terrible wound. "I am dying,
-Captain, but I am glad it is me, and not you." Devoted to his sergeant,
-Gary burst into tears, when Tynes gasped, almost with his last breath,
-"I can be spared; but our country can't spare you, Captain." His
-noble-hearted captain fell at the same gun the next day. Gary was an
-accomplished young officer, of the highest promise, beloved and honored
-by his command, and distinguished for his personal gallantry.
-
-Speaking of Wagner and its remarkable strength, Major Johnson, than
-whom no more competent judge could testify as to the qualities of a
-defensive work, pays this tribute:
-
- Not only had the massive earthwork proved the thoroughness of its plan
- and construction by its wonderful endurance, but the batteries had
- been so well protected on the faces of the work as to admit of their
- being put into immediate condition and readiness for action. This was
- due to the thoughtful and energetic measures adopted during the day,
- such as stopping the embrasures with sand-bags, and even covering many
- of the lighter guns on the land side so as to prevent them from injury
- until they were needed. Most of all, the care taken to preserve the
- magazine from danger was now to be proved and rewarded.
-
-Brigadier-General Davis, at that time colonel of the One Hundred and
-Fourth Pennsylvania, and in Gillmore's command, says of Wagner in
-"Annals of the War," Philadelphia Times, 1879: "This was one of the
-strongest earthworks ever built, and gave evidence of the highest order
-of engineering ability."
-
-After the signal defeat of this last attempt, July 18th, to carry
-Battery Wagner by storm, General Gillmore proceeded to lay siege to the
-fort, and approached by regular sap.[F] The limits of this history
-will not permit a detailed account of this most interesting period of
-the history of Battery Wagner and Fort Sumter. In Major Johnson's book
-the full record will be found, and in the reports and correspondence
-published by act of Congress, the history and progress of the siege are
-related in every particular.
-
-[Footnote F: In his final report he said: "The formidable strength of
-Fort Wagner induced a modification of the plan of operations, or rather
-a change in the order previously determined upon. The demolition of
-Fort Sumter was the object in view as preliminary to the entrance of
-the ironclads.... To save valuable time, it was determined to attempt
-the demolition of Sumter from ground already in our possession, so
-that the ironclads could enter upon the execution of their part of
-the programme, ... and arrangements were at once commenced, and the
-necessary orders given to place the breaching guns in position.
-Arrangements were also made to press the siege of Fort Wagner by
-regular approaches."]
-
-The following incidents embracing a period of fifty days are given from
-the records: On July 20th the fort was subjected to a combined attack
-by the batteries on land and water, and on the 23d, the second parallel
-was opened within 870 yards of the fort. Another attack from the fleet
-and the batteries followed on the 24th, and for five hours the fort was
-assaulted by the bombardment. During this period Wagner, Gregg and the
-batteries from James island fired incessantly on the enemy's working
-parties. Daily for the remainder of the month of July, the fleet
-assaulted the fort, and the land batteries fired throughout the night.
-On August 10th the third parallel was established, 540 yards distant.
-During this night Wagner, Sumter and the James island batteries drove
-off the enemy's working parties. The heavy guns of the enemy being
-advanced, he opened breaching batteries on the gorge wall of Sumter,
-firing over Wagner, and the fleet engaged Fort Sumter.
-
-Covering the period August 16th to 26th, Major Johnson makes the notes
-following:
-
- August 16th. Engineers' working force, 350 to 450, having been engaged
- day and night for six weeks, has converted the two faces of Sumter
- nearest to Morris island into a compact redan of sand, encased with
- brick, having a height of 40 feet and general thickness of 25 feet,
- with portions of the gorge 35 to 40 feet thick. Upward of twenty
- guns have been removed from the armament since July, leaving but
- thirty-eight for the present service of the fort.
-
- August 17th. First day of the great bombardment of Fort Sumter; 948
- shot from eleven guns on Morris island and from the fleet. Wagner and
- Gregg under fire from the land batteries and fourteen vessels. Wagner
- fought the fleet with three guns for more than an hour. Capt. J. M.
- Wampler, of the engineers, was killed at Wagner.
-
- August 18th. Fourteen guns from Morris island firing on Sumter; three
- ironclads, five gunboats, and siege batteries on Wagner.
-
- August 19th. The Ironsides fires on Wagner all day and fifteen guns
- from breaching batteries on Sumter. Working parties stopped by
- Wagner's picket fire from the ridge in front.
-
- August 20th. Eighteen guns fire on Sumter, one being a 300-pounder
- Parrott rifle; range from 3,447 to 4,290 yards. Twenty-five thousand
- pounds of powder removed from the fort. Wagner shelled all day by
- fleet, Ironsides and four gunboats. Marsh battery (between Morris
- and James islands), designed to fire upon Charleston at 7,000 yards,
- completed by the enemy.
-
- August 21st. More powder (9,700 pounds) removed from Sumter. General
- Gillmore demands the surrender of Fort Sumter with the immediate
- evacuation of Morris island. Assault made on "the ridge" in front of
- Wagner and repulsed. General Gillmore on Morris island, in his demand
- for Sumter and the evacuation of the island, gave General Beauregard
- four hours to answer, failing in that time to receive his reply he
- threatened to fire upon the city, and did so, its sleeping inhabitants
- having no notice whatever. This act of uncivilized warfare was
- properly rebuked by General Beauregard, and due time was allowed for
- the removal of women and children, and the hospitals, with their sick
- and wounded.
-
- August 22d. Sixth day for Sumter. Only four guns left in serviceable
- condition. Main flagstaff falling, colors were flown from the crest
- of the gorge. A night attack by five monitors, firing about fifty
- shells in the direction of the western magazines, was serious. The
- fort replied with two guns, firing six shots, the last fired from
- its walls. The monitors drew a heavy fire on themselves from Fort
- Moultrie. The rear-admiral, desiring to "force the obstructions,"
- prepared three or four times to do so, but never reached them.
- Casualties, 5 wounded.
-
- August 23d. Seventh day. Sumter soon reduced to one gun (Keokuk's)
- in good condition, and two guns partly serviceable. Work pressed to
- secure magazine from danger of another attack by monitors firing in
- reverse. Flagstaff twice shot away; more powder shipped; casualties,
- 6 wounded. The fort is breached and demolished by seven days' firing
- (total, 5,009 rounds) at the close of the first period of the great
- bombardment.
-
- August 24th. Council of defense held by the chief engineers and
- colonel commanding. The second period opens with only one-fourth of
- the daily rate of firing hitherto received. General Gillmore urges
- upon the rear-admiral the scheme of cutting off communications from
- Morris island by picket-boats off Cummings point. Second failure to
- carry "the ridge" in front of Wagner (25th).
-
- August 27th to 29th. Capture of "the ridge" and pickets of Morris
- island by Union charge (26th). Three days of nearly suspended firing
- on Sumter.
-
- August 30th. Heavy shelling of Fort Sumter from the breaching
- batteries; casualties, 5; damages caused by the 10-inch rifle
- (300-pounder) very severe. Recovery of guns by night from the ruins,
- and shipment to city by gang under Asst. Eng. J. Fraser Mathewes. This
- night, transport steamer Sumter with troops, fired upon by mistake and
- sunk by Fort Moultrie.
-
- August 31st. Fort Sumter received only fifty-six shots. Fort Moultrie
- engaged with four monitors for four hours, suffering no damage.
- Maj.-Gen. J. F. Gilmer announced as second in command at Charleston.
-
- September 1st. Mortar firing on Wagner disabled four guns. Fort
- Sumter suffers again from the heavy Parrotts, 382 shots, and in the
- night from the ironclad squadron, 245 shots, crumbling the walls and
- threatening the magazine as before; casualties, 4; the fort had not a
- gun to reply. This attack of the ironclads ends the second period of
- the first great bombardment. The work of saving guns from the ruins
- and removing them to the inner harbor began on the night of August
- 27th, and proceeded regularly from this date forward.
-
- September 2d. Desultory fire on Fort Sumter. The sap approaches within
- 80 yards of Wagner.
-
- September 3d and 4th. Wagner under fire and returning it, assisted
- by Gregg and the James island guns. On the night of the 4th, Major
- Elliott relieved Colonel Rhett in command of Fort Sumter. Failure,
- same night, of the plan to assault Cummings point (Battery Gregg).
-
- September 5th. Slow fire from batteries and New Ironsides on Wagner.
- The assault on Battery Gregg, Cummings point, made and repulsed on the
- night of 5th.
-
- September 6th. Head of sap opposite the ditch (east) of Wagner.
-
-This was the last day of Wagner's defense, and the fifty-eighth day of
-the attack by land and sea. The sap had progressed on the sea face so
-far as to enable a large force to move on that flank and gain the rear
-of the fort, while the whole front was covered by the last parallel
-within 50 yards of the fort. The fire of the fleet and mortar fire
-from the trenches, with incessant fire along the parapet by the land
-batteries, made it fatal work for most of the fort's sharpshooters, and
-the gun detachments.
-
-The garrison of the fort at this memorable period was as follows: Col.
-Lawrence M. Keitt, commanding; Maj. H. Bryan, adjutant-general; Capt.
-Thomas M. Huguenin, First South Carolina infantry (artillery), chief of
-artillery; Capt. F. D. Lee and Lieut. R. M. Stiles, engineers; Lieut.
-Edmund Mazyck, ordnance officer. The artillery: Captain Kanapaux's
-company, Lafayette South Carolina artillery; Company A, First South
-Carolina infantry (artillery), Lieut. J. L. Wardlaw; Company A, Second
-South Carolina artillery, Capt. W. M. Hunter; Company E, Palmetto
-battalion artillery, Capt. J. D. Johnson. The infantry: Twenty-fifth
-South Carolina, Lieut.-Col. John G. Pressley; Twenty-seventh Georgia,
-Maj. James Gardner; Twenty-eighth Georgia, Capt. W. P. Crawford.
-The total for duty was less than 900 men and officers, infantry and
-artillery.
-
-During the day of the 6th, about 100 casualties were reported by
-Colonel Keitt. On this day Colonel Keitt, after consulting his
-engineers, reported to General Ripley the situation at the fort as
-desperate and recommended its evacuation, and added: "If our sacrifice
-be of benefit, I am ready. Let it be said so, and I will storm the
-enemy's works at once.... Before day dawns we should assault him if we
-remain here. Answer positively and at once." This dispatch was sent at
-3:15 p. m., and at 5 o'clock General Ripley signaled Colonel Keitt to
-prepare to leave the fort at night. The evacuation was successfully
-accomplished, the rear guard leaving Cummings point at 1:30 a. m. on
-the 7th. The infantry having left the fort by midnight, its command was
-turned over to the rear guard, under Captain Huguenin, 25 men, Company
-A, First South Carolina infantry (artillery), 10 men, Twenty-fifth
-South Carolina, under Lieuts. F. B. Brown, R. M. Taft and James A.
-Ross. Capt. C. C. Pinckney, ordnance officer of the First district,
-Lieut. Edmund Mazyck, ordnance officer of Wagner, were also present and
-assisting Captain Huguenin.
-
-At 12:30 the rear guard was withdrawn from the parapet and marched out
-of the fort for Cummings point. Huguenin, Pinckney, Mazyck, Ross and
-Ordnance Sergeant Leathe alone remained to lay the slow match which had
-been carefully prepared. Captain Huguenin reports: "In five minutes the
-train was fixed." Captain Pinckney reports regarding the spiking of the
-guns: "The vents of most of the pieces were greatly enlarged. In most
-cases the spikes dropped in loosely, and we were obliged to use two
-or three of them. We could have remedied this by driving them in and
-hammering the edges over the orifice, but absolute quiet was obviously
-necessary." The 10-inch columbiad was prepared for bursting. Ross took
-the lanyard and Huguenin gave the order: "The last gun from Battery
-Wagner, fire!" The primer failed! Another failed! A cartridge from a
-Whitworth rifle was opened and the vent primed, but from some unknown
-cause the piece could not be fired. The fire from the parapet having
-ceased, and the enemy being just under the fort, Captain Huguenin
-lit the slow match to the magazine. The fuse burned brightly and the
-officers left the fort. But no explosion followed! The fort was under
-the fire of mortars, and doubtless a bursting shell cut, or put out the
-fuse; and the disabled fortress remained for the enemy's inspection.
-
-At Battery Gregg, Capt. H. R. Lesesne successfully spiked his two
-10-inch guns, spiked and threw overboard the other pieces, and fired
-the magazine. The transportation for the garrisons of Wagner and Gregg
-was skillfully collected at Cummings point and managed with perfect
-order by Lieut.-Col. O. M. Dantzler, Twentieth South Carolina.
-
-The Confederate ironclads Palmetto State and Chicora sent their boats
-to assist in taking off the command of Colonel Keitt. The enemy's
-guard-boats from the rear of Morris island were very active and
-attacked the transport furiously, at long range. Overtaking two small
-boats, carrying some forty-odd men, under Lieutenant Hasker of the
-Confederate navy, they took both boats, and thus the Federal navy
-secured the only prisoners taken during the evacuation.
-
-Referring to Major Johnson's journal of August 21st, 25th and 26th,
-and September 5th, mention is there made of attacks on "the ridge" in
-front of Wagner, and on Battery Gregg. These events will now be noticed
-more in detail. On the 21st, a force of the enemy charged the ridge and
-were repulsed, but established their line behind sand hillocks within
-20 yards of the picket line. Lieutenant-Colonel Dantzler, with the
-Twentieth South Carolina, reinforced the pickets, crossed the ridge,
-and drove back the force in the hillocks, re-establishing the vidette
-stations and inflicting severe punishment on the intruders. General
-Hagood, commanding at the time at Battery Wagner, reported the gallant
-and zealous service of Colonel Dantzler, and the splendid conduct of
-his command on this occasion.
-
-On the 25th, the attack on the ridge was repeated with more
-determination and was repulsed with heavy loss to the assailants,
-and 25 casualties on the part of the defense. The fire of Wagner's
-picket line from the ridge had been so faithful and so effective that
-Gillmore's chief engineer reported that the sap could not advance
-unless it was silenced. "The engineer officers of the sap express
-the earnest wish that the enemy be driven out of the ridge with the
-bayonet."
-
-On the 26th, General Gillmore "ordered General Terry to take and hold
-the ridge, and placed the resources of the command at his disposal for
-that purpose." On the evening of the 26th a Federal brigade charged and
-carried the coveted prize, capturing 67 prisoners, the larger part of
-the force holding the ridge. The engineer in charge of the sap remarked
-upon the position: "Rude rifle-pits in the excellent natural cover
-afforded by the ridge, were found, and sand-bags of a superior quality
-had been freely used for loopholes and traverses."
-
-On September 5th, the signals between General Gillmore and Admiral
-Dahlgren apprised General Ripley of an intended boat attack by way of
-Vincent's creek on Battery Gregg, to be made that night. Gregg was
-accordingly ready for it. It came about 1:30 o'clock on the morning of
-the 6th, and is reported by Captain Lesesne as follows:
-
- I ordered the guns trained on the most probable point of attack,
- double loaded with canister, one 10-inch gun bearing on the beach in
- front and one on the extreme point in rear. Two 12-pounder howitzers
- were placed on the beach to the right of the work (under Lieut. E. W.
- Macbeth, First regular infantry) from the right of Battery Gregg to
- the beach. The artillery was supported by Major Gardner, commanding
- the Twenty-seventh Georgia. The enemy advanced from the point in
- about twenty boats; when within 100 yards of the beach I opened upon
- them with the 10-inch gun, followed by the howitzers. The infantry
- commenced firing shortly afterward. The enemy returned the fire with
- their boat howitzers and musketry. A few succeeded in landing but
- quickly returned to their boats. After the fire had been kept up for
- about fifteen minutes the whole force retreated. Our casualties were 1
- man mortally and 5 slightly wounded.
-
-General Gillmore signaled to Admiral Dahlgren, who had furnished the
-boats and crews, that he found Gregg prepared for the attack and had
-failed.
-
-During the siege of Wagner, General Gillmore had established a picket
-post at the mouth of Vincent's creek, on the James island side.
-Lieut.-Com. A. F. Warley, of the Chicora, with a launch and crew,
-and Capt. M. H. Sellers, with a detachment of the Twenty-fifth South
-Carolina in boats, the whole under the guidance of J. Fraser Mathewes,
-attacked and captured this picket on the 4th of August, Captain Sellers
-losing one of his gallant followers. The night following, Lieut. Philip
-Porcher, on the unarmed steamer Juno, with a crew armed with rifles,
-was out along Morris island reconnoitering the fleet. Encountering an
-armed launch of the frigate Wabash, Porcher ran her down, attacked
-her crew with his rifles and received her surrender, with most of the
-crew. The launch was turned over to Commodore Tucker for his use in the
-harbor.
-
-The account of the defense of Battery Wagner may well be concluded with
-the following extract from Major Johnson's work:
-
- The hardships of defense in Wagner were certainly greater while they
- lasted than those endured in Sumter.... After the 17th of August, when
- the breaching batteries of Morris island were opened on Sumter and
- its demolition assured, the holding longer of the northern end of the
- island might appear to have been unnecessary. General Gillmore says
- truly: "Neither Fort Wagner nor Battery Gregg possessed any special
- importance as a defense against the passage of the ironclad fleet.
- They were simply outposts of Fort Sumter. Fort Wagner in particular
- was specially designed to prevent the erection of breaching batteries
- against that fort. It was valueless to the enemy if it failed to
- accomplish that end, for the fleet in entering was not obliged to
- go within effective range of its guns." Why, then, was it held? The
- answer is, General Beauregard estimated it, if no longer an outpost of
- Fort Sumter, as indeed an outpost of the city of Charleston. He held
- it long enough to enable him to gain three weeks in perfecting the
- defenses of James island and the inner harbor.
-
-The following dispatches between General Gillmore and Admiral Dahlgren,
-sent during the period July 22d to September 2d, and read by the
-Confederate signal corps, will show from the enemy's point of view
-how the conduct of Wagner was regarded, and how her fire damaged her
-adversaries:
-
- July 22d. Dahlgren: We agree that a third assault of Fort Wagner
- cannot be made at the present time. I have made two that were
- unsuccessful and do not feel authorized to risk a third just now.
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 16th. Dahlgren: I shall open on Fort Sumter at daylight. Can
- you commence on Wagner as early as that?
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 16th. Gillmore: The monitors will commence to move at six and
- will open soon after. If it is an object to you, I will open fire
- earlier, but the tide is very bad before 6 o'clock for the monitors.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 16th. Dahlgren: If I find the fire from Wagner too hot, I will
- stop firing from my advanced batteries until you get the monitors into
- action against Wagner.
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 17th. Dahlgren: What do you think of the morning's work?
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 17th. Gillmore: Sumter seems greatly damaged. What do you think?
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 17th. Dahlgren: I am satisfied with the firing thus far. The
- gorge wall is covered with shot holes.
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 19th. Dahlgren: I am now pushing my approaches to Fort Wagner,
- and need cover against sorties. I think I can destroy the traverse and
- dismount the heavy gun on the sea front of Wagner with the assistance
- of a powerful fire from the New Ironsides. If that big gun were out
- of the way, could a couple of monitors be within 400 or 500 yards of
- Wagner all the time, night and day? A deserter says there are at least
- twenty Quaker guns on the parapet of Sumter.
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 19th. Gillmore: I am going in with the monitors to feel of
- Sumter. If the enemy's fire is heavy, please get your batteries in
- action.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 21st. Dahlgren: The enemy's sharpshooters are annoying our
- advanced batteries seriously. Can you have it stopped?
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 21st. Gillmore: I will try to do so.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 21st. Dahlgren: The fire of Fort Wagner is very galling. Cannot
- your monitors keep it down?
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 21st. Dahlgren: My approaches are suspended on account of the
- sharpshooters on Fort Wagner. Can you keep down that fire?
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 21st. Gillmore: I am going in with the ironclads to Sumter, and
- shall open about 11:30 o'clock. Please give the necessary directions
- in order that I may not be fired into.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 22d. Gillmore: I have just returned from above. The Passaic,
- which was some distance in advance, got ashore. It took so much time
- to get her off, that when I was informed of the fact I would have
- had but little time to make the attack before daylight, so it was
- unavoidably postponed for to-night.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 22d. Dahlgren: I received your dispatch stating that your
- attack is postponed until to-night. I think with our batteries in
- operation against Sumter she cannot fire a gun at you even in the
- daytime, if she has any to fire, which I doubt.
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 22d. Gillmore: It is not of Sumter that I am apprehensive, but
- of Moultrie and adjacent forts; but most all of Sumter's have been
- sent to Moultrie, which makes no difference in the fire. This I am
- inclined to endure rather than have a monitor ashore to defend or
- destroy, which would change the whole course of operations.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 22d. Gillmore: Wagner is firing rapidly. I fear she will
- dismount some of our guns.
-
- TURNER.
-
- August 22d. Dahlgren: Wagner is firing very rapidly. There is great
- danger of dismounting our guns. What can you do to stop it?
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 22d. Gillmore: I will send up some monitors at once.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 22d. Turner: Can you not keep down Wagner's fire with mortars,
- 30-pounders, Parrotts and sharpshooters?
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 22d. Gillmore: Is the fire of the ironclads effectual in
- silencing the sharpshooters at Fort Wagner?
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 22d. Dahlgren: Between the gunboats and our batteries, Wagner's
- fire has been considerably kept under.
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 22d. Dahlgren: Are you going to attack to-night?
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 22d. Gillmore: Yes, if the weather will permit.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 23d. Dahlgren: What did you ascertain as to the condition of
- Sumter?
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 23d. Gillmore: It was so foggy that but little could be
- ascertained. We received a very heavy fire from Moultrie. The admiral
- is now asleep.
-
- O. C. BADGER.
-
- August 23d. Badger: Did you receive any fire from Fort Sumter?
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 23d. Gillmore: She fired two or three times only, when we first
- opened.
-
- BADGER.
-
- August 26th. Gillmore: Would it be convenient for you to open a heavy
- fire on Sumter, sustaining it until nightfall?
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 26th. Dahlgren: I can open a pretty strong fire on Sumter, if
- you deem it necessary. One of my 8-inch guns is burst, and others are
- nearly expended. Do you think Sumter has any serviceable guns? My
- calcium lights can operate to-night on Sumter and the harbor, unless
- you wish otherwise, and we can arrange for investing Morris island.
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 26th. Gillmore: I am going to operate on the obstructions and a
- portion of my men will be without cover. I do not fear heavy guns from
- Sumter, but wish to keep down the fire of small guns. Your fire will
- help me very much. I am sorry that your guns are giving out.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 26th. Dahlgren: I shall be able, I think, to light up the
- waters between Fort Sumter and Cummings point, so that no small boats
- can approach the latter without being seen by your picket boats.
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 26th. Turner: Open all the guns in the left batteries on Sumter
- and keep them going through the day.
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 26th. Gillmore: To-night I shall need all the darkness I can
- get. If you light up you will ruin me. What I did want was the active
- fire of your batteries this afternoon on Sumter.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 27th. Dahlgren: Can I take from your vessel another 8-inch gun
- and a 100-pounder? I have burst three 8-inch guns in all. We took 68
- prisoners, including 2 officers, and gained 100 yards toward Wagner
- yesterday.
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 27th. Gillmore: You can take the guns with pleasure. My attempt
- to pass the forts last night was frustrated by the bad weather, but
- chiefly by the setting in of a strong flood tide.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 27th. Dahlgren: Can you spare me some 200-pounder shells? My
- supply is very low. A constant fire on Sumter is more than my guns can
- stand very long. I have lost three 200-pounders.
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- August 29th. Gillmore: Much obliged. All your fire on Sumter
- materially lessened the great risk I incur.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- August 29th. Gillmore: I will let you have either guns or projectiles,
- as many as you wish, if you will inform me how much you require.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- September 1st. Gillmore: We have dismounted two guns on Sumter and
- injured one this a. m. But two remain. We are firing with great
- accuracy.
-
- LOOKOUT.
-
- September 1st. Gillmore: I am glad the batteries are doing good
- execution. I hope you will give me the full benefit of your fire, as I
- intend to be in action to-night, if nothing prevents. I would advise
- great care in handling the hand grenades, as one of my men was killed
- and two wounded by a very ordinary accident.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- September 2d. Gillmore: I think your fire on Sumter may be omitted
- to-day. Have just returned from above and am trying to get a little
- rest. I do not know what damage our fire did Sumter. My chief of staff
- wounded; his leg broken.
-
- DAHLGREN.
-
- September 2d Adams: I wish to know if Sumter fired at the monitors
- last night while they were in action. Do not disturb the admiral if
- he is asleep, but please get me the information, as it will determine
- whether I continue firing on Sumter to-day.
-
- GILLMORE.
-
- September 2d. Gillmore: Not to my knowledge.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV.
-
- THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN--GALLANT SERVICE OF PERRIN'S AND KERSHAW'S
- BRIGADES--HAMPTON'S CAVALRY AT BRANDY STATION.
-
-
-The spring had gone and summer had opened in Virginia, when, seeing
-no indications of aggressive movement on the part of the Federal army
-lying opposite him on the Rappahannock, General Lee determined to draw
-it from his Fredericksburg base and compel it to follow his movements
-or attack him in position. General Lee's plan involved the movement of
-his army by its left to Orange and Culpeper, the crossing of the Blue
-ridge into the Shenandoah valley, the crossing of the Potomac, and
-the march of his whole force directly on Harrisburg, the capital of
-Pennsylvania.
-
-The army of Northern Virginia was now organized in three corps,
-commanded by Lieutenant-Generals Longstreet, Ewell and A. P. Hill.
-Longstreet's division commanders were McLaws, Pickett and Hood;
-Ewell's, Early, Rodes and Johnson; A. P. Hill's, Anderson, Heth and
-Pender. Still in the division of the gallant McLaws, under Longstreet,
-associated with Barksdale's Mississippians and Semmes' and Wofford's
-Georgians, was the South Carolina brigade of Gen. J. B. Kershaw.
-Also in the First corps were the batteries of Capt. Hugh R. Garden
-(Palmetto) and Captain Bachman's German artillery, with Hood's
-division, and the Brooks (Rhett's) battery, Lieut. S. C. Gilbert,
-in Alexander's battalion of Walton's reserve artillery. Gen. Micah
-Jenkins' South Carolina brigade, of Pickett's division, Longstreet's
-corps, was detached for special duty on the Blackwater, in southeast
-Virginia, under Maj.-Gen. D. H. Hill. In the Third army corps (A. P.
-Hill's), South Carolina was represented by McGowan's brigade, Hill's
-light division--North Carolinians, South Carolinians and Georgians--now
-being commanded by Pender, and the South Carolina brigade by Col. Abner
-Perrin. Maj. C. W. McCreary commanded the First regiment, Capt. W. M.
-Hadden the First rifles, Capt. J. L. Miller the Twelfth, Lieut.-Col.
-B. T. Brockman the Thirteenth, and Lieut.-Col. J. N. Brown the
-Fourteenth. With the Third corps also was the Pee Dee artillery, Lieut.
-W. E. Zimmerman. In the cavalry corps of Maj.-Gen. J. E. B. Stuart,
-Brig.-Gen. Wade Hampton commanded his brigade, including the First and
-Second South Carolina cavalry, and Capt. J. F. Hart's South Carolina
-battery was part of the horse artillery under Major Beckham.
-
-Thus it will be seen that there were two infantry brigades, five
-batteries, and two cavalry regiments of South Carolina troops in the
-army of General Lee on this march into Pennsylvania. Evans' and Gist's
-brigades were in Mississippi with General Johnston, and Manigault's
-brigade was with General Bragg's army at Chattanooga. Attached to
-those commands or serving in the West, were the batteries of Captains
-Ferguson, Culpeper, Waties and Macbeth. Most of the South Carolina
-troops of all arms were engaged in the defense of Charleston and the
-coast of the State, then being attacked by a powerful fleet and a
-Federal army.
-
-On June 7th the corps of Longstreet and Ewell, with the main body
-of the cavalry under Stuart, were encamped around Culpeper Court
-House; Hill's corps being in position at Fredericksburg in front of
-General Hooker. The latter, vaguely aware of a campaign at hand, sent
-his cavalry, under General Pleasanton, up the Rappahannock to gain
-information. Pleasanton crossed his cavalry, supported by infantry
-and artillery, at Kelly's and Beverly fords, and advanced upon Brandy
-Station, one column approaching that railroad station from the
-northeast (Beverly ford), the other from the southeast (Kelly's ford).
-The road from Beverly ford, before reaching the station, passes over a
-high ridge on which is the hamlet of Fleetwood. On the morning of June
-9th, Jones' cavalry brigade was covering Beverly ford, and Robertson's,
-Kelly's ford. The Federal columns drove off the pickets at the two
-fords and marched directly to the attack. Before Robertson's brigade
-had assembled, General Stuart sent the First South Carolina, Col.
-John L. Black, down the Kelly's Ford road to check the advance until
-Robertson could take position. This duty was well done by the First,
-until relieved by Robertson, when the regiment went into battle on the
-Beverly road with Hampton. As soon as the firing in front was heard,
-General Hampton mounted his brigade and moved from his camp rapidly
-through the station and over the Fleetwood ridge to support Jones on
-the Beverly Ford road, leaving the Second South Carolina, Col. M. C.
-Butler, to guard the station. Throwing his brigade immediately into
-action on the right of General Jones, and in support, the division,
-after severe fighting, drove the column of attack back. At this
-juncture the Federal force which moved up the Kelly's Ford road had
-reached the railroad and was taking possession of the Fleetwood ridge
-in rear of the engagement on the Beverly Ford road. General Stuart
-promptly ordered his brigades to concentrate upon this, the main
-attacking force, and the battle followed for the possession of the
-ridge. The brigades of Hampton, Jones and W. H. F. Lee by repeated
-charges, front and flank, swept the hill, captured the artillery which
-had been placed on its summit, and drove the enemy in full retreat
-for the river. His strong infantry and artillery support checked the
-pursuit and covered his crossing. The First South Carolina lost 3
-killed and 9 wounded, among the latter the gallant Captains Robin Ap C.
-Jones and J. R. P. Fox.
-
-Meanwhile the Second South Carolina had been fighting, single-handed,
-an unequal battle on the road running from the station to Stevensburg,
-5 or 6 miles south, and beyond that place on the road leading to
-Kelly's ford. A column of cavalry, with artillery, had advanced from
-Kelly's toward Stevensburg with the evident intention of moving up from
-that place to the support of the attack at Fleetwood, and if it had
-reached the field of battle in the rear of Stuart, might have turned
-the day in Pleasanton's favor. But, being advised of this menacing
-movement, General Stuart sent Colonel Butler's regiment, 220 strong,
-down the Stevensburg road to meet and check it. Leading the advance of
-Butler's regiment, Lieut.-Col. Frank Hampton met and drove back the
-Federal advance beyond Stevensburg. Then Butler formed his command
-across and to the left of the road at Doggett's house, about 1½ miles
-beyond Stevensburg, and stood ready to dispute the advance of the main
-body of the enemy. Lieutenant-Colonel Hampton was charged with the
-defense of the road, with a few sharpshooters and one company, Capt. T.
-H. Clark's. Here he held the right for a half hour, while Butler and
-Major Lipscomb resisted the attack in the center and on the left, the
-line of defense being nearly a mile in length.
-
-Massing his squadrons, the enemy charged the right, and to break the
-force of the onset, Lieutenant-Colonel Hampton, with 36 men, dashed
-forward at the head of his column. He fell mortally wounded, and the
-onrushing squadrons scattered his little band. Butler retired his
-center and left up the Brandy Station road and took post on an eminence
-at Beckham's house, where his command was reinforced by a squadron from
-the Fourth Virginia, sent by General Stuart and led by Capt. W. D.
-Farley of his staff. While holding this position a shell from one of
-the enemy's batteries passed through Colonel Butler's horse, shattered
-his leg below the knee, and mortally wounded the gallant Farley. The
-artillery fire was sweeping the road and the hill, and the Federal
-squadrons were forming to charge, when the men offered to bear Farley
-off. Smiling, with grateful thanks, he told them to stand to their
-rifles, and to carry Butler out of the fire. Then, with expressions of
-resignation to his fate and devotion to his country, he expired on the
-field. Major Lipscomb took command and drew off slowly toward Brandy
-Station. But the battle had been won for the Confederates at Fleetwood,
-and Lipscomb soon had opportunity to advance and drive the Federals
-before him in the general retreat, until he posted his pickets at the
-river. In this famous cavalry battle Stuart captured 375 prisoners, 3
-pieces of artillery and several colors.
-
-A few days later, being satisfied that General Lee was beyond his
-right flank in force, Hooker began moving his army to keep between
-Lee and Washington. Meanwhile Ewell marched upon Milroy at Winchester
-in the Valley, attacked and captured 4,000 prisoners and 28 pieces of
-artillery, and cleared the Valley for Lee's advance.
-
-General Lee now ordered up A. P. Hill's corps to join in the march for
-the Potomac. Kershaw's brigade, with McLaws, marched to Sperryville on
-the 16th, thence to Ashby's gap, where Rice's battalion rejoined the
-command, crossed the Shenandoah at Berry's ford on the 20th, recrossed
-and formed line of battle to meet a threatened attack on the 21st, and
-then continuing, crossed the Potomac on the 26th and encamped near
-Williamsport. Reaching Chambersburg, Pa., on the 28th of June, they
-remained there until the 30th, then marching to Fayetteville. McGowan's
-brigade, with A. P. Hill, also occupied a position near Fayetteville on
-the 29th. Stuart's cavalry, moving on Longstreet's right flank, left
-General Hampton on the Rappahannock to watch the enemy. On the 17th,
-Fitzhugh Lee's brigade made a splendid fight at Aldie, but Pleasanton
-occupied that place with a large force, and Stuart called Hampton
-and his other scattered commands together at Middleburg. Here he was
-attacked by cavalry, infantry and artillery on the 21st. Hampton and
-Jones received the attack gallantly, but were compelled to retire.
-Here, said General Stuart in his report, "one of the pieces of Captain
-Hart's battery of horse artillery had the axle broken by one of the
-enemy's shot, and the piece had to be abandoned, which is the first
-piece of my horse artillery that has ever fallen into the enemy's
-hands. Its full value was paid in the slaughter it made in the enemy's
-ranks, and it was well sold." The fight was renewed at Upperville,
-before Ashby's gap, and there, said Stuart, "General Hampton's brigade
-participated largely and in a brilliant manner." On the night of the
-24th, Stuart's brigades rendezvoused secretly near Salem Depot, and
-started toward Washington, encountering Hancock's corps marching
-north, at Gum Spring. When Hancock had passed they moved to Fairfax
-Station, where Hampton's advance had a brisk fight on the 27th. Stuart
-was now between the Federal army and Washington, and Hampton, in
-advance, crossed the Potomac near Dranesville, and on the 28th started
-northward. At Rockville a Federal army train, about 8 miles long, was
-captured, and the subsequent movements of the cavalry were embarrassed
-by the attempt to convoy the train to Lee's army.
-
-Ewell, meanwhile, taking a more easterly route than Longstreet and
-Hill, on the 27th camped at Carlisle, Early's division of his corps
-marching to York, and menacing the Pennsylvania capital. General Hooker
-did not cross the Potomac until the 25th and 26th, and on the 28th
-General Meade was placed in command of the Federal army.
-
-On the 28th, General Lee learned from a scout that the Federal army
-was marching to Frederick and was in part located at the base of
-South mountain, and he changed his design of marching up the valley
-to Harrisburg and ordered Hill eastward toward Gettysburg. Heth took
-the lead, and the South Carolinians, with Pender, reached Cashtown, 8
-miles from Gettysburg, on the last day of June.
-
-On that day both Meade and Lee were marching unconsciously to the point
-at which they were to fight the great and decisive battle of the year,
-if not of the war. It is interesting to note that the Southern general
-was concentrating from the north and the Northern general from the
-south. Ewell's corps was approaching the battlefield from Carlisle and
-York, and Hill's from Chambersburg. Before the close of the day Hill
-learned that Pettigrew's North Carolinians, of Heth's division, in
-advance near Gettysburg, had met a strong cavalry force, before which
-they withdrew without battle.
-
-Early on the morning of July 1st, General Hill pushed Heth's division
-forward, followed closely by Pender's. With Heth was the Pee Dee
-artillery, in Pegram's battalion; with Pender, the battalion of
-McIntosh. About 10 a. m. Heth met Buford's Federal cavalry and drove it
-back across Willoughby run, where the cavalry was promptly supported
-by the First corps of Meade's army, three divisions, under General
-Reynolds. General Hill deployed Heth's division on the right and left
-of the road, Pender's in support, and the battle became severe.
-
-Pushing his battle forward, Hill was checked at the wooded ridge known
-as Seminary hill, where the First corps with artillery was strongly
-posted. Putting his artillery in position Heth gallantly charged the
-heights with his four brigades, and made so strong a battle that
-General Howard, with part of the Eleventh corps, reinforced the line
-of the First. At this juncture Ewell's two divisions came in on
-Hill's left, and the latter ordered Pender forward to relieve Heth.
-Ewell's line was at right angles to that of Hill's, and both lines
-now swept onward with irresistible force. Pender's advance was with
-Thomas' Georgians on the left of the road, and Lane, Scales and Perrin
-(McGowan's brigade) on the right. The combined assault of Pender and
-Ewell's divisions swept the hill and routed the two Federal corps,
-driving them through the streets, capturing 5,000 prisoners, exclusive
-of the wounded, several colors and 3 pieces of artillery.
-
-Reporting the advance of Pender, General Hill said: "The rout of the
-enemy was complete, Perrin's brigade taking position after position of
-the enemy and driving him through the town of Gettysburg." This special
-mention by the corps commander of McGowan's veterans, under Perrin,
-was well deserved. Never was a brigade better handled in battle, and
-never did regiments respond more steadily to every order for advance
-in direct charge, or change of front under fire. The Fourteenth, under
-Lieut.-Col. J. N. Brown and Maj. Edward Croft, and the First, under
-Maj. C. W. McCreary, on the right of the brigade; and the Twelfth,
-under Col. J. L. Miller, and the Thirteenth, under Lieut.-Col. B. T.
-Brockman, on the left, stormed the stone fences on either side of
-the Lutheran college on Seminary hill and routed their foe from this
-strong position, capturing hundreds of prisoners, 2 field pieces and
-a number of caissons, and following the routed columns through the
-town of Gettysburg. The colors of the First South Carolina were the
-first Confederate standard raised in the town as Hill's troops were
-entering it. Late in the afternoon, when Perrin drew up his brigade for
-rest on the south of the town, a battery which had been driven before
-Perrin took position on Cemetery hill and fired the first shot from
-that memorable eminence at the South Carolina brigade. Colonel Perrin
-reported this fact, and stated that he had watched the battery on its
-retreat as it was pursued through the town, and saw it take position on
-the hill. But the loss of the brigade did not fall short of 500. Every
-one of the color sergeants taken into the fight was killed in front of
-his regiment.
-
-Perrin was in position in front of Cemetery hill on the 2d, the Federal
-sharpshooters in his front on the Emmitsburg road. In the afternoon
-he was ordered by General Pender to push his skirmishers to the
-road. Capt. William T. Haskell, of the First regiment, commanding a
-select battalion of sharpshooters, was intrusted with this duty, and
-Major McCreary led the First regiment, now only about 100 strong, in
-Haskell's support. The gallant Haskell threw his sharpshooters against
-the Federal skirmishers, captured the road and drove his opponents up
-the slope and under their guns. While putting his men in favorable
-positions on the road, Haskell received a mortal wound and expired on
-the field. His fall was felt to be a serious loss to the whole brigade.
-South Carolina gave no better, purer, nobler man as a sacrifice to the
-cause of Southern independence at Gettysburg.
-
-Perrin held the skirmish line Haskell had won, and on the 3d threw
-forward the Fourteenth to maintain it against a strong attack. His
-sharpshooters from the road commanded the cannoneers on the hill,
-and a desperate effort was made to drive them off the road. In the
-fight of the Fourteenth regiment to sustain the sharpshooters,
-Lieutenant-Colonel Brown and Major Croft were severely wounded. The
-skirmish line was held until the massing of artillery and infantry on
-the crest made it no longer tenable.
-
-The total loss in McGowan's brigade at Gettysburg was 100 killed and
-477 wounded. Including the loss on the retreat, the total was 654.
-Orr's Rifles, left to guard the trains, did not participate in the
-battle of the 1st, or the affairs of the 2d and 3d, and lost but few
-men. The heaviest casualties fell on the Fourteenth, two-thirds of its
-men being killed or wounded in the three days' engagements. Colonel
-Perrin mentioned particularly the conduct of the following officers:
-Major Croft, of the Fourteenth; Maj. I. F. Hunt, of the Thirteenth;
-Maj. E. F. Bookter, of the Twelfth; Capts. W. P. Shooter, T. P. Alston
-and A. P. Butler, of the First; Capts. James Boatwright and E. Cowan,
-of the Fourteenth, and Capt. Frank Clyburn, of the Twelfth.
-
-Among the gallant dead were Lieut. A. W. Poag, of the Twelfth; Capt.
-W. P. Conner and Lieuts. W. C. McNinch and D. M. Leitzsey, of the
-Thirteenth; and Lieutenant Crooker, of the Fourteenth. Lieut. J. F. J.
-Caldwell, of the First, whose graphic and instructive history of the
-brigade has aided the writer materially, was among a host of wounded
-line officers.
-
-The break of day on the 2d revealed the army of General Meade in line
-of battle on the heights south of Gettysburg, running north and south
-with the Emmitsburg road in his front. General Lee thus described
-his position: "The enemy occupied a strong position, with his right
-upon two commanding elevations adjacent to each other, one southeast
-(Culp's hill), and the other (Cemetery hill) immediately south of the
-town which lay at its base. His line extended thence upon the high
-ground along the Emmitsburg road, with a steep ridge in rear, which
-was also occupied. This ridge was difficult of ascent, particularly
-the two hills above mentioned as forming its northern extremity, and
-a third at the other end (Little Round Top) on which the enemy's left
-rested. Numerous stone and rail fences along the slope served to afford
-protection to his troops and impede our advance. In his front the
-ground was undulating and generally open for about three-quarters of a
-mile."
-
-Immediately south of the Federal left, as described by General Lee, was
-a still higher hill, known as Round Top, which commanded the whole left
-of the Federal position, and was not occupied early on the morning of
-the 2d. To attack a superior force in a position so strong presented
-a difficult problem for solution, and gave the Confederate general
-serious pause. He had Ewell's corps on his left, confronting Culp's and
-Cemetery hills, and facing southwest and south; and Hill's corps on
-the right facing east. McLaws' and Hood's divisions of Longstreet's
-corps camped within 4 miles of the battlefield on the night of the 1st,
-left camp at sunrise on the 2d, and marched to the right of Hill's
-corps. The Third division of Longstreet's corps (Pickett's) was left
-to guard the trains at Chambersburg, and did not reach the vicinity of
-Gettysburg until the afternoon of the 2d. General Longstreet received
-his definite orders for position and attack about 11 o'clock, and
-by 3:30 p. m. McLaws was in position opposite the enemy's advanced
-position at the peach orchard, with Hood on his right facing the Round
-Tops. General Lee's order of attack directed that his right (Hood and
-McLaws), strongly supported by artillery, should envelop and drive in
-the Federal left; that simultaneously with this attack against the
-Federal left, the Confederate left should storm Culp's and Cemetery
-hills; and the Confederate center at the same time should so threaten
-the Federal center as to prevent reinforcements to either Federal wing.
-General Lee's plan of battle contemplated prompt movement, and concert
-of action along his entire line. If these conditions, essential to
-the success of the plan, had been given in its execution, the writer
-believes that the battle of Gettysburg would have been won by General
-Lee on July 2d by a victory as complete as Chancellorsville. They were
-not given and the plan failed.
-
-The actual fighting of the separate assaults was gallant and heroic,
-and the resistance both steady and aggressive; the Federal position
-along his main line being unmoved by the assaults. On the Confederate
-right two divisions of Longstreet's corps made the advance at 4 p.
-m. (Hood's and McLaws'), supported by four of the five brigades of
-Anderson's division from the center. Hood on the extreme right, next
-McLaws, and then Anderson, were fighting forward and struggling to
-storm the last position of the Federal army on the heights, but these
-divisions were fighting it out without the simultaneous battle which
-Lee had ordered on the left.
-
-They had carried the stone walls and numerous hills and woods, the
-peach orchard, the great wheat-field and rocky bluffs in their front,
-and were on the slopes of the Round Tops and the heights north of them,
-but still the battle had not opened on the left. There was not a man to
-reinforce Longstreet's line, and the enemy in his front was reinforced
-by both infantry and artillery. Hours passed (General Lee said two,
-General Longstreet four and Gen. Edward Johnson said it was dark)
-before General Ewell's left division moved to the attack on Culp's
-hill, which, after some time, perhaps another hour, was followed by the
-attack on the north face of Cemetery hill. Edward Johnson's division
-made the attack on Culp's hill and Early's division on Cemetery hill.
-The Third division of Ewell's corps (Rodes') did not attack at all.
-Anderson's (of Hill's corps) was the only one of the three center
-divisions that attacked from the center.
-
-It is evident from these statements, which are made from a careful
-study of the official reports, that the prime conditions of success,
-concert of action and simultaneous movement, were not given the plan
-of the commanding general. Edward Johnson's three brigades did not
-begin the actual attack on Culp's hill until dusk, according to his
-own and General Ewell's statements. General Early, with two of his
-four brigades, Hays' and Hoke's, attacked Cemetery hill still later.
-These two brigades carried the height and actually took the enemy's
-batteries, but were unable without support to hold what they had
-gained. It is in the report of Rodes, who did not advance at all, on
-account of darkness, that particular mention is made of his having
-observed the enemy on Cemetery hill, during the afternoon, withdrawing
-artillery and infantry to reinforce against the attack then in progress
-on the Confederate right. The troops of the Federal army in position
-at Culp's and Cemetery hills were those beaten and routed on the 1st,
-and considering the success gained by the brigades of Hays and Avery,
-there can be no reasonable doubt that with the immediate support of
-Rodes, the attack being made at the earlier hour ordered, Cemetery hill
-would have fallen, and with its fall the Confederate left and center
-would have driven the Federal right in confusion and Gettysburg would
-have been added to the long list of General Lee's great victories. The
-Comte de Paris, in his review of Gettysburg, has truly said, that "the
-way in which the fights of the 2d of July were directed does not show
-the same co-ordination which insured the success of the Southern arms
-at Gaines' Mill and Chancellorsville."
-
-But it is time that our attention was directed to the South Carolina
-brigade, under Kershaw, operating with McLaws, in Longstreet's attack,
-and the batteries of Bachman and Garden, operating with Hood, on the
-extreme right of Longstreet's battle.
-
-Kershaw formed the right of McLaws' division and Barksdale his left,
-Semmes behind Kershaw and Wofford behind Barksdale. In front of
-Barksdale was the peach orchard, 500 yards distant and in front of
-Kershaw and on a line with the orchard a stone house, stone barn and
-stone fence. The peach orchard was on an eminence, and was held by
-infantry and a battery. Beyond the stone house was another eminence,
-defended by a battery, and beyond this battery a stony hill, wooded and
-rough. This stony hill was in front of Kershaw's center, and beyond the
-hill opened the great wheat-field which spread forward to the slopes
-of the Federal main position. Barksdale moved against the orchard and
-Kershaw against the stony hill and the battery in front of it. Before
-moving General Kershaw had detached the Fifteenth South Carolina,
-Colonel De Saussure, to support a battery between his right and Hood's
-left.
-
-Marching forward under the fire of canister from the battery in his
-front, and the infantry fire from the south side of the peach orchard,
-the Carolina brigade swept past the battery and reached the hill,
-Barksdale clearing the orchard and its battery on Kershaw's left.
-Taking possession of the rocky hill, the enemy at once advanced upon it
-over the wheat-field in two lines of battle.
-
-As the brigade stood on the rocky hill to receive the advance, the
-regiments were ranged, from right to left: The Seventh, Colonel Aiken;
-Third, Maj. R. C. Maffett; Second, Colonel Kennedy; Third battalion,
-Lieut.-Col. W. G. Rice; Eighth, Colonel Henagan. The Fifteenth, Colonel
-DeSaussure, was still in battle in support of artillery between
-Kershaw and Hood. Here, at the rocky hill, was the battle ground of
-the brigade. The Eighth, Third battalion and Second held their ground
-and beat back the attacks coming again and again against them. Moving
-around Kershaw's right, before Semmes could come to his support, a
-large force assaulted the Seventh and pushed back its right. The Third
-held its ground until the Seventh was crowded back at right angles,
-and then changed its front to support the Seventh. A part of Semmes'
-brigade came up, but the enemy were so far in rear of Kershaw's right
-as to cut off the support. Surrounding his right, the attacking force
-drove back the Seventh, and the battle on Kershaw's right was with the
-Third and Seventh and one of Semmes' regiments at close quarters among
-the rocks and trees of the hill-crest and sides.
-
-Meanwhile the left was holding fast. On came Wofford toward the
-conflict, and on the right Semmes' other regiments and the Fifteenth
-South Carolina. Sweeping up to the battle everything gave way before
-the charge, and joining Wofford and Semmes, Kershaw's line moved
-forward, the advance sweeping the whole wheat-field and beyond to the
-foot of the mountain. Night came on, and the brigades of McLaws were
-put on the hill along the positions gained by the battle.
-
-General Kershaw's losses were severe and grievous. The brave and able
-Colonel De Saussure, of the Fifteenth, and Major McLeod, of the Eighth,
-gallant in fight and estimable in life, had both fallen; Colonel De
-Saussure killed on the field and Major McLeod mortally wounded. Among
-the wounded were Colonel Kennedy of the Second, Lieut.-Col. Elbert
-Bland of the Seventh, and Maj. D. B. Miller of the Third battalion. The
-writer regrets that he can find no list of the line officers killed and
-wounded in the brigade at Gettysburg. The brigade lost 115 killed, 483
-wounded and 32 missing, making a total of 630. Bachman's and Garden's
-batteries with Hood's right, and Rhett's battery, under Lieutenant
-Gilbert, were in action during the day, but there are no reports at
-hand of their casualties.
-
-If the problem presented to the mind of General Lee on the morning
-of the 2d, as he saw his army, inferior in numbers and equipment,
-confronted by the army of General Meade on the heights of Gettysburg,
-was one which gave him the deepest concern, how much more serious was
-the situation on the morning of the 3d! General Longstreet's battle
-on the right had driven the Federal left to the crests, and the
-Confederate infantry and artillery of that wing were occupying the
-positions which the Federal forces had held on the morning of the 2d.
-But now the Federal army was intrenched on those heights, with the
-Round Tops bristling with artillery and Cemetery hill and Culp's hill
-crowned by batteries, seven corps behind breastworks of stone or earth,
-and the slopes in front guarded by advanced lines lying behind fences
-or covered in the woods.
-
-There is no record of a council of war. Longstreet, second in command,
-continued to favor a movement around the Federal left; but General Lee
-disapproved, and resolutely determined to attack the Federal citadel,
-confident that the men who had swept Hooker's army from the heights of
-Chancellorsville, if properly supported, could carry victory to the
-heights of Gettysburg.
-
-He selected the Federal left center as the point of attack; ordered,
-as on the 2d, concert of action from both wings of his army, and
-organized his assaulting column of 15,000 men. Stuart's cavalry
-had come up on his left and confronted the main body of Meade's
-cavalry. The situation on his extreme right was more serious than the
-Confederate general realized. This is evident from the reports. The
-Round Tops were unassailable by the force at Longstreet's command, and
-a division of cavalry, Farnsworth's and Merritt's brigades, was in
-position on the right rear, confronted by a single regiment, the First
-South Carolina cavalry, Bachman's South Carolina battery, and three
-regiments of Anderson's Georgia brigade. Anderson's regiments were at
-right angles to Longstreet's line, and Colonel Black's cavalry was on
-Anderson's right flank. Black had only about 100 men in his regiment.
-In Longstreet's immediate front the situation was such that there was
-nothing to do but stand on the defensive. He was weaker in numbers on
-the 3d than he was on the morning of the 2d, and his enemy was stronger
-by reinforcements and the occupation of the greater of the two Round
-Tops. If, however, the assaulting column of 15,000 could break the
-center, the wings of General Meade's army would be so shaken that both
-Longstreet and Ewell could attack with good hope of success, and Lee
-was fixed in his purpose.
-
-The column of attack was made up of the divisions of Pickett and
-Pettigrew (Heth's), to be supported by Wilcox and the brigades of Lane
-and Scales under Trimble.
-
-All the available artillery of Hill's and Longstreet's corps was put in
-position by Col. E. P. Alexander, and at 1 o'clock General Longstreet
-ordered the batteries to open. For two hours more than 200 cannon were
-in action across the plain against Federal and Confederate. At 3 the
-assaulting column moved out from cover and down toward the Emmitsburg
-road, which ran between the two armies, and at the point of attack
-was held by the Federal pickets. The Confederate batteries had ceased
-firing and could give no more support, for their ammunition was nearly
-exhausted, no supply near at hand, and it was essential to reserve the
-supply in the chests.
-
-All the reports of the advance concur in the statement that the troops
-moved over the field and into the fire of the enemy's batteries in
-beautiful order. Coming under the canister fire of the batteries on the
-crest, the ranks began rapidly to thin and officers to fall, but the
-advance was steady. General Trimble, riding with his line, then 100
-yards in rear of Pettigrew, said: "Notwithstanding the losses as we
-advanced, the men marched with the deliberation and accuracy of men on
-drill. I observed the same in Pettigrew's line."
-
-The enemy's batteries were on the crest. Below them 30 or 40 yards on
-the slope, and running almost parallel with the crest, was a stone
-wall, breast high. Behind this wall lay the Federal first line. Below
-this line, some hundred yards, concealed in the undergrowth, lay his
-advance line. Beyond it, at the road, ran his picket line. Meeting
-the pickets, they were immediately driven in, and Garnett and Kemper
-marched against the advance line in the undergrowth. The resistance was
-slight, prisoners were made, and the attack so vigorous and dashing
-that the Federal line was driven in rout. But the enemy's batteries
-opened with redoubled activity, and the fire from the stone wall
-was galling. A battery on Little Round Top, enfilading the front of
-the stone wall, and another from Cemetery hill, plunged their shell
-into the ranks of Kemper and Garnett and raked the advancing line of
-Armistead as it moved up in support.
-
-Garnett led his brigade forward against the stone wall and got in
-advance, and arrived within 50 yards, where the fire was so severe that
-it checked his onset and he sent back to hurry up Kemper and Armistead.
-Both these brigades were struggling through the withering fire, and
-in a few moments were abreast with Garnett. At 25 yards from the wall
-Garnett was shot from his horse. Kemper had fallen and Armistead had
-been killed, but officers and men rushed for the wall and planted
-their standards. The fighting at this line was desperate, and hand to
-hand. But the conflict was too unequal to avail the gallant survivors
-of Garnett and Kemper and Armistead. Of the three brigades scarcely a
-picket line was left to grapple with the battle array of their foe.
-The remnant gave up the fight and left the field. If Wilcox could have
-reached the wall with his gallant Alabamians, the fight might have been
-prolonged--it might have been successful. But to reach that stone wall
-Wilcox must march through the fire that shot to pieces the brigades
-of Kemper, Garnett and Armistead. General Wilcox says that he reached
-the foot of the hill; that he could not see a man whom he was sent to
-support; that he was subjected to such an artillery fire from front and
-both flanks that he went back in search of a battery; that he could
-find none; that returning to his brigade he regarded further advance
-useless and ordered a retreat.
-
-On the left, Pettigrew and Trimble carried their battle to the
-Emmitsburg road and to the advanced line. Archer's brigade, on
-Garnett's immediate left, had 13 color-bearers shot one after another
-in gallant efforts to plant the colors of his five regiments on the
-stone wall. The direction of the Federal line was oblique to the
-general line of advance. Pettigrew's line was exposed longest to the
-front and flank fire, and at the Emmitsburg road he had suffered more
-severely than Pickett's brigades. When Pettigrew was yet 150 yards from
-the Emmitsburg road, says General Trimble, who was about that distance
-in his rear, "They seemed to sink into the earth from the tempest of
-fire poured into them." Although wounded, Pettigrew led his line across
-the road and against the first line, but his brigades were shattered
-too badly to make organized assault further. Archer's brigade on his
-right fought at the stone wall, as did Garnett's and Kemper's and
-Armistead's, and suffered a like repulse. Officers and men from the
-other brigades reached the wall and fought with desperate courage, and
-died beside it, but the division in its organization was torn asunder
-and shot to pieces by the time they reached and attacked the first
-line. Trimble's brigades were as helpless for successful assault as
-Pettigrew; and yet they moved on until within pistol shot of the main
-line. As General Trimble followed his line back to Seminary ridge,
-on horseback, under the increased fire of shell, grape and musketry,
-he reported his wonder that any one could escape wounds or death.
-And, indeed, but few did. The loss is reported for Garnett, Kemper,
-Armistead and Wilcox, but there is no report given of the particular
-loss of July 3d in Pettigrew's command, or Trimble's. The three
-brigades of Pickett lost their brigadiers, nearly every field officer,
-and nearly or quite 3,000 men.
-
-With the failure of this attack, the great contest at Gettysburg was
-decided. While it was in progress General Stuart, on the rear of
-General Lee's left, was fighting a great cavalry battle with the main
-body of General Meade's cavalry. Stuart had the brigades of Hampton,
-Fitz Lee, Chambliss, W. H. F. Lee and Jenkins. In the battle much
-of the fighting was at close quarters and with pistol and saber as
-the charging lines came together. In one of these contacts General
-Hampton was twice severely wounded. On the day previous, his having
-been the first of General Stuart's brigades to reach the vicinity of
-Gettysburg, he was just in time to meet a cavalry force moving from
-Hunterstown directly against General Lee's unprotected left. After
-a sharp engagement General Hampton defeated this force, and drove
-it beyond reach. The arrival of Stuart on the 2d was a source of
-infinite satisfaction to the Confederate commander; indeed, if he had
-not come, the three divisions of General Pleasanton would have taken
-complete possession of General Lee's communications, and the battle of
-Gettysburg would have been a still greater disaster to the Southern
-army.
-
-After the defeat of the assaulting column, Meade was too cautious
-to risk his lines against the army that had held the heights of
-Fredericksburg. He stood resolutely on the defensive throughout the
-4th of July. On that night General Lee began his masterly retreat to
-the Potomac, which he crossed in the face of his enemy on the morning
-of the 14th. Ewell's corps forded the river at Williamsport, Generals
-Longstreet and Hill crossed by pontoon at Falling Waters, and by 1 p.
-m. of the 14th the Gettysburg campaign was over.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI.
-
- SOUTH CAROLINIANS AT CHICKAMAUGA--ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMIES--SOUTH
- CAROLINIANS ENGAGED--THEIR HEROIC SERVICE AND SACRIFICES.
-
-
-The armies of Generals Bragg and Rosecrans, which were to fight the
-battle of Chickamauga on the 19th and 20th of September, 1863, were
-widely separated in the early part of August, Bragg at Chattanooga and
-Rosecrans beyond the Cumberland mountains, with the Tennessee river
-rolling between them.
-
-About the middle of August, the Federal general broke up his
-encampments and moved his army across the mountains to the Tennessee.
-Crittenden's corps threatened Chattanooga through the gaps in Walden's
-ridge, while Thomas' corps and McCook's moved to Stevenson, Bridgeport
-and the vicinity. Rosecrans established his depot at Stevenson and
-passed his army over the river on pontoons, rafts and boats, and boldly
-crossed Sand mountain to Trenton. He was on the flank of General Bragg
-by the 8th of September, and by the 12th had crossed Lookout mountain.
-
-Bragg, having left Chattanooga on the 8th, Rosecrans sent Crittenden's
-corps to occupy that place and move on the railroad as far as Ringgold,
-while Thomas and McCook took position in McLemore's cove and down as
-far as Alpine. Rosecrans' corps was widely separated and his wings
-were by road, 50 miles or more apart! Meanwhile Bragg was on the line
-of Chickamauga creek, with his left at Lafayette and his headquarters
-at Lee & Gordon's mills. General Gist's South Carolina brigade,
-with Ferguson's battery, was guarding his extreme left at Rome and
-supporting the cavalry in that quarter. Crittenden's corps at Ringgold
-and vicinity was at General Bragg's mercy. He was only 10 miles from
-Bragg's headquarters, with the Chickamauga between himself and Thomas,
-and by road at least 20 miles from that general's support. McCook
-was fully as far from Thomas on the other flank. "It was therefore a
-matter of life and death (says Rosecrans in his report) to effect the
-concentration of the army."
-
-Crittenden marched across Bragg's right, passed the Chickamauga and
-moved down toward Thomas, and McCook marched up from Alpine toward
-that general's position in McLemore's cove. Pigeon mountain range
-covered McCook and Thomas; but Crittenden's march was open to attack.
-His corps should have been beaten and driven off toward Chattanooga.
-General Bragg clearly saw this and endeavored to strike Crittenden
-at the proper moment, giving explicit orders to that effect. These
-orders were not executed, the opportunity passed, and Rosecrans united
-his corps on the west side of the Chickamauga, while Bragg confronted
-him on the east. The great battles of the 19th and 20th of September
-were now imminent. We give the organization of the two armies as they
-were engaged in that memorable conflict, omitting those troops which
-were not in the battle; as, for instance, the brigades of Hood's and
-McLaws' divisions, and the artillery of those commands. Longstreet had
-only three brigades in battle on the 19th and five on the 20th, the
-artillery and other commands of his corps not having arrived. Among
-his absent brigades was that of Gen. Micah Jenkins, composed of South
-Carolina regiments.
-
-
-BRAGG'S ARMY.
-
-RIGHT WING, LIEUTENANT-GENERAL POLK COMMANDING.
-
- Hill's corps, Lieut.-Gen. D. H. Hill: Cheatham's division, 5
- brigades, 5 batteries; Cleburne's division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries;
- Breckinridge's division, 3 brigades, 4 batteries.
-
- Walker's corps, Maj.-Gen. W. H. T. Walker: Walker's division, 3
- brigades, 2 batteries; Liddell's division, 2 brigades, 2 batteries.
-
- Total of wing, 5 divisions, 16 brigades, 16 batteries.
-
-
-LEFT WING, LIEUTENANT-GENERAL LONGSTREET COMMANDING.
-
- Buckner's corps, Major-General Buckner: Stewart's division, 4
- brigades, 4 batteries; Preston's division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries;
- Johnson's division, 2 brigades, 2 batteries.
-
- Longstreet's corps, Major-General Hood: McLaws' division, 2 brigades;
- Hood's division, 3 brigades; Hindman's division, 3 brigades, 3
- batteries; Reserve artillery, 5 batteries.
-
- Total of wing, 6 divisions, 17 brigades, 17 batteries.
-
- Total in both wings, 11 divisions, 33 brigades, 33 batteries.
-
- Corps of cavalry, Major-General Wheeler, operating on Bragg's left:
- Wharton's division, 2 brigades, 1 battery; Martin's division, 2
- brigades, 1 battery.
-
- Corps of cavalry, Major-General Forrest, operating on Bragg's right:
- Armstrong's division, 2 brigades, 2 batteries; Pegram's division, 2
- brigades, 2 batteries.
-
- Total of cavalry, 4 divisions, 8 brigades, 6 batteries.
-
-
-ROSECRANS' ARMY.
-
- Fourteenth corps, Major-General Thomas commanding: Baird's division,
- 3 brigades, 3 batteries; Negley's division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries;
- Brannan's division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries; Reynolds' division, 3
- brigades, 3 batteries.
-
- Twentieth corps, Major-General McCook commanding: Davis' division, 3
- brigades, 5 batteries; Johnson's division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries;
- Sheridan's division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries.
-
- Twenty-first corps, Major-General Crittenden commanding: Wood's
- division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries; Palmer's division, 3 brigades, 4
- batteries; Van Cleve's division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries.
-
- Reserve corps, Major-General Granger commanding: One division, 3
- brigades, 3 batteries.
-
- Total, 11 divisions, 33 brigades, 36 batteries.
-
- Cavalry corps, Brigadier-General Mitchell commanding: 2 divisions, 5
- brigades, 2 batteries.
-
-The number of infantry divisions and brigades, as reported, was
-the same in both armies. Bragg had more cavalry in the field than
-Rosecrans, but in the battle of Chickamauga, on his immediate flanks,
-Wheeler had not more than 2,000 and Forrest about the same number. It
-is always difficult to estimate the strength of armies by counting
-their divisions, brigades or regiments, for the reason that it is
-impossible in an active campaign to keep up the relative proportions
-of separate corps, engaged at different times and often with no option
-as to whether a fresh or a decimated command shall go into action. The
-writer was an officer of General Walker's division, and knows that at
-the battle of Chickamauga, on the 20th, that division of three brigades
-did not number 3,000 men. General Gist's brigade, to which the writer
-was attached, went into action on the 20th, 980 strong, one of its
-regiments (Sixteenth South Carolina) and its light battery being absent
-at Rome.
-
-By studying the field returns of both armies, nearest to the opening
-battle on the 19th (Rosecrans' of September 10th and Bragg's of
-August 20th), and making deductions for commands on stations or on
-detached duty, and counting in for Bragg's army the two divisions
-from Mississippi (Breckinridge's and Walker's), and Longstreet's five
-brigades and Buckner's troops, and estimating losses for both armies
-up to the battle of the 19th, it is believed that Bragg crossed the
-Chickamauga on the 18th, 19th and 20th with 45,000, exclusive of his
-cavalry. By the method of estimating the strength of General Bragg's
-army, the writer believes that Rosecrans confronted Bragg with 53,000,
-exclusive of his cavalry.
-
-Before the battle, each general overestimated the strength of the
-other and underestimated his own. On September 12th, General Rosecrans
-believed that "the main body of Johnston's army had joined Bragg," and
-that he had been heavily reinforced from Virginia. The truth is, that
-so far as Bragg's reinforcements affected the engagements of the armies
-at Chickamauga, they did not add a man more than 10,000 to Bragg's
-strength, if, indeed, they added so many.
-
-The two armies facing each other from opposite sides of the
-Chickamauga, Bragg gave order for battle. Rosecrans' left, under
-Thomas, was at Kelly's house on the Chattanooga road, his right
-stretching beyond and south of Lee & Gordon's mills. The Chattanooga
-road spoken of is the main road from LaFayette to Chattanooga, crossing
-the Chickamauga at Lee & Gordon's mills. Kelly's house was opposite
-Reed's bridge, and south of it, on the road, were the houses of Poe,
-Brotherton, Brock, Taylor and Vineyard. Nearly a mile north of Kelly's
-was McDonald's. From McDonald's to Lee & Gordon's mills (the road
-running nearly north and south) was about 4 miles.
-
-The crossings of the Chickamauga were by fords and two bridges,
-Alexander's and Reed's; the former opposite Vineyard's house, and
-the latter opposite Kelly's. Hunt's (or Dalton's) ford came nearest
-Lee & Gordon's mills; then Thedford's, then Alexander's bridge, then
-Byram's ford, then Reed's bridge, and a mile further north, Reed's
-ford. General Bragg's order designated the ford or bridge at which the
-different commands were to cross and directed each to attack in front,
-beginning from the Reed bridge crossing and moving against the Federal
-left and rear.
-
-Thomas marched his head of column beyond Kelly's house, faced the
-Chickamauga, and sent one of his divisions (Brannan's) to reconnoiter
-toward Reed's bridge. From Kelly's to Reed's bridge was about 2½ miles.
-At Jay's mill, near the bridge, Brannan met Forrest, and the battle
-of the 19th was opened. Forrest pushed Brannan back, the latter was
-reinforced by Baird's division, and Walker (marching from Alexander's
-bridge toward Forrest's battle) sent two of his brigades, Ector's and
-Wilson's, to Forrest's support. Brannan and Baird were driving Forrest
-back to Jay's mill when Ector and Wilson came up, and then in turn
-Baird and Brannan were driven, artillery and prisoners captured. Thomas
-now reinforced his battle by Reynolds, and McCook sent in Johnson's
-division. Walker, coming up with Liddell's two brigades, took command
-of the battle and attacked vigorously with Forrest and his four
-brigades, driving Reynolds, on the Federal right, in rout; but Palmer's
-division sent by Crittenden to reinforce Thomas, met and drove Walker
-back. Meanwhile, Baird and Brannan were checking and holding Forrest.
-
-General Bragg sent up Cheatham's division on Walker's left, and Thomas
-moved Brannan from his left to his right. Cheatham attacked against
-the Federal right, further reinforced by Van Cleve's division, drove
-forward for a half mile, was checked, his flanks threatened, and
-retired to his first position. The Federal right advanced, attacked
-Cheatham and Walker, and were handsomely repulsed; meanwhile Forrest
-holding fast the right. Finally, near night, Cleburne came up in
-Cheatham's rear and forming on his right, attacked and drove for a mile
-the Federal left, capturing three pieces of artillery, several stand of
-colors and 300 or more prisoners. It was now past night and the battle
-on the Confederate right was over. Lieutenant-General Polk arrived
-on the right and took command at about 5 p. m. Walker's, Cheatham's,
-Cleburne's and Forrest's battle was from Jay's mill (a half mile from
-Reed's bridge on to the west) toward Kelly's house, the line of battle
-extending for a mile on either side of the road from Reed's bridge
-toward Kelly's. Early in the afternoon, Stewart's division in front
-of Vineyard's, and Hood's on his left, vigorously attacked. Stewart
-drove in the Federal center and crossed the Chattanooga road, but was
-repulsed. The battle of Stewart and Hood was vigorous and aggressive
-from the start, but was not reinforced and was repulsed from the road.
-Stewart nor Hood had artillery, and neither could hold what was gained
-at and beyond the road.
-
-Thus ended the battle of the 19th. Rosecrans held the ridge of the
-Chattanooga road, formed and strengthened his line during the night,
-and Bragg called his corps commanders and gave his orders for the
-battle of the 20th to open at daylight. General Rosecrans remarks
-of the 19th, that "at the close of the day we had present but two
-brigades that had not been squarely and opportunely in action, opposed
-to superior numbers of the enemy." On his part, the whole of his
-infantry, two brigades excepted, had been "opportunely and squarely
-in action." On Bragg's part, six divisions of eighteen brigades, with
-Forrest's cavalry, had been "squarely in action."
-
-There was but little rest or sleep for soldier or officer on the night
-of the 19th. Rosecrans was felling trees along his front, building
-breastworks of logs and rails, and massing his army in line from beyond
-Kelly's to Vineyard's, a distance of 2 miles. Bragg gave his right to
-Lieutenant-General Polk and his left to Lieutenant-General Longstreet;
-the latter did not arrive until 11 p. m. on the 19th. Forrest was well
-out on the right, in front of McDonald's; Wheeler on the left, at Lee
-& Gordon's mills and beyond. Polk's command was arranged from right
-to left, as follows: Breckinridge, Cleburne, with Walker behind the
-former and Cheatham in rear and to the left of the latter. On the left,
-Lieutenant-General Longstreet's wing was organized from right to left
-as follows: Stewart (touching Cleburne), Johnson, Hood, McLaws, Hindman
-and Preston. The line of the Confederate battle for most of its entire
-length was in the forest, which made it difficult to handle artillery
-until the openings along the road were gained.
-
-The South Carolina brigades, Kershaw's, Manigault's and Gist's, were
-with the divisions of McLaws, Hindman and Walker. Kershaw reached
-Alexander's bridge from Ringgold at midnight and went into camp on the
-west bank at 1 a. m. on the 20th. General McLaws not having arrived,
-General Kershaw was in command of the two brigades of the division
-present, Humphreys' and his own.
-
-While Kershaw was marching from Ringgold for Alexander's bridge,
-General Gist was marching from Catoosa Station for the same point,
-having arrived from Rome with part of the Forty-sixth Georgia, the
-Twenty-fourth South Carolina and the Eighth Georgia battalion; the
-Sixteenth South Carolina and Ferguson's battery awaiting transportation
-at Rome, with the remainder of the Forty-sixth Georgia.
-
-General Gist had under his charge an ammunition train which delayed his
-march and prevented his leaving Catoosa before 10 p. m. on the 19th.
-After an all-night march Gist crossed Alexander's bridge at sunrise,
-halted a mile beyond, and after a brief rest was directed to the right
-to join Walker, arriving about 9 o'clock. General Walker at once
-assigned Gist to the command of his division (Ector, Wilson and Gist),
-and Gist's brigade was commanded by the senior officer, Col. P. H.
-Colquitt, Forty-sixth Georgia. Kershaw marched his own and Humphreys'
-brigades to the left and took position in support of Hood. Manigault's
-brigade, including the Tenth and Nineteenth South Carolina, under
-Colonel Pressley, was under fire on the 18th, Pressley losing 6 men,
-crossed at Hunt's ford on the afternoon of the 19th, with its division
-(Hindman's), and on the 20th was in line near the extreme left.
-Culpeper's South Carolina battery was with McNair's brigade, Johnson's
-division.
-
-The province of the writer does not permit him to do more than first
-sketch the outline of the battle, and then more particularly to speak
-of the action of the South Carolina commands. The attack began between
-9 and 10 a. m. by a vigorous assault of Breckinridge's and Cleburne's
-divisions on the extreme left of Rosecrans' line, in front of Kelly's.
-This assault was repulsed. Fighting on the right throughout the
-morning failed to carry the Federal left. The battle progressed from
-right to left, the Confederate center and particularly the left being
-more successful. The Federal center and right were gradually driven
-until forced from the road at Poe's, Brotherton's and Vineyard's.
-Rosecrans' line was bent first into a curve, and then broken into a
-right angle, the angle being about opposite the left of Polk's wing.
-The Federal right found a strong rest at Snodgrass hill, where Thomas,
-now commanding on the field, concentrated artillery and all the troops
-as they were driven from the line. This position, assaulted again and
-again, repulsed the assaults and proved the salvation of Rosecrans'
-army, for behind it the Federal divisions retreated on Rossville and
-Chattanooga.
-
-The Federal left held the position at Kelly's until late in the
-afternoon, about 5 o'clock, when General Polk ordered his wing forward.
-The attack carried the position for its whole front and Baird's
-division followed those on his right in the retreat behind Snodgrass.
-This last stronghold was abandoned during the early part of the night
-and Bragg's victory was complete.
-
-When the first attack against the Federal left had failed, and the
-divisions of Breckinridge and Cleburne were withdrawing, General
-Gist's brigade, under Colquitt, not 1,000 strong, was hurried in to
-the support of Breckinridge's left brigade, that of General Helm. No
-opportunity was given for reconnoitering the woods, and the lull in
-the firing made it uncertain as to the exact position of the enemy.
-Colquitt was ordered to advance due west and support Breckinridge, on
-his left, and his left (Helm) was repulsed and retiring in disorder.
-Meeting and passing Helm's men, the little brigade, dressing on the
-center (Eighth Georgia battalion), marched on into the great forest.
-Colquitt's three companies were on the right and the Twenty-fourth
-South Carolina on the left. It was now about 11 o'clock. The first
-attack had been made at about 9:30. General Baird, who received the
-attack, fixes the hour at between 8 and 9 a. m. The well-known order of
-General Bragg had directed it to be made at daylight.
-
-The attack of Breckinridge and Cleburne, which preceded this advance
-of Colquitt, struck the Federal left flank in front of Kelly's house.
-Baird's division was in position here, behind breastworks of logs and
-rails, the timber freshly cut from the abundant forest. The position
-was a quarter of a mile east of the road, in the forest, with open
-fields behind it running to the road and surrounding Kelly's house.
-The breastworks made a sharp angle about opposite the right of Polk's
-brigade (on the left of Helm) and ran back northwest to the road. From
-the angle to the road King's brigade of regulars was stationed, and on
-their right Scribner's brigade and then Starkweather's. General Baird
-formed his division in two lines, and reported that King's regulars
-were even more concentrated. Three batteries of artillery belonged
-to Baird's division, but that general reported that much of it was
-disabled on the 19th, and that he defended his line with but four guns.
-
-Gist's brigade, not 1,000 strong, plunged into the woods, without
-support right or left, to storm the position from which Cleburne on
-its left and Helm in its front, were retiring. The gallant Helm had
-fallen and his brigade, supported on its left by Polk, was repulsed,
-after three attempts to storm King's regulars. In a few moments
-the Twenty-fourth South Carolina passed the angle in Baird's line
-unseen in the thick forest, and his artillery and infantry opened
-an enfilade from King's front. Promptly as the fire opened, Col.
-C. H. Stevens commanded the Twenty-fourth to change front to the
-left, and was instantly wounded and disabled, his horse being shot.
-Lieutenant-Colonel Capers executed the change of front and directed
-the fire of the Twenty-fourth in reply. The gallant adjutant of the
-Twenty-fourth, Lieut. J. C. Palmer, fell pierced through the head.
-Then Maj. J. S. Jones was badly wounded, and in bringing up his right
-to form on the Twenty-fourth and Eighth Georgia, Colquitt fell. The
-assault was ordered, and while leading it Lieutenant-Colonel Capers
-received a serious wound in the thigh, his horse was disabled, and the
-little brigade was repulsed. Capt. D. F. Hill took command of the
-Twenty-fourth and Lieutenant-Colonel Napier, Georgia battalion, took
-command of Gist's brigade.
-
-In the battle of the afternoon the Twenty-fourth with the brigade had
-better luck. Reinforced by the absent companies of the Forty-sixth
-Georgia to 1,400 strong, Napier led the brigade in the glorious battle
-of the right wing and had the happiness to follow the broken and routed
-columns of Baird, Johnson and Palmer, until night came to give rest
-and sleep to men who had enjoyed none since leaving Rome on the early
-morning of the 18th.
-
-In the struggle before Baird's position, which lasted not more than
-forty minutes, the Twenty-fourth South Carolina lost 169 men and line
-officers, killed and wounded. Colonel Colquitt, an accomplished soldier
-and gallant leader, fell from his horse mortally wounded in front of
-the center of his line. At the moment Colquitt's 980 men were sent
-in to support Breckinridge, Lieutenant-General Hill (who gave the
-order) did not know that Helm and Polk were badly repulsed. Learning
-it, he sent General Gist forward with Ector and Wilson's brigades
-to support Colquitt's attack, but before Gist reached Colquitt, his
-attack was over, with the result above described. Indeed, the history
-of Colquitt's attack and repulse is the history of the fight of the
-right wing throughout the morning of the 20th. It was not until the
-afternoon, when the whole wing went forward, that victory crowned its
-battle.
-
-In the left wing Manigault and Kershaw were in the thick of the fight.
-Kershaw commanded the two brigades of McLaws' division, and after
-General Hood was wounded, he took the direction of his three brigades.
-Kershaw attacked about 11:30 and Manigault shortly after, the former
-in front of the Brock house and the latter just north of Vineyard's.
-Both attacks were successful and crossed the Chattanooga road, swinging
-with the left wing in a grand wheel to the right. In his advance
-Kershaw reached the Dyer house, almost in rear of Brotherton's and
-half a mile beyond the Chattanooga road. Manigault reached a point on
-Kershaw's left and in line with his advance, the divisions of Preston,
-Hindman, Kershaw and Hood driving the Federal right to Snodgrass and
-drawing around that point. Here followed the hardest and most prolonged
-struggle of the day. The order of the divisions was somewhat broken up,
-and brigades went in wherever they could assist in a charge. About 5 p.
-m. Gracie and Kelly, from Preston's; McNair, with Culpeper's battery,
-from Johnson's; Anderson from Hindman's, and Law from Hood's, with
-Kershaw's brigade, all directed by Kershaw, moved on the front and
-east of Snodgrass, while Hindman with Manigault's and Deas' brigades,
-Johnson with Gregg's, and Preston with Trigg's, attacked the west
-flank. This, says Kershaw, "was one of the heaviest attacks on a single
-point I ever witnessed! The brigades went in in magnificent order.
-For an hour and a half the struggle continued with unabated fury. It
-terminated at sunset." The hill was not carried. It was held with
-splendid courage and was defended by all the forces of the center and
-right which could be rallied, and by Steedman's division of Granger's
-reserve corps; the whole put in position by General Thomas, now in
-command of the field, General Rosecrans having given up the battle as
-lost and gone to Chattanooga to arrange for the morrow.
-
-As soon as the Confederate right had driven the Federal left, Thomas
-began the retreat of the center behind his citadel on Snodgrass, and
-after night withdrew the divisions of Wood, Brannan and Steedman from
-the hill, and the great battle had been fought to its victorious end.
-
-The losses had been terrible on both sides. Among the Carolina commands
-some of the choicest spirits had fallen. Kershaw lost 488 killed and
-wounded; Manigault 539, and the Twenty-fourth South Carolina (Gist's
-brigade) 169; a total of 1,196. Lieut.-Col. Elbert Bland, Seventh South
-Carolina, fell at the head of his regiment, and a few moments later
-Maj. John S. Hard, his successor, was instantly killed. Capt. J. M.
-Townsend, commanding the Third battalion, Lieut.-Col. Hoole, Eighth
-regiment, and Capt. W. A. Williams, acting major of the Third, were
-killed in the gallant performance of duty. Capt. D. R. Huger of General
-Manigault's staff fell in front of Snodgrass hill, and others of that
-gallant brigade sealed their devotion to duty with their heart's blood.
-
-In the report of General Kershaw, the following officers are mentioned
-for gallant and noteworthy conduct: Lieutenant-Colonel Bland and Major
-Hard of the Seventh; Captain Townsend of the Third battalion; Col.
-James D. Nance of the Third regiment; Lieut.-Col. Franklin Gaillard
-of the Second; Col. John W. Henagan of the Eighth, and Col. Joseph F.
-Gist of the Fifteenth; Capts. C. R. Holmes, H. L. Farley, and W. M.
-Dwight of the brigade staff, and Couriers M. F. Milam, Company A, Third
-battalion, and Rawlins Rivers, Company I, Second regiment; both killed
-carrying General Kershaw's orders on the field.
-
-General Gist mentioned Maj. B. B. Smith, Capt. M. P. King, and Lieuts.
-L. M. Butler and J. C. Habersham, of his staff, for efficiency and
-gallant conduct; Col. C. H. Stevens and Lieut.-Col. Ellison Capers,
-Twenty-fourth, for the same; and Adjt. J. C. Palmer and Capt. D. F.
-Hill, of the Twenty-fourth, "and other brave and true officers" of the
-same regiment.
-
-General Manigault mentioned the following as "distinguished for
-conduct on the field:" Col. J. F. Pressley and Lieut.-Col. Julius
-T. Porcher of the Tenth; Maj. J. L. White and Adjutant Ferrell of
-the Nineteenth; Capt. C. I. Walker, assistant adjutant-general, and
-Lieut. William E. Huger, aide-de-camp. These names are given from the
-reports, but how many are left unmentioned! The men and officers of
-the line who carried their colonels and lieutenant-colonels and majors
-and generals forward to victory are worthy of lasting honor. South
-Carolina has recorded their names on her roll of faithful and devoted
-soldiers and citizens, and while her archives endure they may be read
-by their descendants as the witness she bears to their courage, their
-patriotism, and their self-sacrificing devotion to duty.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII.
-
- THE SIEGE OF CHARLESTON--CONTINUED BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER--DEFENSE
- MAINTAINED BY THE OTHER WORKS--THE TORPEDO BOATS-BOMBARDMENT OF THE
- CITY--TRANSFER OF TROOPS TO VIRGINIA--PRISONERS UNDER FIRE-CAMPAIGN ON
- THE STONO.
-
-
-On August 24, 1863, General Gillmore, in a communication to the
-general-in-chief of the United States armies, said: "I have the honor
-to report the practical demolition of Fort Sumter as the result of
-our seven days' bombardment of that work. Fort Sumter is to-day a
-shapeless and harmless mass of ruins." It was on this day that the
-garrison, under Colonel Rhett, was visited by General Ripley and the
-chief engineers, Colonels Gilmer and Harris, and it was determined to
-hold to the last extremity the fort which Gillmore had reduced to "a
-harmless mass of ruins." The men worked night after night transferring
-the contents of the magazines to safer places, preparing much of the
-munitions for shipment to the city, and building new works from the
-débris. The east magazines were not damaged.
-
-Colonel Rhett's journal of the 25th has this entry:
-
- Finished securing west magazine from reverse fire; began traverses
- on parade at entrance to passage now used for hospital sally port.
- Magazine and telegraph office repaired and filled up with bags....
- Restored traverses on east barbette. Embrasures on northeast and
- northwest faces in process of being bricked up.
-
-After this the fire from the Federal batteries on Sumter was
-comparatively light, until the 30th, when 322 shot and shell struck
-outside and 168 inside, doing a great deal of damage. Next day,
-Fort Moultrie by mistake opened upon the steamer Sumter, carrying
-two regiments from Morris island, disabling the steamer, from which
-600 officers and men belonging to the Twentieth South Carolina and
-Twenty-third Georgia were saved by boats from Fort Sumter and the navy.
-September 1st was another destructive day for Sumter, six monitors
-and the Ironsides aiding in the fire. On September 4th there was not
-a single gun en barbette, and but one smooth-bore 32-pounder next the
-sally port on western face that could be fired. Colonel Rhett reported:
-
- The northeastern and northwestern terre plein have fallen in. The
- western wall has a crack in it extending entirely through from
- parapet to berme. The greater portion of the southern wall is down.
- The upper eastern magazine is penetrated; the lower eastern magazine
- wall is cracked. The eastern wall is very nearly shot away; a large
- portion of the wall is down, the ramparts gone, and nearly every
- casemate breached, and the remaining wall very thin.... I consider it
- impracticable to either mount or use guns on any part of the parapet,
- and I deem the fort in its present condition unserviceable for
- offensive purposes.
-
-The work of repair went on, however, and on September 4th the
-Charleston battalion arrived at the fort, under command of Major
-Elliott, and relieved Colonel Rhett, commanding, and Captain
-Fleming, Company B, detachment of First South Carolina artillery and
-Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Georgia volunteers, who had endured
-the first tremendous bombardment. Colonel Rhett was put in command of
-the interior batteries in and about the city, with Castle Pinckney and
-Fort Ripley.
-
-As soon as the Federals occupied Battery Wagner, it was opened upon
-by Batteries Simkins and Fort Moultrie and the works adjacent. Soon
-afterward a flag of truce was sent to Fort Sumter, with a demand for
-surrender, which was refused by Elliott, though he was utterly unable
-to maintain an artillery fire. Following this refusal, the Ironsides
-and five monitors came up the channel and opened fire upon Sumter and
-the Sullivan's island batteries. At Battery Beauregard, Lieut. E. A.
-Erwin, First regulars, was killed.
-
-On the 8th, the fight with the ironclads was renewed, and one shell did
-fatal work in Fort Moultrie, disabling an 8-inch columbiad, exploding a
-magazine, and killing 16 and wounding 12 men of Capt. R. Press Smith's
-company of the First regulars. Besides these casualties from the
-explosion there were others, including Capt. G. A. Wardlow and Lieut.
-D. B. De Saussure, wounded.
-
-About 1 o'clock on the morning of the 9th, an attempt was made by
-the Federals to land a force at the foot of the ruins of Sumter and
-carry the position by storm. Major Elliott waited until the thirty or
-forty barges of the enemy were within a few yards of the southern and
-eastern faces, when he greeted them with a rattling fire of musketry,
-while hand-grenades and fragments of the ruins were thrown over on
-the advancing foe, completely demoralizing him. At the same time the
-gunboat Chicora, Fort Moultrie, the Sullivan's island batteries and
-Fort Johnson, warned by signal, swept the skirts of the ruins and the
-water round about with a fire that nothing could survive. Elliott
-captured 5 boats, 5 stand of colors, 12 officers and 109 men. Among
-the colors captured was a worn garrison flag, which, it was believed,
-was the flag lowered in 1861 by Maj. Robert Anderson, and hoped to be
-hoisted again by this storming party.
-
-On the night of August 20th, Capt. J. Carlin, commanding a torpedo
-ram, with a guard on board under Lieut. E. S. Fickling, made an
-attempt to explode a torpedo against the New Ironsides. As he ranged
-up alongside, Carlin was hailed, and to the demand for the name of his
-craft, he replied, "The steamer Live Yankee." The ironclad was swinging
-to the ebb, so that it was impossible to do the work undertaken, and
-Carlin's only hope was of escape. In this he was successful, although
-the Ironsides was soon sweeping the horizon with her guns. On October
-5th, another attempt was made to blow up the Ironsides, by Lieut. W.
-T. Glassell, C. S. N., First Assistant Engineer J. H. Tombs, Walker
-Cannon, pilot, and James Sullivan, fireman, on board the propeller
-David, a small submerged steamer. The boat approached the ironclad at
-9 p. m. at full speed, and when hailed, Glassell answered with a shot
-from a double-barreled gun. The boat struck fairly under the starboard
-quarter, and the torpedo was exploded about 6½ feet below the surface,
-but it proved to be of too light a charge (70 pounds) to injure the
-heavy plates of the enemy. The David was riddled by the fire of
-small-arms from the Ironsides, and almost swamped by the great column
-of water thrown up by the explosion. Although the little craft escaped
-sinking, the fires were put out and the iron ballast thrown among the
-machinery, so that it would not work when the engine was reversed.
-In this critical situation, and believing the boat to be sinking,
-Glassell and Sullivan jumped overboard, and swimming in the direction
-of the enemy's vessels were made prisoners. The pilot stuck to the
-boat, and Tombs, after being thrown overboard, swam back to it when he
-saw that their cries of surrender were not heeded. The two coolly got
-up steam under a continuous fire and managed to make their way back
-up the channel, escaping two 11-inch shot sent after them, passing
-through the Federal fleet and within three feet of one of the monitors.
-Though unsuccessful, this was justly considered one of the most daring
-exploits of the war, and inspired Beauregard to ask for the purchase of
-swift torpedo boats from English builders.
-
-On November 15th, Maj. John Jenkins, Third South Carolina cavalry,
-reported that the enemy had reoccupied Seabrook island (John's island)
-in large force. On the following day there was a considerable action
-between the Federal monitors and the Sullivan's island batteries,
-Capt. Jacob Valentine commanding at Fort Moultrie, Capt. C. H. Rivers
-at Battery Rutledge, and Maj. W. S. Basinger at Battery Marion.
-
-During October the Federals were busy making Batteries Wagner and Gregg
-formidable against the Confederate defenses, without much molestation
-in their work, while they maintained the bombardment of the ruins of
-Fort Sumter. The reports of Major Elliott show that 625 shots were
-fired at Sumter on the 27th, with particular attention to the gorge
-wall, and on the 29th, 1,039 shots. Their effect was to cut away all
-the arches on the sea face, and to make that and the gorge easy of
-access. It was evident that the enemy was preparing for another assault
-from boats. As many shots of all calibers struck the fort on the next
-day, and this destructive torrent of rifled shot and shell and mortar
-shells, from the batteries and the monitors, continued for several
-days. The casualties in the fort were comparatively few, the main loss
-being the burying of twelve members of the Washington light infantry,
-Twenty-fifth regiment, and one man of the Twelfth Georgia battalion.
-While they were in position for mounting the parapet in case of
-assault, a Parrott shot struck an iron girder of the sea wall, and the
-roof fell in, crushing them.
-
-On November 1st, the southwest angle was the main object of the
-bombardment. The flagstaff was twice shot away, and replaced by
-brave men of the Georgia battalion, who were finally compelled to
-substitute their own flag for the riddled garrison flag. On the 4th,
-Major Elliott remarked, regarding the rifled shells: "The practice
-with these projectiles is very beautiful, the adjustment of the time
-fuses being so perfect that the occupants of the gorge wall are secure
-from the effects of the explosion, which rarely fails to occur during
-the passage of the shell over the parade." On the 6th the flagstaff
-was again shot away, and replaced by Sergeant Currie and Corporal
-Montgomery of the Twenty-fifth South Carolina. On the 12th, again,
-some of the Georgians had the honor of replacing the flag under fire.
-Hardly a day passed without some one being killed and several more
-or less seriously wounded. During the week ending November 16th,
-over 3,000 shots were fired at Sumter, and on the night of the 19th
-a second attempt was made to land a force from barges and storm the
-ruins, but Elliott and his men were on guard, and their musketry fire
-prevented the barges from reaching the island. On the 24th, Capt. F.
-H. Harleston, having gone down the slope of the sea face to inspect
-the obstructions against storming parties, was mortally wounded by a
-Parrott shell.
-
-On November 28th Elliott reported:
-
- Private James Tupper, shot marker, Charleston battalion, seeing
- yesterday morning that the flag had been shot down, walked along
- the whole extent of the gorge wall, on the parapet, and endeavored
- to raise it. Finding that the staff was too short, he procured an
- additional piece of spar, and with the assistance of C. B. Foster and
- Corps. W. C. Buckheister and A. J. Bluett, succeeded in splicing and
- planting the staff, under a very heavy fire directed at them. One shot
- struck the flag from their hands. It was a most distinguished display
- of gallantry.
-
-About this time the continuous pounding of the ruins by the enemy's
-projectiles had produced a steep slope on the exterior of the fort,
-with very insecure footing, and Colonel Elliott, after an examination,
-had no serious fears of an assault. On the 11th, the most fatal
-calamity in the history of the fort occurred--the explosion of the
-southwest magazine--a danger of which the heroic defenders had been
-in constant dread. The occupants of the adjoining rooms were killed
-or badly burned, and the flames, which instantly caught, spread with
-fierceness, filling the casemates with stifling smoke. As soon as the
-enemy observed the fire, he opened upon the fort with rifled shells and
-mortars. Colonel Elliott was slightly wounded, Capt. Edward D. Frost
-and 10 others were killed, and 40 sustained more or less serious
-injuries. Capt. John Johnson, Lieut. L. A. Harper and Capt. M. H.
-Sellers were distinguished for bravery and coolness amid the excitement
-and danger. The fire was not entirely extinguished until a week later.
-
-[Illustration:
-
- MAP
- of Charleston and its DEFENSES.
-
- Compiled from Surveys of
- PORTIONS OF S^T ANDREW'S and CHRIST C^H PARISHES
-
- BY
-
- LIEUT. JOHN JOHNSON, C. S. Eng^rs.
-
- THE HARBOR, JAMES I^D, FOLLY I^D, MORRIS I^D,
- SULLLIVAN'S I^D, AND LONG I^D
-
- NOV. 1863.]
-
-[Illustration]
-
-On the last of the year the undaunted Elliott recommended that he
-be provided with two iron shields for casemate batteries, which he
-said would render his position one of "comparative invulnerability."
-His report at this time showed that since August 12th nearly 27,000
-projectiles had been fired at Sumter, of which 19,808 had struck.
-During the same time 38 men had been killed and 142 wounded.
-
-On Christmas day an artillery attack was made upon the United States
-gunboat Marblehead, lying off Legaréville, by Col. P. R. Page, but with
-the assistance of the Pawnee the vigorous efforts to capture the vessel
-were repelled.
-
-During all this period Forts Moultrie, Johnson, Simkins, Cheves and
-other batteries, maintained an effective fire upon the enemy's works
-and fleet, and attempts were otherwise made to destroy the naval force
-of the Federals, but without success. On October 11th four floating
-torpedoes were set afloat from Fort Sumter with time fuses, but they
-exploded at too great a distance from the fleet. On the 15th the
-submarine boat was lost in an attempt to run under the navy receiving
-ship. As soon as she sunk, air bubbles were seen to come to the
-surface, indicating that the manhole was not properly closed. Capt. F.
-L. Hunley and seven men were lost.
-
-In November, the throwing of shells into the city, which was commenced
-August 21st, was resumed with more frequency. Mr. T. S. Hale, the
-observer at St. Michael's steeple, reported his post as the enemy's
-principal line of fire, radiating to the northeastward as far as St.
-Philip's church. He counted 27 shots on August 21st and the three
-days following, and 3 on October 27th, but the regular bombardment
-may be said to have begun on November 17th, after which to January
-5, 1864, 442 shells fell in the city. The shells first thrown were
-200-pound Parrotts, but later 100-pound projectiles were mainly used.
-Only five deaths resulted, two ladies, two civilians, and one slave.
-A number of buildings were ruined, and thousands of persons compelled
-to leave their homes and seek refuge in the upper part of the city
-or in the interior of the State. The heaviest bombardment in 1863
-was on Christmas day, when 150 shells were fired at the city, and a
-considerable fire caused in the vicinity of St. Michael's church.
-Several citizens, soldiers and firemen were wounded.
-
-In December, 1863, a complete system of interior defense was perfected
-at Fort Sumter, by the aid of which the garrison, in the event of being
-driven to take refuge in the casemates and bomb-proof, could protect
-itself, while signaling for assistance from the surrounding Confederate
-batteries. Through the heroic efforts of its garrison, under eighteen
-months of constant fire, the stronghold was maintained as an effective
-part of the city's defenses. Says Major Johnson:
-
- From having been a desolate ruin, a shapeless pile of shattered walls
- and casemates, showing here and there the guns disabled and half
- buried in splintered wrecks of carriages, its mounds of rubbish fairly
- reeking with the smoke and smell of powder, Fort Sumter under fire
- was transformed within a year into a powerful earthwork, impregnable
- to assault, and even supporting the other works at the entrance of
- Charleston harbor with six guns of the heaviest caliber.
-
-The shelling of Charleston continued during January, 1864, on one day
-273 shells being thrown, and in the latter part of the month the fire
-on Sumter was renewed. On the 30th the flagstaff was shot down, and
-replaced by Private F. Schafer, of Lucas' battalion, who at the close
-of his work stood on the traverse amid a cloud of smoke and dust from
-bursting shell, waving his hat in triumph.
-
-Early in February, General Beauregard was advised of Gillmore's
-expedition in Florida, threatening the capital of that State, and he
-immediately began forwarding troops to that almost defenseless region.
-Colquitt's Georgia brigade was under orders to move, when news was
-received of a Federal advance on John's island, doubtless undertaken
-to detain troops at Charleston, or to take advantage of their absence.
-Gen. Henry A. Wise, in command of the Sixth district, reported that
-the enemy landed in force on Kiowah island, the night of the 8th,
-crossed Seabrook island, at the Haulover to John's island, driving
-in the pickets of the advanced post held by Maj. John Jenkins, with
-part of the Sixth South Carolina cavalry. Jenkins, though outnumbered,
-made a gallant resistance when attacked on the morning of the 9th, and
-suffered considerable loss, Capt. M. B. Humphreys, commanding the cadet
-cavalry company, being severely wounded. Said General Wise:
-
- With about 150 men composed of the Stono scouts, the Rebel troop,
- the Cadets and Sullivan's cavalry company, one section of the Marion
- artillery, and Captain Jennett's company of the Fifty-ninth Virginia
- infantry, he held the whole force of the enemy in check; fought and
- fell back some two or three miles only, and in turn drove them back
- nearly the whole distance by such repeated charges all day that he
- made them fear he was supported, and he held his ground manfully until
- night, when he was reinforced by Colonel Tabb with a battalion of the
- Fifty-ninth Virginia and the Marion artillery.
-
-On the morning of the 10th, Jenkins was reinforced by Charles' South
-Carolina battery and a battalion of the Twenty-sixth Virginia, under
-Col. P. R. Page, who took command until General Wise came up and
-retired the forces to a more advantageous position, across the Bohicket
-road. Part of Colquitt's Georgia brigade soon arrived, and a strong
-line was formed. The enemy's advance was met by the artillery, before
-whose effective fire the Federals retreated from the field. General
-Wise did not order an advance till next morning, when it was found
-that General Schimmelfennig, the Federal commander, had abandoned his
-enterprise and left the island under cover of the gunboats. In these
-operations about 15 men were killed or wounded in Jenkins' command. The
-Federal loss was about the same. Colquitt's brigade was immediately
-forwarded to Florida. On the morning of the 11th, all the harbor
-batteries bearing on Morris island opened a vigorous bombardment, as
-though preceding an attack by infantry, to make a diversion in favor of
-General Wise.
-
-The night of February 17th was made memorable by the destruction of the
-United States sloop-of-war Housatonic. This was done by the submarine
-torpedo boat H. L. Hunley, under command of Lieut. George E. Dixon, of
-Alabama. This brave officer and his associates left Battery Marshall,
-on Sullivan's island, that night, for their daring deed, and were never
-again heard from. They shared the fate of the vessel they destroyed.
-
-The usual daily round of artillery firing continued in the harbor
-defenses, with little activity on the part of the enemy, during the
-following months, when both North and South were preparing for the
-great struggle between the armies in Virginia and Georgia. The guns of
-Fort Sumter, at noon of April 13th, fired a defiant salute in honor
-of the surrender by Major Anderson, and provoked a fire in which J.
-P. Huger, of the signal corps, was killed. A day or two later Colonel
-Elliott was relieved in command by Capt. John C. Mitchel, of the First
-artillery. On May 16th, two monitors moved up and opened fire on
-Sumter, but were driven off, seriously injured by the Sullivan's island
-batteries.
-
-Sumter's flagstaff was again shot away on June 20th, the Federal
-gunners at Cummings point hitting the staff at the second shot and
-cutting it in two. Lieut. C. H. Claibourne, First regulars, assisted
-by Sergt. N. F. Devereux and Corp. B. Brannon, mounted the gorge wall
-and lashed the two pieces of staff together, under a rapid fire. The
-flagstaff was again struck on the 25th, and twice shot away on the
-26th, the last time being replaced by Privates Walter Steele and D. E.
-Badger. In return, a skillful gunner at Fort Johnson brought down the
-Federal flag at Battery Gregg.
-
-With the approach of the May campaigns in Virginia and Georgia, heavy
-drafts were made upon General Beauregard's forces. On March 17th,
-the First and Second cavalry were ordered to South Carolina, and the
-Fourth, Colonel Rutledge; Fifth, Colonel Dunovant; Sixth, Colonel
-Aiken; Seventh Georgia, and Millen's battalion, and the cavalry
-companies of Captains Tucker, Wallace, Boykin, Trenholm and Magee were
-ordered from General Beauregard's department to Virginia. On April
-14th, General Evans' brigade, under Gen. W. S. Walker, was ordered
-to Wilmington, N. C. The Eleventh and Eighteenth South Carolina,
-Colquitt's brigade, and Company A, siege train, were ordered back from
-Florida. General Beauregard, on the 20th, was assigned to command of
-the department of Southern Virginia and North Carolina, and Maj.-Gen.
-Sam Jones succeeded him at Charleston. A week later Hagood's brigade
-was ordered to Virginia. Several Georgia regiments were sent to General
-Johnston at Dalton. On May 3d, both Wise's and Colquitt's brigades were
-ordered to Richmond. On the 4th General Jones telegraphed to Johnston,
-"I am sending off my last infantry brigade to Virginia." Under this
-pressure for troops, General Jones requested the mayor to organize
-the fire brigade into companies, ordered all the detailed men in his
-staff departments to be organized, and called on the president of the
-South Carolina railroad to muster in his employes for defense of the
-city. Commander Tucker co-operated in this effort by organizing a
-naval battalion. On the 24th Colonel Keitt's regiment was started for
-Richmond. Federal troops, also, had been sent to Virginia and General
-Gillmore had been called to that field and replaced by General Foster.
-
-While these troops were being ordered from the State, the "reserves"
-were called out by the government at Richmond. In a communication to
-the secretary of war on this subject, Governor Bonham pointed out
-that in South Carolina, unlike other States, militia officers and
-magistrates were not exempt and were already in the field, and that the
-taking away of the remaining population at home, under eighteen years
-of age and over forty-five, would cause great suffering next year, and
-in view of the loss of upper Georgia, possible starvation.
-
-At the same time there was much change in district commanders, one of
-the most important being the assignment of General McLaws to the Third
-district and Georgia.
-
-On July 31st, the aggregate present in various commands under General
-Jones was as follows: First and Fourth districts, Gen. R. S. Ripley,
-3,177; Seventh district, General Taliaferro, 3,742; Second and Sixth
-districts, Gen. B. H. Robertson, 1,280; Third district and district of
-Georgia, General McLaws, 3,600.
-
-The bombardment of Charleston having continued for ten months, on
-June 13th General Jones addressed the following letter to the Federal
-commander:
-
- Maj.-Gen. J. G. Foster, Commanding United States Forces on Coast of
- South Carolina, C. S.
-
- General: Five generals and 45 field officers of the United States
- army, all of them prisoners of war, have been sent to this city for
- safekeeping. They have been turned over to Brigadier-General Ripley,
- commanding the First military district of this department, who will
- see that they are provided with commodious quarters in a part of the
- city occupied by non-combatants, the majority of whom are women and
- children. It is proper, however, that I should inform you that it is a
- part of the city which has been for many months exposed day and night
- to the fire of your guns.
-
- Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
- SAM JONES, Major-General Commanding.
-
-General Foster, replying, said in part:
-
- Many months since Major-General Gillmore, United States army, notified
- General Beauregard, then commanding at Charleston, that the city
- would be bombarded. This notice was given, that non-combatants might
- be removed and thus women and children be spared from harm. General
- Beauregard, in a communication to General Gillmore, dated August 22,
- 1863, informed him that the non-combatant population of Charleston
- would be removed with all possible celerity.... That city is a depot
- for military supplies. It contains not merely arsenals, but also
- foundries and factories for the manufacture of munitions of war. In
- its shipyards several armed ironclads have already been completed,
- while others are still upon the stocks in course of construction.
- Its wharves and the banks of the rivers on both sides are lined with
- batteries. To destroy these means of continuing the war is therefore
- our object and duty.... I have forwarded your communication to the
- President, with the request that he will place in my custody an equal
- number of prisoners of the like grades, to be kept by me in positions
- exposed to the fire of your guns as long as you continue the course
- stated in your communication.
-
-General Halleck, Federal chief of staff, in a letter to Foster, June
-21st, stated that the secretary of war approved his suggestion, and had
-ordered an equal number of Confederate generals and field officers to
-be forwarded to be treated precisely as the Federal prisoners were, and
-with proper precautions to prevent escape, "putting them in irons, if
-necessary, for that purpose." The first roll of Confederate prisoners
-of war made out for this purpose was from those confined at Fort
-Delaware, and included Maj.-Gens. Edward Johnson and Franklin Gardner,
-Brig.-Gens. J. J. Archer, G. H. Steuart and M. Jeff Thompson, and 46
-colonels, lieutenant-colonels and majors.
-
-General Jones, on July 1st, proposed to General Foster that they
-should exchange prisoners, if the respective governments approved, and
-enclosed communications from Brigadier-Generals Wessells, Seymour,
-Scammon, Heckman and Shaler, the Federal general officers in his
-hands, in which they declared that a prompt exchange of prisoners, if
-an exchange were to be made, was called for by every consideration
-of humanity. They also asked for the Confederate officers who had
-arrived at Hilton Head, "every kindness and courtesy that could be
-extended them, in acknowledgment of the fact that we at this time are
-as pleasantly and comfortably situated as is possible for prisoners of
-war, receiving from the Confederate authorities every privilege that we
-could desire or expect, nor are we unnecessarily exposed to fire."
-
-General Foster replied to General Jones that he fully reciprocated the
-desire for an exchange, but added: "Before any steps can be taken to
-effect it, it will be necessary to withdraw from exposure to our fire
-those officers now confined in Charleston. I have not yet placed your
-prisoners in a similar position of exposure." To this General Jones
-rejoined that a removal of the prisoners would be an implied admission
-that they were unduly exposed, which they had themselves denied.
-
-The Confederate prisoners were placed on Morris island, under the fire
-of the Confederate batteries, the number being increased to about 600
-officers of all grades, and were there held, until in October they and
-the prisoners at Charleston were removed.
-
-General Foster, on June 23d, notified the Federal chief of staff that
-he would begin important operations soon, saying: "I propose, first, to
-destroy the Charleston & Savannah railroad, and then to make a sudden
-attack upon some of the defenses of Charleston or of Savannah. If I
-fail in one, I will try the other." On July 1st, he sailed from Hilton
-Head with a force of 5,000 infantry, 100 cavalry and two sections of
-artillery. Two brigades, under General Hatch, were landed on Seabrook
-island with orders to push to the north end, seize the ferry, cross
-over and destroy the railroad. Another brigade was landed at White
-Point under General Birney, with orders to torpedo the railroad track
-and destroy the South Edisto and Ashepoo bridges and the trestle. At
-the same time General Schimmelfennig was to attack on James island, a
-boat expedition of 1,000 men was to assault Forts Johnson and Simkins,
-and the bombardment of Fort Sumter was to be renewed with the intention
-of leveling its walls preparatory to storming.
-
-This combined attack was a serious one and taxed the heroism of the
-brave defenders of Charleston, but, as in previous emergencies, they
-were successful in meeting the enemy at every point. Birney, Foster
-said, encountered a small force of the enemy with a battery, and though
-Foster helped him with gunboats on Dawho creek, he retreated and fell
-in behind Schimmelfennig on the Stono. The latter carried a battery
-on James island, but was shelled out of it by the batteries from
-Secessionville to Fort Pringle. Hatch marched across John's island but
-found it too hot to fight the Confederates concentrated at the ferry.
-Colonel Hoyt, of the boat expedition, was compelled to surrender with
-5 officers and 132 men. Such, in effect, was Foster's summing up of
-results on July 7th. On the 12th, he added, that having been successful
-in one respect, forcing the Confederates to accumulate a large force to
-meet him, he had re-embarked to give his men a few days' rest, after a
-loss of 54 killed and drowned, 133 wounded and 143 missing. His rest
-continued until November.
-
-Gen. W. B. Taliaferro was in command on the Secessionville line, which
-included Forts Johnson, Haskell and Pringle, and Batteries Simkins,
-Wampler, Cheves, etc., whence an active fire had been maintained at the
-enemy, varied at times with skirmishing against Federal demonstrations.
-On July 2d he observed the advance of the enemy in force, driving
-in the cavalry vedettes upon the infantry pickets stretching from
-Rivers' causeway to the Stono. There a stubborn resistance was made
-by Maj. Edward Manigault, supported by Lieutenant De Lorme's light
-artillery and a detachment of the siege train serving as infantry under
-Lieutenant Spivey. The gallant De Lorme, fighting too long against
-a line of battle, at the fourth charge of the enemy lost his guns
-after they had occasioned great loss in the Federal ranks. The picket
-line was withdrawn in range of the batteries, and the enemy advanced
-and intrenched, Taliaferro not having force enough to attack, being
-compelled to weaken Fort Johnson to hold his main line. A gunboat came
-up the Stono to cover the Federal flank, but was driven back by Battery
-Pringle. The enemy made one advance in force, but met such a warm
-reception from the artillery that no further effort was made that day.
-
-Next morning at daylight the enemy landed from barges at Shell point
-and made the attack on Battery Simkins and Fort Johnson. Both were
-fiercely assaulted by the Federals, but, said General Taliaferro, "the
-gallant garrison, under the command of Lieut.-Col. Joseph A. Yates,
-received them with heroic determination, and soon staggered and drove
-them back, when, with a rapid charge headed by Lieutenants Waties
-and Reynolds, 140 prisoners, including 5 commissioned officers, were
-taken." The participants in this brilliant affair were the companies of
-Lieutenant Waties, Captain Gaillard and Lieutenant Cooper, of the First
-artillery, and of Lieutenants Halsey and Raworth, Second artillery.
-These officers and Corporal Crawford were distinguished for gallantry.
-Five barges were captured.
-
-The 3d was opened with an artillery battle along the line, and
-the enemy's monitors and gunboats were seen ascending the Stono.
-Legaréville and other points on John's island were occupied, and
-Taliaferro was led to believe that the enemy was engaged in a serious
-movement, on the same line as that adopted by Sir Henry Clinton in
-March, 1780, who occupied John's island, crossed the Stono at the site
-of Fort Pemberton, and after gaining possession of the Stono, moved
-from James' island to the mainland. Nevertheless the Confederate line
-put on a bold front and Colonel Harrison, with his Georgians, advanced
-and drove back the Federal pickets to their original line. For several
-days afterward artillery firing continued along the lines, and attacks
-upon Manigault's picket line. The Federal fleet opened a terrific fire
-on Battery Pringle, disabling several of the guns. To relieve the
-exhausted garrison at the latter point, Colonel Rhett was assigned and
-Major Blanding with two companies of the First artillery. Battery Tynes
-was also under fire, but ably defended by Captain Richardson, of Lucas'
-battalion.[G]
-
-[Footnote G: General Taliaferro gave his loss in the campaign at 10
-killed and 25 wounded. He particularly commended the gallantry of the
-men on his advanced line under unremitting fire for eight days and
-nights from the enemy's monitors, gunboats, mortar boats and land
-batteries. These troops were detachments from the First and Second
-artillery, Company B, siege train; First cavalry, First infantry
-(regulars), Kirk's and Peeples' squadrons of cavalry and Harrison's and
-Bonaud's Georgians, the South Carolina officers commanding being Major
-Manigault, Major Blanding, Capts. R. P. Smith, Dickson, Warley, Rivers,
-Witherspoon, Burnet, Humbert, Stallings, Kennedy, Porcher Smith and
-Trezevant. The Stono batteries, under Majors Lucas and Blanding, were
-commanded by Captains Hayne, Richardson, Rhett, King, Lieutenants Ogier
-(specially distinguished), Martin, Reveley, Lucas, Ford and Stuart.
-Lieutenant-Colonel Brown at Fort Lamar, and the light batteries under
-Captain Wheaton, did good service, and Colonels Black, Frederick and
-Rhett were faithful and efficient in their duties commanding on the
-east and west and in reserve.]
-
-On the 8th Colonel Harrison, with his brigade, was sent to the
-assistance of Gen. B. H. Robertson, commanding on John's island. The
-latter had repulsed several assaults, Major Jenkins commanding at
-the front, and after the arrival of the Georgians, made an attack in
-turn, on the morning of the 9th, driving the enemy from his first
-intrenched line to the second, beyond Burden's causeway, and occupying
-the elevated ground necessary to the Federals to enfilade Taliaferro's
-line on James island. The entire Confederate loss was 37 killed and 91
-wounded.[H]
-
-[Footnote H: General Robertson specially commended, aside from the
-gallant Georgians who led in the charge on the 9th, the Washington,
-Marion, and Inglis batteries, under Colonel Kemper, Major Jenkins,
-Sergeant Jervais and Privates Miller and Bryan of the Stono scouts;
-Private A. J. White, of the Second cavalry, and a portion of the Second
-cavalry under Captain Clark, who defended the right of the line on the
-first day and lost 13 out of 21 engaged. Captain Dean, of the same
-regiment, with 13 men, also participated in this heroic fight.]
-
-While the battle was in progress on John's island, a Brooke gun,
-brought to Battery Pringle, drove the enemy's wooden boats down stream.
-An attempt of the enemy to float fire rafts with the tide against the
-Stono bridge was defeated by Lieutenant Smith, with a detachment of the
-naval battalion, who brought them to shore, and a second barge attack
-on Fort Johnson was repulsed, the garrison being aided by Le Gardeur's
-battery and a company of marines. On the 11th the enemy disappeared.
-
-In his detailed report, Gen. Sam Jones said: "Officers captured concur
-in representing that the expedition was well and carefully considered
-and planned, and was confidently expected to result in the capture of
-Charleston. That it failed is due, under Providence, to the gallantry
-and good conduct of our officers and men." His aggregate of losses was
-33 killed and 96 wounded.
-
-The part of this campaign which fell upon Fort Sumter was a fierce
-bombardment by day and night, in which from July 7th to July 31st
-inclusive, 7,000 shot and shell took effect. On the 7th the flag was
-cut down three times. On the 20th Commandant Mitchel, one of the most
-gallant officers of the artillery service, was mortally wounded while
-making an observation from the highest point of the fort. Capt. John
-Johnson, the faithful engineer-in-chief, was severely wounded on
-the 28th. But in spite of this terrific bombardment, and a new sort
-of attack--floating powder boats to explode in its vicinity--Sumter
-remained invulnerable. Capt. Thomas A. Huguenin succeeded Mitchel in
-command, and remained in charge until on the night of February 17,
-1865, he went the rounds of the indomitable fortress for the last time,
-and abandoned it to the enemy who had never been able to enter its
-walls while a Confederate soldier remained on guard.
-
-Major Jenkins, on August 20th, found it necessary to burn the village
-of Legaréville. The Stono scouts, owners of property in the place,
-volunteered to aid in the work, sixteen of the members applying the
-torches to their own dwellings.
-
-On October 5th, Maj.-Gen. W. J. Hardee took command of the department,
-relieving General Jones, whom he assigned to command of the State,
-exclusive of General McLaws' district in the southeast.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII.
-
- SOUTH CAROLINIANS WITH LONGSTREET AND LEE--WAUHATCHIE--MISSIONARY
- RIDGE--KNOXVILLE--THE VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN OF 1864--FROM THE WILDERNESS
- TO THE BATTLE OF THE CRATER.
-
-
-Following the battle of Chickamauga, Bragg's army occupied Lookout
-mountain and Missionary ridge, beleaguering Rosecrans, whose troops
-soon began to suffer for want of food. Longstreet, in command on
-the left, had the important duty of holding the river line of
-communication, and cutting off Rosecrans' supplies. Hood's division,
-at this time, was commanded by Brig.-Gen. Micah Jenkins, and Col.
-John Bratton commanded Jenkins' brigade, which joined Longstreet
-after Chickamauga. The First regiment was under command of Col. F. W.
-Kilpatrick; the Second Rifles, of Col. Thomas Thompson; the Fifth,
-of Col. A. Coward; the Sixth, of Col. M. W. Gary, and the Palmetto
-Sharpshooters, of Col. Joseph Walker.
-
-In October, 1863, Rosecrans was replaced by Thomas, Grant became
-commander-in-chief in the West, and prompt efforts were made by them
-to relieve Chattanooga. On Longstreet's part Law's brigade of Jenkins'
-division was moved down the river below Lookout mountain, and on the
-25th the brigade observed a force from Chattanooga cross the river and
-seize a strong position, where it was soon reinforced by Hooker's corps
-from Virginia. On the 28th Longstreet arranged for a night attack upon
-Geary's division, marching down Lookout valley toward Brown's ferry,
-in which Bratton's division was to assail the enemy's rear.[I] The
-South Carolinians made a gallant attack, and, Colonel Bratton reported,
-"drove the enemy through their camp, and entirely beyond their wagon
-camp." The brigade became seriously engaged, and apparently had
-prospects of success, if supported, but the Federal divisions of Carl
-Schurz and O. O. Howard were close at hand, and Bratton was ordered to
-withdraw. The loss was heavy, 31 killed, 286 wounded and 39 missing.
-Colonel Kilpatrick, distinguished for gallantry and efficiency, was
-shot through the heart early in the engagement. Capt. James L. Coker,
-of Bratton's staff, was seriously wounded. In an account of this
-combat, Captain Coker has written:
-
- General Geary's division was attacked by Jenkins' South Carolina
- brigade. No other troops fired a shot at Geary's men that night. When
- the order to retire was received, the brigade was withdrawn in good
- order. General Howard [marching to the support of Geary] made such
- progress that Jenkins' brigade was in danger of being cut off from the
- crossing over Lookout creek.
-
-With this understanding it is interesting to read General Geary's
-report:
-
- The enemy pressed forward vigorously with a continuous line of
- fire.... The guns of Knap's battery ... were served ... with spherical
- case with short fuses.... Charge after charge was made, each with
- redoubled effort upon our left, but each time the enemy's lines were
- hurled back under the unintermitting fire, both from infantry and
- artillery, that like a wall of flame opposed them. Prisoners began to
- come in, and we discovered that we were opposing Hood's division of
- Longstreet's corps.... After nearly half an hour's desperate fighting
- ... the enemy extended his attack without cessation of fire on the
- left, to the right of my center, front and left flank.... The infantry
- suffered considerably, but dealt destruction into the rebel ranks as
- correspondingly overwhelming as were their numbers to those of our own
- Spartan band.... The veteran division of Hood had sought to annihilate
- us.... The enemy was driven from the field, after a most desperate
- struggle of three hours' duration.... [Geary reported his total
- present at about 2,400, loss 216.]
-
-[Footnote I: Col. Robert E. Bowen, then senior captain commanding the
-Second Rifles, in a description of this battle of Wauhatchie, Will's
-Valley, or Lookout Valley, as it is variously called, says that during
-an observation of the Federal movements from the summit of Lookout,
-General Jenkins asked permission to attack and capture "the supply
-train for Rosecrans' army," for which Hooker's troops were mistaken,
-and the attack was made with that understanding, Law's brigade being
-stationed at the river to prevent reinforcements from Chattanooga.
-Captain Bowen commanded the brigade skirmish line of six companies,
-which drove in the Federals, until he found them in heavy force in line
-of battle, when he notified General Jenkins, and was ordered to go
-as far as possible. His men opened fire, lying down to load, and the
-brigade advanced to their line, within a hundred yards of the Federals,
-and there stopped on account of the evident strength of the enemy.
-Captain Bowen was severely wounded, and Sergt. G. W. Bradley, a noble
-soldier, was killed.]
-
-Early in November, Longstreet, with the divisions of McLaws and Hood
-(under Jenkins), including the South Carolina brigades of Jenkins and
-Kershaw, and Fickling's battery, was ordered up the Tennessee valley
-to wrest Knoxville from Burnside and to divert to that region some of
-the heavy reinforcements Grant was massing against Bragg. The South
-Carolina brigades participated in the combats of the advance and
-the investment of Knoxville. Jenkins' brigade bore the brunt of the
-engagement at Lenoir's Station, November 15th, in which the gallantry
-and dash of the skirmishers, said Jenkins, were never surpassed.
-Lieutenant-Colonel Logan, Hampton's legion, and Lieutenant-Colonel
-Wylie, Fifth South Carolina, were particularly distinguished. The
-brigade lost 18 killed and 106 wounded.
-
-On November 18th, before Knoxville, General Kershaw's brigade was
-ordered to assault the advance line of the enemy occupying breastworks
-of rails, upon a hill, and the Armstrong houses. The charge was
-brilliant and successful. Colonel Nance, of the Third, reported it "was
-the most desperate encounter in which the regiment was ever engaged."
-Among the mortally wounded was Lieut. D. S. Moffett. Colonel Kennedy,
-of the Second, was wounded. Maj. J. F. Gist, the brave and intrepid
-commander of the Fifteenth, was killed by a Federal sharpshooter,
-the command devolving on Capt. J. B. Davis. James' battalion lost 27
-killed and wounded. Part of Kershaw's brigade was in action during
-the unsuccessful assault of November 29th, and both brigades, with
-occasional fighting and continuous suffering for want of shoes,
-clothing and rations, passed the inclement winter in rugged east
-Tennessee.
-
-On November 20th the South Carolina commands with Bragg on Missionary
-ridge were the Tenth and Nineteenth, Maj. James L. White (Manigault's
-brigade); the Sixteenth, Colonel McCullough, and Twenty-fourth, Colonel
-Stevens (Gist's brigade), and Ferguson's battery. These troops fell
-back with the army on November 25th, and passed the winter of 1863-64
-in the vicinity of Dalton.
-
-While their comrades were thus engaged in the West, the South
-Carolinians in the army of Northern Virginia were undisturbed except
-by the Bristoe campaign in October, and the Mine Run campaign in
-November. Abner Perrin, promoted to brigadier-general, commanded
-McGowan's brigade; Col. D. H. Hamilton, the First regiment; Col. J. L.
-Miller, the Twelfth; Col. B. T. Brockman, the Fourteenth; Col. F. E.
-Harrison, Orr's Rifles. This brigade, with Lane's, Scales' and Thomas'
-formed the division of Maj.-Gen. C. M. Wilcox, A. P. Hill's corps.
-General Hampton, promoted to major-general, commanded a division of
-the cavalry corps, and his old brigade, under Brig.-Gen. M. C. Butler,
-included the First and Second South Carolina cavalry, under Colonels
-Black and Lipscomb. Hart's battery was still with the cavalry, the Pee
-Dee artillery with the Third corps, Garden's with Maj. J. C. Haskell's
-battalion of the reserve artillery. Butler's cavalry brigade, under
-Col. P. M. B. Young, early in October was distinguished at Bethsaida
-church. "The enemy were drawn up in line to meet us," General Stuart
-reported, "but being gallantly charged in flank and rear by the First
-South Carolina cavalry, Lieut.-Col. J. D. Twiggs, broke and fled
-in confusion." Pursuing to James City, Kilpatrick's whole division
-was encountered. During the skirmishing which followed, a dash of
-the enemy at the horse artillery was gallantly met and repulsed by
-150 sharpshooters under Capt. R. Ap C. Jones, First South Carolina
-cavalry. Fighting followed around Brandy Station, and Young's brigade
-made a successful stand at Fleetwood hill on the 12th. On the 19th, at
-Haymarket and Buckland mills, when Kilpatrick was finally routed with
-the loss of 250 prisoners and General Custer's headquarters baggage,
-the First South Carolina gallantly led in the impetuous charge of
-Stuart's troopers. "The rout at Buckland," said Stuart, "was the most
-signal and complete that any cavalry has suffered during the war."
-
-When the great Federal army under Grant and Meade crossed the Rapidan
-in May, 1864, Longstreet had his corps again in Virginia, with
-headquarters at Gordonsville. Brig.-Gen. J. B. Kershaw was in command
-of McLaws' division, and his brigade was led by Col. John W. Henagan.
-Lieut.-Col. Franklin Gaillard commanded the Second, Colonel Nance the
-Third, Capt. James Mitchell the Seventh, Lieut.-Col. E. T. Stackhouse
-the Eighth, Col. John B. Davis the Fifteenth, Capt. B. M. Whitener the
-Third battalion. General Jenkins was in command of his brigade, in the
-division now led by Maj.-Gen. C. W. Field, and the First regiment was
-commanded by Col. James R. Hagood, the Second (rifles) by Col. Robert
-E. Bowen, the Fifth by Col. A. Coward, the Sixth by Col. John Bratton,
-the Palmetto Sharpshooters by Col. Joseph Walker. General McGowan
-was again in command of his brigade, of Wilcox's division, on the
-Rapidan. The South Carolina cavalry brigade, under Gen. M. C. Butler,
-composed of the Fourth regiment, Col. B. Huger Rutledge; Fifth, Col.
-John Dunovant, and Sixth, Col. Hugh K. Aiken, was assigned to General
-Hampton's division. Garden's battery, the Palmetto artillery under
-Captain Fickling, the Pee Dee under Zimmerman, and Hart's battery
-continued in their former assignments.
-
-On the night of May 5, 1864, General Lee telegraphed to President Davis:
-
- The enemy crossed the Rapidan yesterday at Ely's and Germanna fords.
- Two corps of this army moved to oppose him--Ewell's by the old
- turnpike, and Hill's by the plank road.... A strong attack was made
- upon Ewell, who repulsed it.... The enemy subsequently concentrated
- upon General Hill, who, with Heth's and Wilcox's divisions,
- successfully resisted repeated and desperate assaults.
-
-In this first fight in the Wilderness, May 5th, McGowan's brigade was
-hurried into action, the line being formed of the First regiment,
-Orr's Rifles, Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth, from right to left.
-In this order the brigade made a charge in which the enemy were
-driven through the thickets, and in the onset, though suffering heavy
-losses, it captured a considerable number of prisoners, including a
-brigadier-general.
-
-The attack of the Federals on the 6th fell upon the right flank and
-front of McGowan's brigade, forcing it to double up and fall back on
-Poague's artillery, where it was reformed. At this juncture, Kershaw
-reached the field, with the head of Longstreet's corps, and Colonel
-Henagan formed his brigade in line of battle just in time to screen
-the retreating masses of Heth's and Wilcox's divisions. "Almost
-immediately," says Kershaw, "the Federals were upon us." He continues:
-
- Ordering Colonel Henagan forward to meet them with the right of his
- command, I threw forward the Second South Carolina regiment on the
- left of the road and deployed and pushed forward Brigadier-General
- Humphreys with his brigade, also, on the right of the road. This
- formation was made successfully and in good order under the fire of
- the enemy, who had so far penetrated into the interval between Henagan
- and the road as to almost enfilade the Second South Carolina, which
- was holding the left of the road, and some batteries which were
- there stationed. Humphreys was pushed forward as soon as he got into
- position, and made for a time steady progress.
-
- In the meantime General Bryan's brigade coming up, was ordered into
- position to Henagan's right. That officer, in obedience to orders, had
- pushed forward and driven the enemy in his front for some distance
- through the dense thicket which covered the country to the right of
- the plank road; but they being heavily reinforced, forced him back
- to the line which Humphreys had by this time reached. Here the enemy
- held my three brigades so obstinately that I placed myself at the
- head of the troops and led in person a charge of the whole command,
- which drove the enemy to and beyond their original line and occupied
- their temporary field works some half mile or more in advance. The
- lines being rectified, and Field's division and Wofford's brigade
- having arrived, a movement was organized to attack the enemy in flank
- from our right, while we continued to hold the enemy in front, who
- was at intervals bearing down upon our lines, but always without any
- success. This movement, concealed from view by the dense wood, was
- eminently successful, and the enemy was routed and driven pell-mell
- as far as the Brock road, and pursued by General Wofford to some
- distance across the plank road, where he halted within a few hundred
- yards of the Germanna road. Returning with General Wofford up the
- plank road, and learning the condition of things in front, we met
- the lieutenant-general commanding, coming to the front almost within
- musket range of the Brock road. Exchanging hasty congratulations upon
- the success of the morning, the lieutenant-general rapidly planned
- and directed an attack to be made by Brigadier-General Jenkins and
- myself upon the position of the enemy upon the Brock road before he
- could recover from his disaster. The order to me was to break their
- line and push all to the right of the road toward Fredericksburg.
- Jenkins' brigade was put in motion in the plank road, my division in
- the woods to the right. I rode with General Jenkins at the head of his
- command, arranging with him the details of our combined attack. We had
- not advanced as far as the position still held by Wofford's brigade
- when two or three shots were fired on the left of the road, and some
- stragglers came running in from that direction, and immediately a
- volley was poured into the head of our column from the woods on our
- right, occupied by Mahone's brigade. By this volley General Longstreet
- was prostrated by a fearful wound; Brigadier-General Jenkins, Capt.
- Alfred E. Doby, my aide-de-camp, and Orderly Marcus Baum were
- instantly killed.
-
- I have not the particulars of casualties at hand, except those in
- Kershaw's brigade, which were 57 killed, 239 wounded and 26 missing.
- Among the losses of that brigade were two of the most gallant and
- accomplished field officers of the command--Col. James D. Nance,
- commanding Third South Carolina regiment, and Lieut.-Col. Franklin
- Gaillard--both gentlemen of education, position and usefulness in
- civil life and highly distinguished in the field. Captain Doby had
- served with me as aide-de-camp from the commencement of the war. He
- distinguished himself upon every battlefield.
-
-Colonel Bowen, in describing the service of his regiment (Jenkins'
-brigade), says:
-
- General Longstreet did not fall from his horse, but rode the
- length of the regiment (Second rifles), when he began to reel, and
- Lieutenant-Colonel Donnald and Sergt. T. J. Bowen caught him and
- lifted him down from his horse. Colonel Bowen formed his regiment
- across the plank road in order to repel an attack in case the enemy
- should return. Just at that time Gen. R. E. Lee rode up and ordered
- Colonel Bowen to form the brigade on the right and left of the Second
- rifles. Colonel Coward came up and threw himself, weeping, over the
- dead body of the gallant Jenkins. General Anderson was called to
- take command of the corps and Colonel Bratton took command of the
- brigade. The sharpshooters and the Second rifles were then ordered
- to the front and right, and after a half mile's march found that
- the enemy had improved the brief lull in the fight by throwing up
- intrenchments, from behind which they opened a terrific fire. The
- advance regiments held their position and suffered a heavy loss,
- until, as reinforcements came up, the enemy fell back.
-
-The return of Colonel Hagood, of Jenkins' brigade--10 killed and 82
-wounded out of 261--indicates the losses of the troops engaged. The 7th
-passed without a general engagement, but instead the positions of both
-armies were changed from day to day, and a part of Kershaw's command
-fought with success on the 8th, at one time using the bayonet. Repeated
-and heavy assaults were made on Ewell's corps during the 10th, and on
-the 11th the two armies confronted each other at Spottsylvania Court
-House, ready for the awful battle of the 12th of May.
-
-The great struggle over the possession of the "bloody angle" began just
-before dawn by the successful sweep of the Federal divisions through
-Gen. Edward Johnson's line of intrenchments, thus threatening the
-overthrow of Lee's army. The particulars of this fearful encounter,
-which resulted, after the day's bloody fighting, in the defeat of
-Grant's purpose, will not be given here, but the part taken by
-McGowan's brigade deserves special mention. This brigade, stationed far
-out on the Confederate right, was summoned to action about sunrise,
-May 12th, and after a march of two miles to the left, was moved at
-double-quick along Ewell's line. General Rodes, seeing them approach,
-asked: "What troops are these?" and was answered, "McGowan's South
-Carolina brigade." "There are no better soldiers in the world," was his
-inspiring reply. Almost immediately the South Carolinians entered the
-fight, the Twelfth on the right, and the First, Thirteenth, the Rifles
-and the Fourteenth extending to the left consecutively. At double-quick
-and with the "rebel yell" they went into the inner line, where McGowan
-was wounded by a minie ball, and compelled to yield the command to
-Colonel Brockman, who in turn being quickly disabled by a wound, was
-succeeded by Col. J. N. Brown.
-
-"At that time," says Col. I. F. Hunt, in his account of the battle,
-"the position of the Thirteenth regiment was in an open field, and
-about fifty yards in rear of a line of works occupied by Confederate
-troops (Harris' Mississippians), a position where we could do no good,
-while subjected to a terrific fire from the enemy, somewhat on our
-right. I saw General Gordon passing, and obtained permission to move
-the regiment to the right. He ordered me to take it to the point where
-the fighting was hardest." In moving to the right Colonel Hunt was
-informed that all his seniors had been killed or wounded and he took
-command of the brigade. He found the right of the brigade in a short
-line of reserve works, and perceiving that his men must either charge
-or retreat or die where they stood, he ordered a charge, and drove the
-enemy from the salient, or "bloody angle." In occupying that work the
-left of the brigade connected with and possibly lapped other troops,
-but the right was unprotected, and as far down the right as Hunt
-could see, the Federals held the opposite side of the works, with the
-captured Confederate guns turned against him. The ammunition soon began
-to give out, and although it appeared to be certain death to leave the
-shelter of the works, Privates William Kelly and Chance Evans of the
-First volunteered to, and did bring ammunition from, the rear in boxes
-and tent flies during the entire engagement. At 1 p. m., the enemy
-about ten paces distant, raised a white flag, and a general advanced
-who, when met by Hunt, demanded a surrender, which was promptly
-refused. Soon afterward Col. J. N. Brown took command.
-
-The fierceness of this close engagement by McGowan's brigade,[J]
-in which Harris' Mississippians bore an equally gallant part, on
-the left, was probably not exceeded in any war. The firing, when
-resumed after the parley above mentioned, continued incessantly all
-the remainder of the day and far into the night. Just before day the
-brigade was withdrawn without pursuit to a position near a part of
-Longstreet's corps, and there rested with their Confederate comrades
-ready for the enemy, who did not choose to advance. In this battle
-the brigade lost 86 killed, 241 wounded and 117 missing. Among the
-missing, it was afterward learned, were a large number wounded and
-left in the trenches and others that were killed. Among the casualties
-were Lieut.-Col. W. P. Shooter, of the First, and Col. B. T. Brockman,
-of the Thirteenth, killed; Col. C. W. McCreary, of the First, and
-Lieut.-Col. G. McD. Miller, of the Rifles, wounded.
-
-[Footnote J: Colonel Hunt says: "Accident gave the brigade the position
-in front of the salient, and it sustained its reputation by charging,
-retaking and holding it for seventeen hours. No one can describe what
-we endured during that struggle. The trunk of that oak tree now on
-exhibition in Washington tells better than words the heroic endurance
-of the Confederate soldier, and gives a faint idea of the storm of
-minie balls hurled at us. When we took the works, the bark on it was
-intact. It stood near the right center of the salient. A little to
-the left and in front of it stood a hickory tree about eight inches
-in diameter, of which I have never seen any mention. The hickory was
-shot down before night and fell across the works, catching some of the
-men in its branches. Its body and branches were chipped into splinters
-by minie balls.... I saw some very reckless acts of individuals, for
-instance Private W. W. Davenport, of the Thirteenth, and a boy of the
-Twelfth, whose name I cannot recall, mounted ammunition boxes, not over
-ten feet from the hickory, and fired over the salient while three or
-four men loaded guns for them until the minie balls almost stripped
-the clothing from them. During the afternoon the enemy's front line
-would seek protection under cover of our works and fire by placing the
-muzzles of their guns below the top logs of the works, while their
-second line would fire over their heads. Frequently our men would seize
-their muzzles and direct their fire to the rear."]
-
-On the same day General Bratton's brigade (Jenkins') was in battle on
-the Brock road, on the right of Kershaw's brigade, and the two repulsed
-a heavy assault. Bratton reported that his brigade was about 1,250
-strong, and lost not more than 15, but the enemy left 500 dead in its
-front. During the night Bratton's brigade covered the withdrawal of
-McGowan's brigade from the bloody angle, and without firing a gun, lost
-70 men.
-
-On the Cold Harbor line, June 1st, when a strong Confederate movement
-by the right was ordered, a diary of the First corps says:
-
- Kershaw puts in his own brigade, supported by another. Keitt's big
- regiment gives way, and in the effort to rally it, Keitt is mortally
- wounded. Pickett is closed into the right on Kershaw, and the latter
- on Hoke. Field closes in on Pickett. In the afternoon a furious
- attack is made on the left of Hoke and the right of Kershaw, enemy
- penetrating an interval between them.... Kershaw brings up the Second
- and Third South Carolina and regains Bryan's lost ground, and captures
- prisoners and a stand of colors.... [On June 3d] Kershaw's salient
- is weak.... The expected battle begins early. Meantime the enemy is
- heavily massed in front of Kershaw's salient. Anderson's, Law's and
- Gregg's divisions are there to support Kershaw. Assault after assault
- is made and each time repulsed.
-
-The South Carolina cavalry and horse artillery participated in this
-memorable campaign under Stuart, until that famous leader fell at
-Yellow Tavern, then under Hampton. In Hampton's successful battle with
-Sheridan at Trevilian, Butler's South Carolina brigade opened the
-attack and was distinguished throughout. Among the wounded was Colonel
-Aiken, of the Sixth cavalry. Before the battle of Nance's Shop, Hampton
-was joined by Brig.-Gen. M. W. Gary, with a brigade including the
-Hampton legion cavalry and Seventh South Carolina cavalry. Gary opened
-the battle at Nance's shop and contributed materially to the victory.
-
-Meanwhile other gallant South Carolinians had been on duty under
-General Beauregard, guarding the approaches to the Confederate capital,
-and holding back the advance of the Federal army under Gen. Ben Butler.
-These South Carolina commands were Brig.-Gen. Johnson Hagood's brigade;
-Evans' brigade, under Col. Stephen Elliott; the Seventh cavalry, Col.
-W. P. Shingler, and Kelly's battery (Chesterfield).
-
-The Twenty-first and part of the Twenty-fifth arrived at Port Walthall
-junction on May 6th, and at once went out under Colonel Graham to
-meet the enemy. They were successful in checking the enemy. The whole
-brigade, arriving, was engaged in battle at the junction on the 7th,
-repulsing the enemy, and at Swift Creek on the 9th. The brigade loss
-was 177. The brave Lieutenant-Colonel Dargan fell at the head of his
-men; Colonel Graham was wounded in two places; Lieutenant-Colonel
-Pressley, and Captain Stoney, of the staff, were seriously, and
-Lieutenant-Colonel Blake, Twenty-seventh, and Captain Sellers,
-Twenty-fifth, slightly wounded.
-
-At the battle of Drewry's Bluff, May 16th, according to General
-Beauregard's report, "Hagood and Bushrod Johnson were thrown forward
-and found a heavy force of the enemy occupying a salient of the outer
-line of works.... Hagood with great vigor and dash drove the enemy from
-the outer lines in his front, capturing a number of prisoners, and
-in conjunction with Johnson, five pieces of artillery. He then took
-position in the works." The casualties of the brigade were 433 out of
-2,235. Captain Brooks, of the Seventh, received three severe wounds.
-Fifty-seven bullet marks were found upon the flag of the Seventh
-battalion after the fight, and in one of its companies 19 were killed
-and 46 wounded. It was by such heroic fighting that Petersburg and
-Richmond were held in May, 1864.
-
-Brig.-Gen. Stephen Elliott reported a severe fight on June 2d, in which
-the Seventeenth and Twenty-second South Carolina were engaged, and the
-latter regiment lost its colonel, O. M. Dantzler, who fell mortally
-wounded while leading a charge.
-
-Grant having transferred his army south of the James, Bratton's brigade
-was sent across to Beauregard's line near the Howlett house, on June
-16th. Taking position on the right, they saw next morning that the
-enemy was still in partial possession of part of Beauregard's line.
-"About the middle of the day the division (Field's) made a sort of
-spontaneous charge," as Bratton put it, "in which my skirmish line
-participated, and recovered the line." Next morning, relieved by
-Pickett, Bratton moved to the Petersburg line beyond the Appomattox,
-taking position on the right of where the mine was sprung later. Here
-for several days, during the first assaults of Grant's army, under
-incessant fire night and day, Bratton's men had their severest tour
-of duty in all the four years. On June 24th they were relieved by
-Elliott's South Carolinians, and took other positions on the line until
-transferred north of the James.
-
-Hagood's brigade served with distinction in the Petersburg battles of
-June 16th to 18th, repelling all assaults. Reaching Petersburg from the
-Drewry's bluff line on the night of the 15th, the brigade pushed out
-at the City Point road where the Confederates were being driven from
-the outer intrenchments. Under a fierce shelling on the 16th and 17th,
-many were killed. Captains Hopkins and Palmer and Adjutant Gelling,
-of the Twenty-second, were killed by the shells. Lieutenant Allemand
-was mortally wounded. So they fell all through the first two months in
-Virginia, till many of the best and bravest were laid to rest.
-
-On the 18th Hagood fought to hold and did hold Hare's hill, the scene
-of Gordon's desperate sally in February, 1865. Lieutenant Harvey,
-Seventh battalion, was killed that day, and Lieutenant Felder,
-Twenty-fifth, and Major Rion, Seventh battalion, were wounded. The
-brigade lost about 220 in the three days. On the 24th Hagood's brigade
-occupied a single line of intrenchments, on the left of the Confederate
-line, the Twenty-seventh, Twenty-first and Eleventh between Appomattox
-creek and the City Point road, the Twenty-fifth and Seventh battalion
-south of the road, facing the enemy, who was intrenched in three lines.
-At dawn the South Carolinians were told that a general engagement was
-ordered, which they were to open, after a heavy cannonading of the
-enemy by the batteries north of the Appomattox. The three regiments
-north of the road were to charge and wheel to the south, and supported
-by other brigades, it was hoped to roll up the Federal flank and drive
-them beyond Hare's hill. Lieutenant-Colonel Nelson, Seventh battalion,
-was put in command of 400 picked men for the skirmish line, a detail
-which left only 550 men of these regiments in the second line. The
-attack was made, and the enemy driven from his rifle-pits and part of
-the first line of intrenchments, but the South Carolinians were too
-few to go further, and their expected support did not arrive in time.
-So the battle failed, but Hagood held the Federal rifle-pits all day.
-The loss in the three regiments and Seventh battalion was very heavy,
-25 killed, 73 wounded and 208 whose fate was at the time unknown.
-Lieutenant-Colonel Nelson was missing; Captain Axson, Twenty-seventh,
-was killed; and Lieutenants Huguenin and Trim, Twenty-seventh,
-Chappell, Ford and Vanderford, Twenty-first, and Smith, Eleventh,
-wounded; Captains Mulvaney and Buist (wounded) were captured; Captain
-Raysor and Lieutenants Reilly, White and Clemens, missing.
-
-On the 29th of July, Bushrod Johnson's division was arranged in the
-works with Ransom's North Carolinians on the left, Elliott's South
-Carolinians next, then Wise's Virginians, and Colquitt's Georgians on
-the right. A projecting part of the works known as Pegram's salient was
-occupied by Pegram's battery, with the Eighteenth South Carolina on its
-left and the Twenty-second behind it and to the right. To the left of
-the Eighteenth were the Twenty-sixth and Seventeenth, and to the right
-of the Twenty-second was the Twenty-third, all along the parapet. A
-second line of intrenchments, behind, Elliott did not have men enough
-to occupy. Upon these devoted South Carolinians in the parapets was to
-fall a tremendous blow, which was expected to open a way for Grant's
-army into Petersburg.
-
-About 4:55 on the morning of July 30th, after a moment's appalling
-rumbling and trembling, the earth burst like a volcano beneath them,
-and great masses were cast in the air. Mingled in this horrible
-eruption which followed the explosion of the Federal mine, were the
-bodies of men, who fell nearly all of them lifeless, while scores of
-others were buried as the upheaval settled about the great "crater,"
-nearly 100 by 150 feet, and 30 feet deep. Five companies of the
-Twenty-second South Carolina were blown up with the left of the
-battery, and four companies of the Eighteenth were thrown in the air
-or buried. The loss of the first regiment was 170; of the latter, 43
-killed, 43 wounded, and 76 missing--buried or captured. Stunned by the
-shock of this explosion, both Federals and Confederates for a little
-while made no move, but when the torrents of dust had subsided, the
-Federals were seen pouring into the breach, and at the same time there
-was another and more deafening outbreak--that of the Federal artillery,
-all along the line, in a torrent of shot and shell and continuous
-reverberation, surpassing any previous artillery fire in the war. But
-Lee's undaunted veterans held firm.
-
-First to meet the advancing enemy were the Twenty-third and Seventeenth
-South Carolina regiments and the survivors of the Eighteenth and
-Twenty-second. The remainder of the division hurried to the firing
-line, and Wright's battery and Major Haskell's mortar batteries came
-into action with terrible effect upon the crowded masses of the
-Federals. General Elliott fell dangerously wounded, but his place
-was taken by Col. F. W. McMaster, Seventeenth, and Colonel Smith,
-Twenty-sixth, formed a line to the left and rear of the crater composed
-of his regiment, part of the Seventeenth, and the Twenty-fourth North
-Carolina. The Twenty-third, under Captain White, and the remnant of
-the Twenty-second, under Captain Shedd, held the trenches on the
-right. "The South Carolina troops on that side," said General Johnson,
-"succeeded in placing a barricade on the side of the hill and planting
-themselves in it and the sunken ways running to the rear, maintained
-their position within 30 yards of the crater for about five hours,
-during which the enemy never drove them a foot to the right, though
-they made several assaults and attempted several times to form a line
-in rear of our works, so as to move on the flank and rear of this
-gallant little band. In the events of the 30th of July there will
-perhaps be found nothing more heroic or worthy of higher admiration
-than this conduct of the Twenty-second and Twenty-third South Carolina
-regiments."
-
-After Mahone's division came up, Colonel Smith's line joined in
-a charge which cleared the enemy from part of the second line of
-intrenchments, and the final charge which resulted in the complete
-rout of the enemy was participated in by the Seventeenth under Major
-Culp, and Captain Shedd's line, which captured three flags and many
-prisoners. "For every buried comrade," General Johnson said, the South
-Carolinians "took a two-fold vengeance on the enemy." In the last
-charge Sergt. J. W. Connelly, Twenty-second, captured the colors of the
-First Michigan sharpshooters. The loss of Elliott's South Carolinians
-on that terrible day was 15 officers killed and 18 wounded; 110 men
-killed and 204 wounded; 14 officers and 337 men missing; total, 698.
-This was the main part of the Confederate loss. The Federal return of
-losses was 4,400.
-
-Grant's demonstrations north of the James, on the old Seven Days'
-battle ground, to draw Lee's forces away from the vicinity of the mine
-explosion, had caused Bratton's brigade to be sent across at Drewry's
-bluff to Fussell's mill on the 29th, and thence to New Market heights.
-Kershaw had taken position at Chaffin's bluff several days before, and
-on the 28th, Conner's (Kershaw's) and Lane's brigades attempted to
-dislodge the enemy from the Long Bridge road, causing a severe fight.
-Heth's, Field's and Kershaw's divisions were massed here; the enemy
-abandoned the advanced position and Kershaw recrossed the James on the
-30th.
-
-On July 27th, Hampton was ordered from Drewry's to intercept Wilson's
-cavalry expedition, returning from Staunton river bridge to Grant's
-army. He attacked at Sappony church, next day, and his thin line held
-the enemy in check all night, 200 of the Holcombe legion infantry,
-under Crawley, in the center. At dawn, the whole command, including
-Butler's brigade, charged, drove the enemy from two lines, pursued his
-scattering forces two miles, and captured over 800 prisoners, while
-Fitzhugh Lee was fighting with like success at Reams' Station. The
-gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Crawley was severely wounded. This pursuit,
-General Hampton reported, closed the operations begun on June 8th, a
-period of twenty-two days, during which his command, poorly fed and
-without rest, had marched over 400 miles, fought six days and one
-night, captured over 2,000 prisoners, and many guns and small-arms, and
-defeated two formidable Federal expeditions, at a loss of 719 men.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX.
-
- THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN--BATTLES AROUND ATLANTA--JONESBORO--HOOD'S
- CAMPAIGN IN NORTH GEORGIA--THE DEFENSE OF SHIP'S GAP--LAST CAMPAIGN IN
- TENNESSEE--BATTLE OF FRANKLIN.
-
-
-Simultaneous with the crossing of the Rapidan river in Virginia by the
-Federal army of Meade, Gen. W. T. Sherman, in command of the armies
-of the Cumberland, Tennessee and Ohio, under Thomas, McPherson and
-Schofield, in all about 100,000 strong, advanced against the army of
-Tennessee, then under Gen. J. E. Johnston, and occupying the valley and
-mountain strongholds about Dalton, on the railroad from Chattanooga
-to Atlanta. South Carolina was represented in each of Johnston's two
-corps, in Hardee's by the Sixteenth regiment, Col. James McCullough,
-and Twenty-fourth, Col. Ellison Capers, in Gist's brigade of W. H. T.
-Walker's division, and Ferguson's battery, Lieut. R. T. Beauregard;
-and in Hood's corps by the Tenth regiment, Col. James F. Pressley,
-and Nineteenth, Lieut.-Col. Thomas P. Shaw, in Manigault's brigade
-of Hindman's division. Upon the junction of Polk's forces, Waties'
-battery, with Jackson's cavalry division, increased the South Carolina
-contingent. Brig.-Gen. C. H. Stevens commanded a Georgia brigade of
-Walker's division.
-
-The South Carolinians shared fully in the campaign which followed, in
-the course of which General Johnston skillfully withdrew his forces,
-with inconsiderable loss, from one position to another, as each became
-untenable, also firmly holding the enemy for weeks on the New Hope
-church and Kenesaw mountain lines, repulsing fierce assaults and
-permitting Sherman to gain no advantages except such as were due to
-the power of flanking inevitable to superior numbers.
-
-The official reports of the campaign are meager, and afford no
-particulars of the service of Manigault's brigade. Colonel Capers,
-reporting September 10th, for Gist's brigade, said that on May 6th
-the brigade marched out of its winter quarters near Atlanta, and
-took position near Mill Creek gap. Captain Wever's company, of the
-Twenty-fourth, was the first engaged at this point, but the brigade
-was soon transferred to Resaca, to meet the Federal flanking column
-under McPherson. Then crossing the river the two regiments were engaged
-below Resaca against the enemy, whose crossing endangered Johnston's
-position. Meanwhile the battle of Resaca came on and Walker's division
-hurried back across the river, the Twenty-fourth leading, under fire of
-the enemy's batteries. They took position at the center, but Johnston
-was compelled to withdraw that night. On the 16th Hardee's corps was
-in bivouac on the Rome road, when the enemy drove in his pickets and
-the Federal shells began to fall in his camp. Colonel Capers, with his
-regiment and Shaaff's Georgia sharpshooters, was sent to re-establish
-the pickets, and his men were successful in a gallant charge, but
-lost 9 killed and 30 wounded, among the latter Capt. T. C. Morgan and
-Sergt.-Maj. J. B. Dotterer.
-
-At Cassville, "the greatest enthusiasm prevailed in our ranks as the
-men and officers saw the army formed for battle;" but the order was
-countermanded, and May 25th found them in rear of and supporting
-Stewart's division at New Hope church. They were not engaged in the
-battle, but lost several killed and wounded. After various changes
-of position they were formed on June 19th south and west of Kenesaw
-mountain. The right of the Twenty-fourth touched French's division,
-which occupied the mountain.
-
-The line, which was strongly intrenched, was soon under the fire of
-the enemy, who established his intrenched line within 300 yards, and
-maintained such a constant fire of small-arms and artillery that the
-men had to keep close behind the works. Maj. C. C. O'Neill, of the
-Sixteenth, was killed on the picket line, which gallantly faced the
-enemy. On the 24th Colonel Capers' regiment went forward to assist the
-pickets in covering the brigade front, facing a Federal line of battle.
-The famous assault occurred three days later, and was repulsed from the
-line of the North Carolinians by their steady fire, assisted by the
-raking artillery fire from General French's batteries. But the Federals
-drove in the picket line and planted themselves within 100 yards,
-whence they maintained a galling fire of musketry. After thirteen days
-of such fighting at Kenesaw mountain the brigade was retired, with the
-army, the Twenty-fourth having lost 57 men. The experience of all the
-South Carolina regiments was similar.
-
-On July 9th Gist's brigade crossed the Chattahoochee. "On the 17th,"
-Colonel Capers wrote in his report, "the commanding general (Johnston)
-published an address to the army, and announced that he would attack
-General Sherman's army so soon as it should cross the Chattahoochee."
-
- I had the honor to read the address to the brigade, and to
- congratulate the command upon the prospect of successful battle. The
- order of battle was received with enthusiasm and the most confident
- spirit prevailed. Next day ... the farewell address of General
- Johnston was received and read to the regiment. It is due to truth to
- say that the reception of these orders produced the most despondent
- feelings in my command. The loss of the commanding general was felt to
- be irreparable. Continuing the march and passing by his headquarters
- Walker's division passed at the shoulder, the officers saluting, and
- most of the latter and hundreds of the men taking off their hats. It
- had been proposed to halt and cheer, but General Johnston, hearing of
- our intention, requested that the troops march by in silence.
-
-On the 20th, the Federal army having crossed the river and become
-separated in a movement toward the southeast of Atlanta, General Hood
-caused an attack upon Thomas on Peachtree creek by Hardee and Stewart
-(Polk's corps), while his corps, under Cheatham, met the enemy on the
-east. In this fight Walker's division made a gallant but unsuccessful
-assault and suffered considerable loss. On the 21st the fighting was
-brisk on the east of the city, participated in by Manigault's brigade.
-Next day Hardee made a circuitous march and fell upon the enemy's
-southeastward flank and rear, while Cheatham and Stewart attacked in
-front. In this hard-fought battle of July 22d the Federal right was
-rolled up and severely punished, but the Confederate loss was great,
-including General Walker, killed.
-
-Gist's brigade fought in the front line on the Federal flank, and
-Manigault's brigade, in another part of the field, charged forward
-against the works occupied by the Federals on the Georgia railroad.
-Part of the Nineteenth regiment entered a large white house to fire
-from the windows, and seeing the enemy breaking, soon the men were
-leaping over the works and capturing prisoners. Capt. E. W. Horne
-reported: "Then mingling with men of other regiments, they passed
-about 150 yards left along the works, on the enemy's side of them,
-to the brick house, where they captured other prisoners. Maj. James
-L. White, who was in command of the regiment, acted well his part."
-The brigade was taken back to the white house, and formed, and then
-advanced again under the heavy enfilade fire of the batteries that
-Sherman had hurried up to protect his center, and occupied the trenches
-left of the brick house, where Major White was severely wounded. The
-brigade was soon afterward withdrawn. The loss of the Nineteenth was
-97. The Tenth advanced on the right of the Nineteenth, the right of the
-brigade line, and was conspicuous in the fight. It was there, where
-the South Carolinians fought, that the Illinois batteries of Captain
-DeGress were captured, and the honor of this achievement is claimed by
-Manigault's brigade. After this battle Gist's brigade was transferred
-to Cheatham's division.
-
-On July 27th Stephen D. Lee, who went to Virginia in 1861 as a South
-Carolina artillery officer, took command of Hood's corps, with the
-rank of lieutenant-general, and on the next day he was ordered to
-attack the Federal right, being extended southward west of the city.
-In this fight Manigault's brigade was again engaged. Capt. T. W.
-Getzen was in command of the Twenty-fourth, and after he and Captain
-Home were wounded, the gallant "Adjt. James O. Ferrell reported to
-General Manigault that all his captains were now wounded or killed,
-and the general ordered the adjutant himself to take command." The
-loss of the Twenty-fourth that day was 53. The Tenth was engaged
-with like gallantry, its commander, Lieut.-Col. C. Irvin Walker,
-falling painfully wounded. Lieuts. G. A. Jennison and W. E. Huger, of
-Manigault's staff, were among the wounded. The brigade made repeated
-assaults, and left dead and wounded within a few feet of the Federal
-intrenchments, but the Confederate battle was not successful.
-
-The investment of Atlanta was actively pressed after the battles of the
-latter part of July to the 25th of August, 1864. During that period the
-Federal line was firmly established on the east, north and west of the
-city, and steadily pushed southwestward. On August 25th, Hood's line,
-west and south of Atlanta, had extended to cover East Point, on the
-Macon railroad, 5 miles distant from the city.
-
-Early in August General Hood sent General Wheeler with half his cavalry
-force to operate on Sherman's railroad communications with Chattanooga.
-Satisfied of his ability to hold Atlanta and keep open his Macon
-communications, he was equally well satisfied that Wheeler's success
-would compel Sherman to assault or raise the siege and recross the
-Chattahoochee. But Sherman had already determined to raise the siege,
-to intrench one of his corps on the Chattahoochee to guard his supplies
-and protect that crossing, and to throw the Federal army first on the
-West Point and then on the Macon road, south of Atlanta. After an
-ineffective cavalry expedition, Sherman's movement began on the night
-of the 25th, and by the morning of the 28th nearly his whole army was
-in position on the West Point railroad, tearing up the track from East
-Point to Fairburn. Finishing this work of destruction on the 29th,
-Howard and Thomas were ordered to march on the 30th across to the Macon
-road and take possession of General Hood's only remaining railroad
-communications. Howard's destination was Jonesboro, 20 miles south of
-Atlanta.
-
-Meanwhile General Hood had been uncertain as to the real character
-of the Federal general's movements, but supposed his main force was
-actually recrossing the Chattahoochee in retreat. Not until the evening
-of the 30th was General Hood convinced that his rear was seriously
-attacked. General Hardee was then ordered to march immediately with
-his own and Lee's corps, and to attack and drive across Flint river
-the force reported to be marching for Jonesboro. The head of Hardee's
-corps reached Jonesboro about sunrise, and the last of Lee's corps
-did not arrive before 1 p. m. Howard had crossed Flint river with one
-corps in the afternoon of the 30th, and occupied and fortified a ridge
-of high ground parallel with the railroad and between the river and
-Jonesboro. He could just as well have occupied the hamlet of Jonesboro
-and intrenched himself across the coveted railroad facing the city
-of Atlanta, for he had nothing to oppose his army but a brigade of
-cavalry. But he was deceived by reports that Jonesboro was occupied by
-a large force of infantry. Before "bedtime" of the 30th, General Howard
-had two corps in position, the Fifteenth east and the Sixteenth west of
-the river. Early on the morning of the 31st the Seventeenth corps came
-up, and his army of the Tennessee was ready for battle.
-
-As the troops of Hardee and Lee arrived on the 31st, they were quickly
-put in line of battle facing west, and immediately confronting the
-Fifteenth corps, commanded by Gen. John A. Logan. Lee's corps occupied
-the right, the divisions of Patton Anderson (including Manigault's
-brigade) and Stevenson in front, and Clayton's in reserve. Hardee's
-corps, commanded by General Cleburne, occupied the left, the divisions
-of Bate (under J. C. Brown) and Cleburne (under Lowrey) in front, and
-Cheatham's (under General Maney, and including Gist's brigade) in
-reserve. General Hardee ordered the attack to begin on the extreme
-left by Lowrey, to be followed up from left to right, Lowrey and Brown
-wheeling to their right and Lee attacking directly in front. Lowrey
-engaged the skirmishers in his front at 3 o'clock, and Lee, hearing
-his fire, led his corps forward. Lee was repulsed, but Lowrey on the
-extreme left was brilliantly successful, driving the enemy in his
-front across the river. He established his line on the east bank of
-the river, but the attack having failed on his right, he was recalled
-to his original position. Patton Anderson's division was conspicuous
-in the attack of Lee's corps. He was severely wounded and his division
-suffered heavily. Persuaded of the certain advance of General Thomas,
-and interpreting General Howard's defensive attitude as indicative of
-his near approach, Hardee wisely decided not to risk another assault
-and also stood on the defensive.
-
-In the attacks, right and left, the brigades of Manigault and Gist
-were each in the line of support to the line of attack. Gist's brigade
-(commanded by Lieut.-Col. James McCullough, General Gist being absent
-wounded) was on the extreme left of Cheatham's division, and followed
-Lowrey's advance; but was not actively engaged and suffered only 4
-casualties. Manigault had a more exciting experience. His brigade
-for this engagement was assigned to Clayton's division, supporting
-Anderson and Stevenson. General Clayton describes the attack of the
-front line as wanting in dash and persistency. Ordered up on its
-first repulse, Manigault on his left, Holtzclaw next, and Gibson on
-his right, Clayton led his division with spirit. Encountering a rail
-fence, parallel to his advance, and the enemy's rifle-pits near it, a
-large part of the division halted at these obstructions to return the
-enemy's fire of musketry and canister which raked their ranks. To this
-circumstance the repulse of the division was due. "Never (says General
-Clayton) was a charge begun with such enthusiasm terminated with
-accomplishing so little."
-
-Gibson led the brigade with the Confederate battle-flag in his grasp,
-and lost half his men. Manigault on the left was equally unsuccessful.
-This was the experience of each division in the assault with the one
-exception of Cleburne's, led by Lowrey. The whole attack was most
-unsatisfactory and disappointing. The troops went forward with spirit,
-but were soon discouraged and halted behind any and every obstruction
-to reply to the enemy's fire. This was fatal to the attack, though much
-determination and courage were shown by fighting from shelter, or even
-in the open. The corps of Hardee and Lee were physically unfit for the
-heroic exertion demanded of them on the 31st of August. To expect men
-who are worn out physically and wanting food, to carry intrenchments
-held by equal numbers, is unreasonable. The great Jackson failed to
-push his corps across White Oak swamp and join the battle at Frayser's
-farm, and his friend and biographer explains this unusual want of his
-characteristic energy by telling of his absolute physical exhaustion.
-However much we may deplore the disappointing results of the battle of
-the 31st of August, no true man, who knew the men who failed there,
-would charge their failure to a lack of spirit or courage.
-
-The situation on the night of the 31st was critical. Thomas' two corps
-were on the railroad in the rear of Howard and in supporting distance,
-and Schofield, with another corps, having eluded Hood at East Point,
-was in supporting distance of Thomas, on the railroad at Rough and
-Ready. Thus Sherman had thrown his entire army (the Twentieth corps
-excepted) between General Hood and the two corps at Jonesboro, and was
-hard at work breaking up the Macon railroad. Hood was holding on to
-Atlanta with Stewart's corps, and the militia of Georgia, the latter
-under Gen. G. W. Smith. Hearing late at night of the 31st, of Howard's
-success in repelling Hardee, Sherman at once ordered everything against
-Jonesboro, while General Hood directed Hardee to return Lee's corps to
-Atlanta, saying: "There are some indications that the enemy may make an
-attempt upon Atlanta to-morrow." The execution of this order exposed
-Lee to what seemed almost certain capture, and left Hardee to defend
-the supplies and ordnance trains of the army and the very existence of
-the army itself, against the whole of the force of General Sherman. Lee
-left Hardee before day on September 1st. That he succeeded in reaching
-General Hood, with Thomas and Schofield directly in his front, is a
-wonderful comment on the value of bypaths and a brilliant testimony to
-Lee's skill in finding them.
-
-Hardee made the best possible disposition of his three divisions
-of infantry, and his small cavalry force, and stood behind such a
-defensive line as he could make. The troops worked all night of the
-31st, the entire corps being in position from the railroad (a deep
-cut) on the right, to a position covered by cavalry on the left, and
-north of the hamlet of Jonesboro, Lowrey on the right, Brown in the
-center and Carter (Anderson) on the left. Gist's South Carolina and
-Georgia brigade was on the extreme left flank. The whole line was in
-one rank. From sunrise, Howard was threatening attack, with three corps
-in position, and his artillery commanding every part of Hardee's line.
-The Confederates took the shelling patiently and worked hard upon their
-line of defense, well aware of the responsibility of their position.
-
-At the railroad on the right the line was turned back, almost parallel
-with the deep railroad cut which passed through the ridge, north and
-south, on which Hardee's line was formed. This turn in the line was
-made to meet a fire from the opposite side of the cut, which was
-densely wooded, with a growth of small trees. The cut was too deep to
-be crossed at that point. About 1 o'clock Gist's brigade was ordered
-from the left, and put in position in one rank in the wood just
-described, by the lieutenant-general in person, and charged with the
-defense of the right flank. The Second battalion Georgia sharpshooters,
-Maj. R. H. Whiteley, and the Twenty-fourth South Carolina, Col.
-Ellison Capers, occupied the position at the railroad cut, and Colonel
-Capers was specially charged with its defense. On the right of the
-Twenty-fourth was the Sixteenth South Carolina and on its right the
-Forty-sixth Georgia. The men climbed up the smaller trees, bent them
-down, cut across the trunks with their pocket knives, and made a
-first-rate abatis of small trees, interlaced, covering the front for
-some distance. A barricade of rails, small trees, and timbers brought
-up from a settlement in rear, was quickly made, and these preparations
-saved the right when the attack came.
-
-Early in the afternoon, the Fourteenth corps, of Thomas' army, came up
-and took position between the railroad and Howard's left. Still later,
-at 4 o'clock, the Fourth corps came up, and the leading division,
-Kimball's, deployed in front of Gist's brigade. At 5 o'clock Newton's
-division, of the Fourth corps, got into position in the woods on
-Kimball's left, the two divisions far overlapping Gist's brigade,
-and extending a quarter of a mile beyond the right flank of Hardee's
-position. General Sherman's plan of attack was to assault with the
-Fourteenth and Fourth corps, and send the Seventeenth (Blair's)
-around Hardee's left flank to his rear, on the railroad, assured by
-these combinations of his certain capture. Davis brought his corps
-(Fourteenth) up in handsome style, about 4 o'clock, concentrated his
-assault on Lowrey, carried the position on the railroad, and captured
-most of Govan's brigade, with its brigadier-general and two 4-gun
-batteries. The brigade on Govan's left, Granbury's, threw back its
-right and defended itself on that flank and in the front. Lowrey and
-Hardee were promptly on the scene. Vaughan's brigade was brought up
-from Cheatham's division, and with the Fifth and Fifteenth Arkansas of
-Govan's brigade, charged the position of the enemy in Govan's line,
-recaptured most of it and confined the assaulting force to the position
-immediately on the railroad, from which they fired directly down
-Lowrey's line. Meanwhile the assaults in front were unsuccessful.
-
-Simultaneous with the attack of Davis, Kimball's skirmishers east of
-the railroad engaged those of Gist's brigade, and at 5 o'clock an
-assault was made which fell on Whiteley's sharpshooters and Capers'
-regiment. Davis' troops on the west side of the cut fired into
-Whiteley's flank, and he withdrew his battalion from the barricade.
-Kimball's troops pushed up and occupied Whiteley's position, and drove
-back the three left companies of the Twenty-fourth South Carolina.
-On the left of his regiment Colonel Capers had made a barricade of
-logs, at right angles to the line, as a protection against a fire
-from the west side of the cut. Assisted by the adjutant-general of
-the brigade, Maj. B. B. Smith, and Lieutenant Holmes, adjutant of the
-Twenty-fourth, Colonel Capers rallied his companies, which, led by
-their commanding lieutenants, Easterling (Company B), Beckham (Company
-G) and Seigler (Company K), charged the barricade, drove Kimball's men
-out, and reoccupied their positions. Turning on the position which the
-sharpshooters had vacated, Major Smith and Lieutenants Easterling
-and Beckham, with Companies B and K, immediately attacked it, and
-Major Whiteley bringing up his battalion in gallant style, the whole
-left of Gist's brigade was re-established and the enemy driven to the
-bottom of the ridge. In this battle the brave Maj. D. F. Hill, of the
-Twenty-fourth, was killed, while directing the fire of the left of
-the regiment. It was now growing dark, and the lieutenant-general in
-person rode up and congratulated Colonel Capers on the success of his
-regiment. The commander of the Fourth corps, General Stanley, in his
-report explained his delayed attack as "in part owing to the dense
-undergrowth in front of the enemy, and further, to the slow progress
-the skirmishers made in pushing back those of the enemy. Grose and
-Kirby both reported that they could not carry the position in their
-front owing to the perfect entanglement made by cutting down the thick
-undergrowth in front of the rail barricade the rebels had hastily
-thrown up." This was the entanglement made by Gist's men with their
-pocket-knives. General Stanley continues: "Newton's division had a
-much longer circuit to make and when moved forward the right brigade
-(Wagner's) found no enemy in front [Wagner was far to the right and
-on the rear of Gist's right regiment], but received a fire from the
-rear of their right flank." This was from the right of the Forty-sixth
-Georgia. That regiment and the Sixteenth South Carolina kept up a
-steady fire in their front and on their flanks, that of the Sixteenth
-materially assisting the Twenty-fourth in its contest over the left
-barricades.
-
-Night came on and it was unusually dark, so that the active fighting
-ceased. Hardee had stood the shock and held his position, with the
-single exception of Govan's brigade front, and that had been in part
-gallantly restored under his eye. About midnight General Hardee had
-successfully left his lines, and by daylight of the 2d he was in line
-of battle at Lovejoy, 5 miles in the rear of Jonesboro, with all
-trains packed and his weary and heroic battalions hard at work on a
-defensive line.
-
-It is of this battle on the 1st and of its results, that General Hood
-reported to Richmond: "Hardee's corps was attacked in position at
-Jonesboro. The result was the loss of eight guns and some prisoners.
-Hardee then retired to Lovejoy's Station, where he was joined by
-Stewart's and Lee's corps." No dates were given by General Hood.
-Stewart and Lee did not reach Lovejoy's until the evening of the 3d,
-and Sherman's advance was deploying in Hardee's front by sunrise on
-the 2d. A battle was successfully fought all that day by the pickets,
-and again on the 3d, so that when Stewart and Lee came up from Atlanta
-on General Hardee's right rear, the Federal line of battle had been
-held at bay and the Confederate commander had only to strengthen a
-well-chosen position by the reinforcement of Lee's and Stewart's corps.
-If the attack of August 31st was disappointing, surely the splendid
-defense of September 1st, the successful retreat to Lovejoy's and
-the defiant resistance of a single corps on the 2d and 3d, with the
-safety of the trains, ought to have cheered the heart of the commanding
-general and inspired a gallant soldier's commendation.
-
-Following these events, Sherman retreated to Atlanta, Hood concentrated
-his army at Palmetto, near the Chattahoochee, Hardee was supplanted by
-Cheatham in corps command, and General Gist took command of Cheatham's
-division. In Manigault's brigade, of Edward Johnson's division, the
-Tenth South Carolina was under command of Lieut.-Col. C. Irvine Walker,
-the Nineteenth of Capt. Thomas W. Getzen. Gist's brigade was commanded
-by Col. Ellison Capers, the Sixteenth regiment by Capt. John W. Boling,
-and the Twenty-fourth by Capt. W. C. Griffith.
-
-On September 29, 1864, Cheatham's corps broke camp at Palmetto, crossed
-the Chattahoochee, and marched northward on the west of Atlanta and
-Sherman's army. Gist's brigade camped on the road to Lost mountain
-on the 4th and 5th of October. After a dreadful night of storm, they
-marched through rain and mud on the Dalton road, and pushed on for
-the next three days through Van Wert, Cedartown and Cave Springs to
-Coosaville on the Coosa river, on the 9th. Thence marching through the
-beautiful valley of the Armuchee and through Sugar valley, they came
-before Dalton on the 13th at 1 p. m. General Hood summoned the fort,
-which surrendered after John C. Brown's division (including Gist's
-brigade) was ordered to carry it by assault.
-
-Leaving Dalton on the afternoon of October 14th, Gist's brigade passed
-Rocky Face, through Mill Creek gap, familiar places to the soldiers
-of that army. After camping a night at Villanow, they resumed their
-march, passing Taylor's ridge through Ship's gap, and camped in the
-Chattooga valley. Early next morning, October 16th, Colonel Capers was
-ordered to march back with his regiment, and hold Ship's gap until
-ordered to retire. In disposing his regiment for the defense of the
-gap, Colonel Capers placed Companies A and F, Captains Steinmeyer and
-Sherard, under Captain Roddey, acting major, about a quarter of a mile
-in advance down the mountain, and instructed Roddey to deploy his
-companies, taking advantage of the woods, and to detain the enemy as
-long as he could, falling back on the right and left of the regiment
-when pressed too hard. Colonel Capers, from an open place on the ridge,
-seeing the enemy's columns and counting seventeen flags, reported by
-courier to General Gist, who sent him a dispatch to hold the gap as
-long as he could, but not to lose his regiment. It was then about 11
-o'clock, and Roddey was skirmishing heavily. Colonel Capers sent his
-adjutant-general, Holmes, to Roddey. Just as that officer had returned
-and was talking to the colonel, the enemy was heard to raise a shout
-from the direction of both flanks of Roddey's force, and suddenly the
-firing ceased. In a few minutes some men of Companies A and F, who
-had escaped capture, came in and reported that the enemy had passed
-around each flank of their line, and charging from the rear had cut
-off Roddey and most of his command. Soon after this the Federals came
-up the mountain, and charged the Twenty-fourth, which was holding the
-gap with the right and left companies deployed to protect the flanks.
-The well-directed fire of the gallant Carolinians repulsed the attack.
-Learning soon after that a force was moving around to get in his rear,
-Colonel Capers conducted his regiment to the rear by the right flank,
-each company firing up to the moment of marching. At the foot of the
-ridge they were relieved by cavalry, and the regiment was conducted to
-the bivouac of the brigade on the Summerville road. The Twenty-fourth
-lost 4 officers and about 40 men in this spirited skirmish at Ship's
-gap. Captains Roddey, Steinmeyer and Sherard and Lieutenant Gray were
-captured with about half of the force they commanded. It could not be
-ascertained how many of those cut off were killed or wounded. Only 8
-were wounded in the gap.
-
-On the next day the march of Cheatham's corps was continued. On October
-18th they crossed the line of Georgia and Alabama, and on the 21st
-halted at Gadsden, where they received their mail and drew blankets,
-clothing and shoes, not enough to supply all necessities, but to
-relieve the most needy. Twenty men of the Twenty-fourth were absolutely
-barefooted when they reached Gadsden. That evening General Hood
-communicated to the army his purpose to cross the Tennessee and march
-into that State. The route lay through the beautiful valley of the
-Tennessee, desolated by the enemy, and Hood addressed a field circular
-to the army, calling attention of the troops to the ruined homes
-on every hand and exhorting officers and men to resolutely vow the
-redemption of Tennessee from the grasp of the foe. It was noted in the
-report of the colonel: "The circular was received by the Twenty-fourth
-with a hearty cheer, though many of the gallant soldiers who cheered
-were absolutely suffering for clothing and shoes."
-
-The march to the Tennessee, then across that river and on to Franklin,
-was through rain and mud and snow, with sometimes not more than three
-biscuits a day to the man. Yet the troops were cheerful and dutiful.
-Finally, on the afternoon of November 30th, they came upon the field at
-Franklin. Cheatham's corps was deployed on the left. The divisions were
-formed in two lines from right to left as follows: Cleburne's, Brown's
-and Bate's. In Brown's division, Gist's and Gordon's brigades occupied
-the front and Carter's and Strahl's the rear line. Stewart's corps was
-on the right of the pike. At 4 o'clock p. m. the two corps moved down
-the hills, Brown's division marching by the right flank of regiments
-until they had descended the slopes, then forming forward into line. As
-they advanced, the front line of the enemy was steadily driven back.
-Says Colonel Capers in his report:
-
- Just before the charge was ordered, the brigade passed over an
- elevation, from which we beheld the magnificent spectacle the
- battlefield presented. Bands were playing, general and staff officers
- and gallant couriers were riding in front of and between the lines, a
- hundred flags were waving in the smoke of battle, and bursting shells
- were wreathing the air with great circles of smoke, while 20,000 brave
- men were marching in perfect order against the foe. The sight inspired
- every man of the Twenty-fourth with the sentiment of duty. As we were
- pressing back the enemy's advance forces, Lieut.-Col. J. S. Jones fell
- mortally wounded in front of the right of the regiment. General Gist,
- attended by Capt. H. D. Garden and Lieut. Frank Trenholm of his staff,
- rode down our front, and returning ordered the charge, in concert with
- General Gordon. In passing from the left to the right of the regiment,
- General Gist waved his hat to us, expressed his pride and confidence
- in the Twenty-fourth, and rode away in the smoke of the battle, never
- more to be seen by the men he had commanded on so many fields. His
- horse was shot, and dismounting he was leading the right of the
- brigade when he fell pierced through the heart.
-
-Thus died Gen. S. R. Gist, a gallant son of South Carolina, who had
-nobly defended on many a field the cause for which he now so heroically
-yielded up his life. But without a halt, his noble brigade pressed on,
-driving the advance force of the enemy pell-mell into a locust abatis,
-where many were captured and sent to the rear. Colonel Capers, of the
-Twenty-fourth, fell wounded just before reaching the Union works.
-Gist's and Gordon's brigades charged on, reached the ditch of the
-main works and then mounted the parapet, on which the colors of the
-Twenty-fourth South Carolina were planted, and there remained.
-
-Strahl's and Carter's brigades went gallantly to the assistance of
-Gist and Gordon. Though this line was torn to pieces by a terrible
-enfilade fire, by which Strahl and his entire staff were killed and
-Carter mortally wounded, there was no backward movement of the line.
-The gallant fellows pressed on to the ditch. Maj. B. Burgh Smith, of
-the brigade staff, who was commanding the Sixteenth South Carolina, was
-now the senior officer of the brigade, every superior officer being
-either killed or wounded. About 10:30 p. m. Lieut. James A. Tillman, of
-the Twenty-fourth, led his own company (I) and men from other companies
-of the regiment in a charge over the work, and captured the colors
-of the Ninety-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry and some 40 prisoners.
-The whole of Gist's brigade, Carolinians and Georgians, held their
-position against repeated attempts of the Federals to regain the works,
-until about midnight when the enemy retired, leaving the Confederates
-in possession of the bloody field of Franklin.[K] The Tenth and
-Nineteenth South Carolina, in Manigault's brigade, Edward Johnson's
-division, got into the battle late in the evening, but did their duty
-well.
-
-[Footnote K: Colonel Capers, in his report commended Lieutenant
-Tillman, who in turn praised the gallantry of Privates J. P. Blackwell,
-Anderson Walls and J. E. O. Carpenter. "I would also mention specially
-the gallantry of Privates Prewett and Mock, both of whom were killed on
-the line of the enemy. Lieut. W. M. Beckham, acting adjutant; Captain
-Bowers, Lieuts. Claude F. Beaty, Adrian C. Appleby, C. D. Easterling,
-McDaniel, and Andrews were conspicuous in the field for their gallant
-conduct. Private Adam Carpenter bore the flag with courage and
-faithfulness, and Color-Corporals Jones and Morgan were both wounded.
-Lieutenants Weeks, Tatum and Millen were severely wounded. I would
-specially commend the gallantry and devotion of the litter corps under
-Private Joseph Breland. They kept up with the regiment and rendered
-prompt assistance to the wounded, several of them being themselves
-wounded on the field." At the close of the battle the ranking officer
-of the brigade was Captain Gillis, of the Forty-sixth Georgia. Of the
-general's staff Capt. H. D. Garden alone remained. When the generals
-and field officers of Gist's brigade were either killed or wounded, the
-company officers led their men in the assault upon the enemy's works.]
-
-Gen. Stephen D. Lee reported: "Brigadier-General Manigault, commanding
-a brigade of Alabamians and South Carolinians, was severely wounded
-while gallantly leading his troops to the fight, and of his two
-successors in command, Col. T. P. Shaw [Nineteenth South Carolina] was
-killed and Colonel Davis wounded. I have never seen greater evidence
-of gallantry than was displayed by this division under command of that
-admirable soldier, Maj.-Gen. Ed. Johnson."
-
-On no battlefield of the war was South Carolina more nobly illustrated
-by her gallant sons. But their valor was equaled by their endurance of
-hardships. "Once during the campaign," says Colonel Capers' report,
-"the men received as a ration three ears of corn to each man, and
-frequently we had nothing but cornmeal. But I am happy to report that
-no man deserted the flag of his regiment."
-
-The records are meager as to the battle of Nashville. In the great
-disaster that befell the Confederate arms at that place and the
-terrible hardships of the retreat, the South Carolinians bore their
-full share of peril and suffering, and maintained the honor of the
-gallant Palmetto State.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XX.
-
- THE CLOSING SCENES IN VIRGINIA--SIEGE OF RICHMOND AND PETERSBURG--FALL
- OF FORT FISHER--SOUTH CAROLINA COMMANDS AT APPOMATTOX.
-
-
-Here may be resumed the narrative of the services of South Carolinians
-in the army of Northern Virginia, as recorded in the fragmentary
-reports and itineraries which are preserved.
-
-The returns of August, 1864, show the following South Carolina commands
-on duty in Virginia:
-
- Elliott's brigade of Bushrod Johnson's division, Col. Fitz William
- McMaster commanding the brigade: Seventeenth regiment, Maj. John R.
- Culp; Eighteenth, Capt. R. H. Glenn; Twenty-second, Lieut. T. N. Able;
- Twenty-third, Capt. H. H. Lesesne; Twenty-sixth, Lieut.-Col. J. H.
- Hudson.
-
- Hagood's brigade of R. F. Hoke's division, Brig.-Gen. Johnson Hagood
- commanding the brigade: Eleventh regiment, Maj. John J. Gooding;
- Twenty-first, Lieut. N. A. Easterling; Twenty-fifth, Capt. William
- B. Gordon; Twenty-seventh, Lieut.-Col. Julius A. Blake; Seventh
- battalion, Maj. James H. Rion.
-
- Bratton's brigade of Field's division, First army corps, Brig.-Gen.
- John Bratton commanding the brigade: First regiment, Col. James R.
- Hagood; Second rifles, Col. Robert E. Bowen; Fifth regiment, Col. A.
- Coward; Sixth regiment, Col. John M. Steedman; Palmetto sharpshooters,
- Col. Joseph Walker.
-
- Kershaw's old brigade of Kershaw's division, First army corps: Second
- regiment, Col. J. D. Kennedy; Third, Col. William D. Rutherford;
- Seventh, Capt. Elijah J. Goggans; Eighth, Col. J. W. Henagan;
- Fifteenth, Col. John B. Davis; Twentieth, Col. Stephen M. Boykin;
- Third battalion, Lieut.-Col. William G. Rice.
-
- McGowan's brigade (Brig.-Gen. Samuel McGowan commanding) of Wilcox's
- division, Third army corps: First regiment, Lieut.-Col. Andrew P.
- Butler; Twelfth, Capt. Robert M. Kerr; Thirteenth, Capt. David R.
- Duncan; Fourteenth, Lieut.-Col. Edward Croft; Orr's rifles, Maj. James
- T. Robertson.
-
- Cavalry brigade of Brig.-Gen. John Dunovant, of Maj.-Gen. M. C.
- Butler's division, cavalry corps, army of Northern Virginia, Maj.-Gen.
- Wade Hampton commanding: Third regiment, Col. Charles J. Colcock;
- Fourth, Col. B. Huger Rutledge; Fifth, Lieut.-Col. Robert J. Jeffords;
- Sixth, Col. Hugh K. Aiken.
-
- Capt. Hugh R. Garden's battery was with Maj. J. C. Haskell's
- battalion; Capt. W. W. Fickling's with Maj. Frank Huger's battalion
- of the First corps; the Pee Dee artillery, Capt. E. B. Brunson, with
- Pegram's battalion, Third corps; Capt. J. F. Hart's battery with
- Hampton's corps.
-
- The Holcombe legion, Capt A. B. Woodruff, brigade of Gen. H. A. Wise,
- was under General Beauregard's immediate command, department of North
- Carolina and Southern Virginia, as were also Elliott's and Hagood's
- brigades.
-
-Bratton's brigade, which was left in a previous chapter at New Market
-heights, north of the James river, was unmolested until the middle of
-August, when Grant ordered an advance in that quarter simultaneous
-with his attempt to gain the Weldon railroad. On the 14th Bratton's
-pickets were driven in, and Captain Beaty, of the Sharpshooters, one
-of the most efficient officers of the regiment, fell mortally wounded.
-Following this, the movements of the enemy up the Darbytown and Charles
-City roads necessitated a sliding of the whole division to the left.
-Next morning the situation was more serious. The enemy took a part
-of the line about Fussell's mill, and the Fifth regiment and Second
-rifles were sent down to recover that position, a work in which they
-most effectively assisted.[L] Meanwhile Bratton's thin line repulsed
-assaults near the Libby house. In the afternoon Bratton took command of
-the whole line from his left to Chaffin's farm, and by the second day
-had recovered all that had been lost. General Lee's report of August
-21st reads:
-
- The enemy abandoned last evening his position north of James river and
- returned to the south side.
-
- This morning General Hill attacked his position on the Weldon
- railroad, and drove him from his advanced lines to his main
- intrenchments, from which he was not dislodged. Over 300 prisoners,
- exclusive of wounded, were captured. Our loss was principally in
- Hagood's brigade, which mounted enemy's intrenchments. Supports
- failing, many were captured.
-
-[Footnote L: Of this movement Col. R. E. Bowen writes: "The regiment
-marched fully one mile under a continuous fire of shell, grape,
-canister and minie balls, without losing a single man--one of the most
-remarkable events of the war."]
-
-General Hagood reported that he took into this Weldon railroad fight,
-line officers (number not given) and 681 men, and only 18 officers and
-274 men came out unhurt. General Hagood was personally distinguished in
-rescuing the colors of the Twenty-seventh at the enemy's works. In his
-report he testified to the splendid gallantry with which his devoted
-men carried out the part of the attack assigned to them. On the 25th
-A. P. Hill attacked the Federals again at Reams' Station and won a
-splendid victory. McGowan's brigade was present, and Pegram's artillery
-took a prominent part. Dunovant's cavalry brigade was held in reserve
-by General Hampton, protecting the rear and flank of Hill's corps.
-General Butler handled his division skillfully in the fight.
-
-On the morning of September 14th General Hampton moved upon his
-famous expedition to capture a herd of cattle which the Federal army
-was grazing near Coggins' point, on the James river. He took with
-him the division of W. H. F. Lee, Rosser's and Dearing's brigades,
-and 100 men from Young's and Dunovant's brigades, under command of
-Lieutenant-Colonel Miller, Sixth South Carolina. Moving down Rowanty
-creek to Wilkinson's bridge the first day, General Hampton next found
-it necessary to pass to the rear of Grant's army and force his lines at
-some point. He selected Sycamore church, Prince George county, as his
-point of attack, and before night of the next day had his men on the
-Blackwater at Cook's bridge, where he believed the enemy would not be
-looking for him, the bridge having been destroyed. After constructing
-a new bridge, he crossed at midnight, and his force advanced in three
-columns, one under Lee, another under Dearing, while Hampton himself,
-with the commands of Rosser and Miller, moved directly on Sycamore
-church. Each column was successful in its attack early in the morning,
-though stubbornly resisted, and Rosser pushed on and secured the
-cattle, 2,486 in number, and everything was withdrawn before 8 o'clock.
-Though heavily attacked on his return, Hampton saved the captured
-property, repulsed all assaults, captured 304 prisoners, and returned
-after an absence of three days, with the slight loss of 10 killed and
-47 wounded. Among those complimented for their services were Sergeant
-Shadbourne, Jeff Davis legion, who furnished the information about
-the cattle, and guided General Rosser; Sergeant Hogan, in charge of
-Butler's scouts, and Sergeant McCalla, First South Carolina, the only
-scout who was killed.
-
-Of the operations of all the South Carolina commands during this
-and later periods of the siege, little detail is to be found in the
-Official Records. The report of General Bratton is alone preserved,
-giving a consecutive account. His brigade, after the August fighting
-north of the James, was on duty on the Petersburg lines until September
-29th, when it was again ordered to the New Market road. In that
-vicinity renewed Federal activity had resulted in the capture of
-Battery Harrison, and Bratton's South Carolinians, after a rest at Fort
-Gilmer, were ordered to support Anderson's brigade in an assault to
-recover the Confederate work. It was necessary for the brigade to file
-out at double-quick, and without moderating the step to move by the
-right flank in line against the enemy. "My orders were obeyed," Bratton
-reported, "and my dead, close under the enemy's works, attest their
-honest efforts to achieve the object for which they were given." The
-right regiment, Walker's, streaming along at a run, was halted a moment
-and put in on the left against a little redan, which it carried; but
-the main assault had failed. Another assault was made by General Hoke,
-but without effect. Bratton took into action that day (September 30th),
-1,165 muskets and 129 officers, and his loss in killed and wounded was
-377. Hagood's regiment mourned the loss of the gallant Captains Grimes
-and Kirk and Ensign Bellinger. Part of the Second Rifles, says Colonel
-Bowen, reached Fort Harrison, but could do nothing, and it was far more
-hazardous to leave the fort, once in it, than to enter.
-
-On the 7th of October the brigade moved down the Darbytown road and
-struck the enemy's outposts, which Colonel Coward drove in to the
-Federal works. Then, in conjunction with Anderson's brigade, Bratton
-drove the enemy from the works, capturing one piece of artillery, other
-guns falling an easy prey to Gary's cavalry brigade (Hampton legion,
-Seventh South Carolina and Twenty-fourth Virginia), which, before the
-arrival of reinforcements, had been doing heroic duty holding back
-the advancing Federals. Bratton then joined the division line, and
-advancing found the enemy near the New Market road in heavy force and
-behind log breastworks. He came under a terrific fire against which
-he could make no headway, and was compelled to fall back with a loss
-of 190 killed and wounded, nearly half in Walker's regiment. General
-Bratton was wounded; Captain Quattlebaum, of the Sharpshooters, a most
-faithful officer, was killed; Lieut. W. T. Norris, Fifth, was wounded
-and captured; Lieutenant Lewis, Sharpshooters, lost a leg and was
-captured; Captain Sorrel, adjutant-general, was badly injured by the
-fall of his horse. General Bratton was disabled for several weeks,
-during which Colonel Walker was in command of the brigade. In this
-engagement, Haskell's battalion took a conspicuous part. Major Haskell
-narrowly escaped death, and Lieutenant McQueen, of Garden's battery,
-was severely wounded.
-
-The last service of Bratton's brigade in 1864 was a hurried expedition
-by rail to Gordonsville, December 23d, to the assistance of General
-Lomax, confronting Sheridan, from which it returned without loss. At
-the beginning of 1865 General Bratton reported that he entered the
-campaign with a total of 2,016, had lost 176 killed, 1,094 wounded and
-94 missing, total, 1,364, and had present at the date of his report, a
-total of 1,820. He particularly commended Colonels Hagood and Howard
-and their regiments, and the valuable services of Adjt.-Gen. J. B. Lyle.
-
-Elliott's brigade remained on the Petersburg lines with Johnson's
-division through the fall and winter, and the reports of General
-Johnson show that they had almost daily losses in killed and wounded.
-On the night of October 27th, the enemy carried a part of the picket
-line of the Holcombe legion, and Gen. W. H. Wallace, then in command
-of Elliott's brigade, immediately sent forward a force of 200 men from
-the legion and Eighteenth regiment, under Captain Brown, who retook the
-line, with 14 prisoners. On the night of November 5th, 200 men of the
-legion, under Captain Woodruff, attacked the Federal line in front of
-the Crater, and 60 men attempted to intrench the position gained, but
-they were all compelled to retire, with a loss to the brigade of 95 men.
-
-In the latter part of September, General Heth and Hampton's cavalry
-administered a severe check to the enemy at Hatcher's run, and on the
-Vaughan and Squirrel Level roads. In the latter fight, General Dunovant
-was killed at the head of the South Carolina cavalry. The continued
-activity of the enemy on the Hatcher's Run line resulted in the battle
-of Burgess' Mill, October 27th, fought by Mahone and Hampton. In a
-gallant charge by Butler's division, Lieut. Thomas Preston Hampton,
-aide-de-camp, fell mortally wounded, and Lieut. Wade Hampton, of the
-general's staff, was severely wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Jeffords was
-killed at the head of his regiment, the Fifth South Carolina, and Maj.
-T. G. Barker, division adjutant-general, was dangerously wounded. The
-gallant Captain Hart lost a leg while fighting his guns close up to the
-enemy.
-
-Kershaw's brigade, under Gen. James Conner, and later under Colonel
-Kennedy, served gallantly under Early in the Shenandoah valley. At the
-battle of Cedar Creek, October 19th, a day of victory and disaster,
-the brigade suffered a loss of 205. Maj. James M. Goggin, subsequently
-commanding, reported the gallant service of Lieut. Y. J. Pope and
-Cadet E. P. Harllee, both wounded; of De Saussure Burrows, killed; of
-Couriers Crumley and Templeton, of the brave Capt. B. M. Whitener,
-who fell in command of the battalion of sharpshooters; of Maj. B.
-R. Clyburn, who lost a leg, and of Major Todd, commanding Third
-regiment, severely wounded. Among the captured were Colonel Boykin and
-Lieutenant-Colonel McMichael, of the Twentieth.
-
-In the latter part of December, Hoke's division was ordered to
-Wilmington, N. C, to meet the expedition against Fort Fisher. Hagood's
-brigade, then containing 720 effective men, took part in the operations
-which resulted in the withdrawal of the Federal forces under B. F.
-Butler. Besides the brigade, the Second cavalry was present.
-
-In mid-January the attack on Fort Fisher was resumed, with a tremendous
-bombardment during the 13th and 14th, and an infantry assault on the
-15th. Col. R. F. Graham, commanding Hagood's brigade, at Fort Anderson,
-was ordered to support the garrison, and on the afternoon of the 15th,
-the Twenty-first and Twenty-fifth regiments, under Captains DuBose and
-Carson, were landed, but the enemy's fire was too severe to land any
-more. The Twenty-first at once moved up to Fort Fisher, and the other
-regiment reached there later in the day, but the brave Confederate
-garrison was compelled to abandon the fort and surrender. The remainder
-of the brigade did not again join the army of Northern Virginia, but
-closed its record in the campaign in the Carolinas. Early in January,
-Conner's brigade, Kershaw's old command, was sent to General Hardee at
-Charleston. Butler's cavalry brigade accompanied General Hampton when
-he took command of cavalry in the Carolinas.
-
-The South Carolina commands which participated in the final struggle to
-hold the defensive lines of Richmond and Petersburg in 1865, were as
-follows, as compiled from the reports and parole lists of Appomattox:
-
- Brig.-Gen. John Bratton's brigade of Field's division, First corps:
- First, Fifth, Sixth regiments and Second rifles, Colonels Hagood,
- Coward, Steedman and Bowen, and the Palmetto sharpshooters, Capt. A.
- H. Foster.
-
- Brig.-Gen. Samuel McGowan's brigade, Wilcox's division, Third corps:
- First regiment (provisional army), Lieut.-Col. A. P. Butler; Twelfth,
- Capt. J. C. Bell; Thirteenth, Col. I. F. Hunt; Fourteenth, Lieut.-Col.
- Edward Croft; Orr's rifles, Lieut.-Col. J. T. Robertson.
-
- Brig.-Gen. William H. Wallace's brigade, of Johnson's division,
- Lieut.-Gen. R. H. Anderson's corps: Seventeenth, Capt. E. A. Crawford;
- Eighteenth, Lieut.-Col. W. B. Allison; Twenty-second, Col. William G.
- Burt; Twenty-third, Lieut.-Col. John M. Kinloch; Twenty-sixth, Maj.
- Ceth S. Land; Holcombe legion.
-
- In the cavalry under Fitzhugh Lee, were the Seventh regiment, Col.
- A. C. Haskell, and the Hampton legion, Lieut.-Col. R. B. Arnold, of
- Brig.-Gen. M. W. Gary's brigade, the last troops to leave the capital
- of the Confederacy.
-
- With the artillery were the South Carolina batteries of Capt. H. R.
- Garden, Lieut. E. L. Purse (Fickling's), and Capt. T. E. Gregg.
-
-Wallace's brigade suffered severely at the battle of Five Forks, only a
-remnant marching thence to Appomattox Court House.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXI.
-
- BATTLE OF HONEY HILL--SHERMAN'S ADVANCE INTO SOUTH
- CAROLINA--ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFEDERATE FORCES--BURNING OF
- COLUMBIA--BATTLES OF AVERASBORO AND BENTONVILLE--CONCLUSION.
-
-
-After thoroughly destroying Atlanta, save its mere dwelling-houses, as
-is stated in his official report, Gen. W. T. Sherman began his march
-through Georgia on November 15, 1864, and on December 10th drove in
-the picket lines of the Confederate forces at Savannah under command
-of Lieutenant-General Hardee. During Sherman's advance, his feints at
-Columbia, Ga., made it uncertain for a time whether he did not intend
-to enter South Carolina at that point.
-
-On November 28th, before the arrival of Sherman at Savannah, Maj.-Gen.
-John G. Foster, commanding the Federal department of the South,
-left Hilton Head with all his available troops, "amounting to 5,000
-infantry, cavalry and artillery, with 500 sailors and marines," and
-went by boat to Boyd's Neck, on the south side of Broad river. After
-landing, Brig.-Gen. J. P. Hatch was put in command, with orders to push
-forward and cut the Charleston & Savannah railroad.
-
-This formidable attempt seemed to promise success to the Federals,
-as Colonel Colcock, in command of the district, and Major Jenkins,
-commanding in the immediate vicinity of the Federal movement, had no
-forces adequate to an effective resistance, but fortunately, Gen. G. W.
-Smith's division of Georgia State troops had just arrived at Savannah,
-and was promptly sent to the scene by General Hardee. The troops were
-put in position about 10 a. m. on the 30th on a line near the north
-bank of a small stream about three miles south of Grahamville station,
-occupying some light intrenchments that had been made upon ground
-called Honey hill, ten or twelve feet above the water level. On the
-right there was a dense forest, on the left an open pine wood, with
-an open space in front. The road on which the Federals approached was
-bordered closely by dense forests. Colonel Colcock was put in command
-of the line of battle, and Major Jenkins of the cavalry, while Captain
-DeSaussure, adjutant-general of the district, remained with General
-Smith. "Within five or ten minutes after these dispositions had been
-made," said General Smith, "the battle began by an advance piece of
-our artillery firing upon the enemy. Their line of battle was soon
-formed, and from that time until near dark made continuous efforts to
-carry our position. We had actually engaged five pieces of artillery,
-and it is due to the South Carolina artillerists that I should say I
-have never seen pieces more skillfully employed and gallantly served
-upon a difficult field of battle." In an hour the enemy had so extended
-and developed their attack that Smith was compelled to put in his last
-Georgia regiment, making his force engaged about 1,400 muskets. The
-valor with which they fought may be inferred from the report of General
-Foster, who said:
-
- The enemy's infantry, rather over 4,000 and nearly equal to our own
- in number, was posted behind intrenchments in the woods on each side
- of the road. This position was immediately attacked with vigor and
- determination, but ... we were unable to drive the enemy. After an
- obstinate fight of several hours, General Hatch, finding that the
- enemy's line could be neither successfully assaulted nor outflanked,
- retired after dark to a strong position about 2½ miles from Boyd's
- Neck. Our loss was 88 killed, 623 wounded and 43 missing.
-
-"Our loss in every arm of the service," General Smith reported, "was
-8 men killed and 42 wounded. The enemy left over 200 of their dead
-upon the field, and their whole loss in killed and wounded is believed
-to be upward of 1,000." About 4:30 p. m., General Robertson arrived
-with reinforcements from Charleston, and by the next morning General
-Chestnut was up with 350 South Carolina reserves, and General Baker
-with a North Carolina brigade.
-
-Of his subsequent operations, General Foster reported:
-
- From November 30th to December 5th, while keeping the greater part
- of the force at Boyd's Neck, I made at different points, with the
- assistance of the navy, several demonstrations, in one of which
- the Twenty-fifth Ohio marched six miles into the interior toward
- Pocotaligo and captured two pieces of artillery at Church bridge.
- On the night of December 5th, I embarked a force under command of
- Brigadier-General Potter ... which landed at Gregory's plantation, on
- the right bank of Tulifinny creek ... pushed forward immediately, and
- about a mile and a half out met the enemy, whom he forced rapidly back
- to the spot where the road up the peninsula between the Coosawhatchie
- and Tulifinny meets the road running across from river to river. Here
- the enemy made a stand and attacked our left vigorously, but our men
- repulsed them, and got possession of the crossing, which we now hold.
- Our loss was 5 killed and 50 wounded.
-
-Maj.-Gen. Samuel Jones, who had been ordered to establish his
-headquarters at Pocotaligo, reached there on the evening of the
-5th, and found the Confederate forces available were the Fifth and
-Forty-seventh Georgia, part of the Thirty-second Georgia, artillery,
-part of the Third South Carolina cavalry, Kirk's squadron, some Georgia
-and South Carolina reserves and South Carolina militia. They were
-posted to protect the railroad from Pocotaligo to the Savannah river
-and up that river to Sister's ferry, the forces at and near Grahamville
-under the command of Brigadier-General Chestnut, and those at and
-near Coosawhatchie under Brigadier-General Gartrell. The latter met
-the advance under General Potter, on the 6th, sending forward a small
-battalion of the Fifth Georgia, which was soon pressed back. It was
-reinforced by a section of artillery and the Georgia reserves, but the
-entire line soon gave way and fell back across the Coosawhatchie river.
-The battalion of South Carolina cadets was led forward by Maj. John
-Jenkins to the Tulifinny bridge, but arrived too late to be of service.
-General Jones then concentrated on the railroad near the Tulifinny
-trestle all the troops he could collect, Georgia commands, a company of
-the First artillery, the cadets, and Bachman's battery, and at dawn on
-the 7th Colonel Edwards, of Georgia, commanding, made an attack upon
-the enemy in conjunction with a demonstration by Gartrell, but without
-success, losing 4 killed and 31 wounded. This attack was participated
-in by Captain King's company, First regulars, the cadets under Maj. J.
-B. White, and 130 militia.
-
-[Illustration:
-
- SKETCH
- SHOWING
- POSITION
- OF BOYD'S NECK, HONEY HILL,
- AND DEVAUX'S NECK, S.C.,]
-
-Gen. B. H. Robertson was put in command of the troops in this region on
-the 8th. On the 9th he was attacked by a Federal brigade under command
-of Col. Stewart L. Woodford, of New York, and several determined
-efforts were made to carry his line, but all were handsomely repulsed.
-General Robertson reported:
-
- Foiled in his undertaking, the enemy moved to his left in the
- direction of Coosawhatchie. The engagement was renewed most vigorously
- on our right at 3 p. m., and after an obstinate resistance by the
- enemy, lasting some two hours, he was driven 800 yards from his
- original line.... The German artillery, Captain Bachman, rendered
- very efficient service on the left, as was proved by the number of
- dead found in their front. Major Jenkins, commanding the cadets, was
- particularly conspicuous during the morning fight.
-
-General Robertson lost 8 killed and 44 wounded. Colonel Woodford
-gave the loss of his regiment alone at 8 killed and 51 wounded. Some
-skirmishes followed, but the Georgians and South Carolinians remained
-in firm possession of the railroad.
-
-On December 21st, Sherman, planning an assault upon Savannah, learned
-that General Hardee had successfully eluded him, evacuated the Georgia
-seaport, crossed the river, and moved into South Carolina.
-
-On the 25th of December, Gov. A. G. Magrath addressed a letter to
-President Davis which may be taken as presenting accurately the
-situation in the State at that date. Some extracts are therefore
-presented:
-
- The fall of Savannah has, of course, very much affected the people
- of this State. The question which naturally presents itself is, why
- the force which penetrated Georgia cannot penetrate South Carolina.
- And at this moment it is not an unwillingness to oppose the enemy,
- but a chilling apprehension of the futility of doing so, that affects
- the people.... As rapidly as it can be done, I am reorganizing the
- militia.... If you will send us aid, although for the moment it falls
- short of effectual aid, if it foreshadow other aid to come, that
- spirit can be vitalized which ... supplies the place of numbers. Of
- any force which you may send, I am very anxious that the brigade of
- General Conner should be a part of it, and sent as soon as possible.
-
-To this President Davis replied:
-
- I have long realized the importance of such action as you suggest, but
- necessities elsewhere have prevented action in accordance with our
- wish. I have held several conferences with General Lee on the subject,
- and will have another, showing him your letter and telegram.
-
-To the governor's petition was added that of W. F. De Saussure,
-Andrew Crawford, W. H. Scarborough, Daniel Ravenel and many other
-citizens, declaring: "It is absolutely necessary to have at least
-one well-organized corps besides Hardee's on the coast, about which
-the half-trained citizens may rally. Otherwise, however brave and
-determined, their efforts will amount to nothing." On the latter,
-President Davis indorsed: "The question presented is one which General
-Lee can best judge." The indorsement of General Lee was:
-
- I have sent all the troops from this army that can be spared. The army
- of Tennessee is ordered to South Carolina, and a part of it arrived.
- If the citizens of Georgia and South Carolina will fill up its ranks,
- it will be able to protect the country.
-
-General Hardee, then at Charleston, on the 27th, was advised to make
-"silently and cautiously all necessary preparations for the evacuation
-of Charleston, should it become necessary." General McLaws was
-instructed to assume command of all troops between the Savannah river
-and Pocotaligo, including the cavalry command of General Wheeler at
-Hardeeville, and the forces at Honey hill and on the Tulifinny and
-Coosawhatchie and vicinity, then under General Taliaferro.
-
-Beauregard was at his request relieved of the general command of the
-department on the last day of 1864. His presence was required at
-Montgomery and with the army of Tennessee. He instructed General Hardee
-that while the fall of Charleston would be a terrible blow to the
-Confederacy, the loss of its garrison would be still more fatal, and
-that preparations should be made for evacuation as well as for defense.
-
-On January 19th, General Butler's cavalry division was ordered to
-South Carolina, and Gen. D. H. Hill was put in command at Augusta, Ga.
-The greatly depleted corps of S. D. Lee, Stewart and Cheatham, army
-of Tennessee, were on their way to reinforce General Hardee. These
-troops were reported destitute of clothing, but their indomitable
-spirit remained, and the people of the Carolinas were cheered by
-their approach. On the 28th, Gen. Wade Hampton reported for duty in
-defense of his State, soon after was given command of Butler's and
-Young's (Iverson's) cavalry divisions, and later of all the cavalry in
-the Carolinas. Conner's brigade, from the army of Northern Virginia,
-arrived in this month, and on the 31st, General Hardee's army was
-organized as follows:
-
- McLaws' division, composed of Conner's brigade, Colonel Kennedy; the
- Georgia brigade (reserves) of Col. John C. Fiser; the Georgia brigade
- of Col. G. P. Harrison, including a detachment of the First South
- Carolina cavalry; Col. W. M. Hardy's North Carolina brigade; another
- brigade of Georgia reserves, and six batteries of artillery.
-
- Taliaferro's division, composed of Brig.-Gen. Stephen Elliott's
- brigade--parts of First and Second artillery, serving as infantry,
- under Lieut.-Col. J. A. Yates; First cavalry, State cadets, and a
- company of the siege train, under Lieut.-Col. W. A. Walker. Rhett's
- brigade--First artillery, Maj. Ormsby Blanding; Third artillery, Col.
- William Butler; First militia, Col. J. Griffin; Nineteenth cavalry,
- Capt. M. J. Kirk; Young's cavalry; artillery, Capt. E. L. Parker,
- and part of Thirty-second Georgia. Not brigaded: Lusk's company
- First cavalry, six companies Second artillery, Fifteenth artillery
- battalion, Maj. J. J. Lucas; South Carolina siege train, Col. Edward
- B. White; Eighteenth militia, Col. John E. Carew; Gist Guards
- artillery, Lieut. T. G. Boag; company Palmetto battalion; Tupper's
- militia artillery, and several companies of Georgia artillery.
-
- Maj.-Gen. Ambrose R. Wright's division, composed of Mercer's
- brigade--Capt. A. P. Brown's company First cavalry; First, Second,
- Sixth and Seventh reserves, Brig.-Gen. A. G. Blanchard; batteries of
- Capts. M. Rickenbaker, Charles Daniell, W. L. DePass, W. K. Bachman;
- Capt. J. D. Kay's reserve cavalry, and several Georgia commands.
- Robertson's brigade--Second, Third and Fourth militia, Col. A. D.
- Goodwyn; batteries of Capts. H. M. Stuart, F. C. Schulz, F. W.
- Wagener, J. R. Mathewes, C. E. Kanapaux, G. H. Walter; Stono scouts,
- Capt. J. B. L. Walpole; Wilkins' cavalry company reserves.
-
- Wheeler's cavalry corps included the brigades of Anderson, Hagan and
- Crews, in Allen's division; of Dibrell, Ashby and Harrison, in Humes'
- division; and of Ferguson, Lewis and Hannon, in Iverson's division.
-
- Brig.-Gen. J. H. Trapier's brigade, detached, was composed of Ward's
- battalion reserves, Capt. L. A. Grice; Capt. J. J. Steele's cavalry
- company, and the artillery companies of Capts. F. Melchers and Mayham
- Ward.
-
- Brig.-Gen. J. K. Jackson's brigade, also detached, included the First
- foreign battalion, Lieut.-Col. J. G. Tucker; Fourteenth militia, Col.
- D. R. Barton; Capt. A. J. Frederick's company militia; Capt. W. E.
- Charles' battery.
-
- The post at Columbia was commanded by Lieut.-Col. R. S. Means,
- including a post guard under Capt. R. D. Senn, and provost guard under
- Capt. D. H. Hamilton for the care of prisoners of war.
-
-On February 2d, a conference was held at Green's Cut station, Ga., at
-which Generals Beauregard, Hardee, D. H. Hill and G. W. Smith were
-present. It was estimated that the forces available to meet Sherman,
-Lee's corps of the army of Tennessee having arrived, and Cheatham's
-and Stewart's being on the way, had the following effective strength:
-Hardee's command, regular infantry, 8,000; militia and reserves,
-3,000; light artillery, 2,000; Butler's cavalry division, 1,500;
-total, 14,500. Militia and reserves under Generals Smith and Browne,
-1,450. Wheeler's cavalry, 6,700. Army of Tennessee: Lee's corps,
-4,000; Cheatham's corps, 3,000; Stewart's corps, 3,000; artillery,
-800; total, 10,800. Grand total, 33,450. On account of the absence
-of most of the army of Tennessee, it was deemed inadvisable to give
-battle at the important point of Branchville; but it was determined to
-hold the Combahee as long as possible, while Hardee should fall back
-on Charleston, and Wheeler on Columbia. Lee's corps was ordered to
-Branchville, where Conner's brigade was already stationed.
-
-General Sherman, meanwhile, was preparing to march northward through
-the Carolinas, with Savannah as his base. His army was organized in two
-wings, the right, under Gen. O. O. Howard, composed of the corps of
-John A. Logan and Frank P. Blair; the left, under Gen. H. W. Slocum,
-of the corps of Jeff C. Davis and A. S. Williams. The average strength
-of each corps was 13,000 men, and the cavalry, under Gen. Judson
-Kilpatrick, was about 4,000 in number. This, with the artillery, made
-up an aggregate effective strength, officers and men, of 60,000.
-
-General Howard was ordered to embark his wing, transport it to
-Beaufort, and by the 15th of January, to make a lodgment on the
-Charleston & Savannah railroad at or near Pocotaligo, while the other
-wing and cavalry were ordered to rendezvous near Robertsville and
-Coosawhatchie. Howard performed his part of the program, but on account
-of the loss of a pontoon bridge, Slocum was compelled to cross at
-Sister's ferry, and the river, even there, was so overflowed as to be
-three miles wide, and he did not get entirely across until February.
-In the meantime, to make Sherman's advance easier, Grant had sent a
-division to garrison Savannah, Schofield's corps to operate from New
-Bern, N. C., and a tremendous fleet of warships, assisted by a land
-force, was about to reduce Fort Fisher, the main defense of Wilmington.
-
-On January 2, 1865, a Federal brigade made the first crossing of the
-river near Savannah and moved toward Grahamville. On the 14th, General
-McLaws, confronting the advance of Howard, from Beaufort, reported:
-"I am endeavoring to evacuate my position. Enemy are immediately in
-my front.... They are now checked at Old Pocotaligo." McLaws withdrew
-behind the Salkehatchie, and the railroad from there southward was at
-last gained by the Federals. But the Combahee was an impassable barrier
-to Howard, and he was compelled to move up its southwest bank to find a
-crossing place.
-
-General Wheeler was watching the enemy from Hardeeville, gradually
-falling back to Robertsville and Lawtonville, while part of his force
-observed the Federal movements on the Georgia side. On the 28th he
-reported the enemy crossing and advancing toward Robertsville. After a
-brisk skirmish near Loper's cross roads, he fell back toward Rivers'
-and Buford's bridges on the Big Salkehatchie, early in February.
-
-Sherman declares that his "real march" began on the 1st of February.
-"All the roads northward had been held for weeks by Wheeler's cavalry,
-who had felled trees, burned bridges and made obstructions to impede
-our progress." On the 2d, Logan's corps was at Loper's, and Blair's
-at Rivers' bridge. Williams' corps was ordered to Buford's bridge,
-Kilpatrick to Blackville, and Howard to cross the Salkehatchie and move
-for Midway on the South Carolina railroad. "The enemy held the line of
-the Salkehatchie in force, having infantry and artillery intrenched
-at Rivers' and Buford's bridges." The former was carried February 3d
-by two divisions of Blair's corps, who waded the swamp and turned
-McLaws' position, compelling him to retire toward Branchville, behind
-the Edisto. McLaws reported, "It was with difficulty that my command
-could be withdrawn, as I was completely flanked on both sides. The
-fighting at Rivers' bridge was quite sharp and lasted several hours."
-Wheeler, following McLaws' retreat, burned the bridges over the Little
-Salkehatchie. Gen. C. L. Stevenson, commanding S. D. Lee's corps, took
-position to hold the South Edisto to Binnaker's bridge.
-
-Sherman pushed his army rapidly toward Midway and Graham's Station
-on the South Carolina railroad, which was destroyed, while Blair
-threatened Branchville, and Kilpatrick, Augusta. The latter was met by
-Wheeler's cavalry in battle at Blackville, Williston and Aiken, the
-Confederate leader winning a substantial victory before the latter
-place, and stopping Kilpatrick's advance.
-
-On February 8th there was a brisk engagement at the bridge of the
-Edisto west of Branchville. Stovall, stationed at Binnaker's bridge,
-was reinforced by Clayton, and the position ordered to be held as long
-as possible. But on the 10th, Stevenson reported from Orangeburg: "The
-enemy has driven the troops from Binnaker's and they are retiring on
-this point."
-
-On the 11th, McLaws' skirmishers, on the south side of the North Fork,
-before Orangeburg, made a gallant resistance, and Sherman's advance was
-checked by a battery commanding the bridge, which was partially burned,
-until a flanking force crossed the river below the town. Orangeburg
-was then abandoned and the work of destroying the railroad there was
-begun. Then, while Blair marched up the railroad toward the Congaree,
-destroying the track, Sherman turned toward Columbia.
-
-General Hampton was put in command at the State capital and
-arrangements were made for the transfer of prisoners of war from that
-city and Florence to Salisbury, N. C. General Hardee was ordered by
-General Beauregard to evacuate Charleston, and join in a general
-concentration of forces at Chesterville, whither the military stores at
-Columbia were hastily forwarded. President Davis, writing to Beauregard
-regarding the evacuation of Charleston, said: "Such full preparation
-had been made that I had hoped for other and better results, and the
-disappointment to me is extremely bitter."
-
-The military situation on the 16th, as Beauregard described it, was:
-"Our forces, about 20,000 effective infantry and artillery, more or
-less demoralized, occupy a circumference of about 240 miles from
-Charleston to Augusta. The enemy, well organized and disciplined,
-and flushed with success, numbering nearly double our forces, is
-concentrated upon one point (Columbia) of that circumference." On the
-same day he resumed command of all troops in South Carolina. General
-Hardee was seriously ill, and General McLaws took command at Charleston
-in his stead and completed the evacuation by the morning of Saturday,
-the 18th of February, when the city was surrendered at 9 a. m. by Mayor
-Charles Macbeth.
-
-Generals Cheatham and Stewart had by this time brought what remained of
-their corps, pitifully few in numbers, to Augusta, in the vicinity of
-which General Wheeler had his cavalry, and General Hampton urged the
-most rapid movement possible of these forces to unite with the troops
-at Columbia for the defense of the State capital, and the line of the
-Congaree; but the rapid movements of Sherman made this impossible.
-
-On the 15th, Logan's corps, advancing on Columbia, was checked by a
-brave band of Confederates manning a tête-de-pont and fort at Little
-Congaree bridge, and it was night before the head of the Federal column
-reached the Congaree in front of Columbia, and went into camp, shelled
-by a battery on the other side. That night the bridge was burned to
-check the Federal crossing, and next morning part of De Gress' Federal
-battery began firing upon the town. Slocum's corps was ordered to
-move toward Winnsboro and Howard to occupy Columbia, which one of his
-brigades did, by crossing the Saluda and Broad rivers. General Hampton
-evacuated Columbia on the 17th, and his forces took up their march
-northward intending to concentrate at Chesterville, or if not possible
-there, at Charlotte, N. C., and at the same time Cheatham's corps began
-its march in the same direction, from Columbia.
-
-A pontoon was built, on which Sherman crossed into Columbia on the
-17th, and was met by the mayor, who surrendered the city and asked for
-its protection from pillage. The day, Sherman says, was clear, but a
-"perfect tempest of wind was raging." His orders to Howard were, he
-says, to burn all arsenals and public property not needed for army
-use, as well as all railroads and depots, but to spare dwellings and
-schools and charitable institutions; and he declares that before a
-single building was fired by his order, the city was in flames spread
-by cotton burning on the streets before he occupied the city; that the
-whole of Woods' division was brought in to fight the fire; that he was
-up nearly all night, and saw Generals Howard, Logan, Woods and others
-laboring to save houses and protect families. "Our officers and men
-on duty worked well to extinguish the flames; but others not on duty,
-including the officers who had long been imprisoned there, may have
-assisted in spreading the fire after it had once begun."
-
-General Hampton denies that any cotton was fired by his orders, also
-that any cotton was burning when the Federals entered the city.
-Abundant testimony has been given by the people of Columbia, both
-white and black, to the effect that the city was burned by the Federal
-soldiers. This is virtually admitted by General Slocum when he says: "I
-believe the immediate cause of the disaster was a free use of whisky
-(which was supplied to the soldiers by citizens with great liberality).
-A drunken soldier, with a musket in one hand and a match in the other,
-is not a pleasant visitor to have about the house on a dark, windy
-night." Sherman, in his Memoirs, says: "The army, having totally ruined
-Columbia, moved on toward Winnsboro." There can be no doubt that
-Federal soldiers burned Columbia and were never punished for it.
-
-This, however, was but one instance of the general devastation
-accompanying Sherman's march. The words of a Federal soldier [M] may be
-quoted as suggestive of the ruin wrought by the invading army:
-
- It was sad to see the wanton destruction of property which ... was the
- work of "bummers" who were marauding through the country committing
- every sort of outrage. There was no restraint except with the column
- or the regular foraging parties. We had no communications and could
- have no safeguards. The country was necessarily left to take care of
- itself, and became a "howling waste." The "coffee-coolers" of the army
- of the Potomac were archangels compared to our "bummers," who often
- fell to the tender mercies of Wheeler's cavalry, and were never heard
- of again, meeting a fate richly deserved.
-
-[Footnote M: Capt. Daniel Oakey, Second Massachusetts volunteers, in
-"Battles and Leaders."]
-
-General Beauregard at this time reported to General Lee that Sherman
-was advancing on Winnsboro, and would thence probably move on
-Greensboro, Danville and Petersburg, and that he did not believe it
-possible for the troops from Charleston or those of Cheatham to make
-a junction with him short of Greensboro. On the 19th, Gen. R. E. Lee
-wrote to the war department:
-
- I do not see how Sherman can make the march anticipated by Beauregard
- [to Greensboro], but he seems to have everything his own way, which
- is calculated to cause apprehension.... General Beauregard has a
- difficult task to perform under present circumstances, and one of his
- best officers (General Hardee) is incapacitated by sickness. Should
- his strength give way, there is no one on duty in the department
- that could replace him, nor have I any one to send there. Gen. J.
- E. Johnston is the only officer who has the confidence of the army
- and people, and if he was ordered to report to me I would place him
- there on duty. It is necessary to bring out all our strength, and, I
- fear, to unite our armies, as separately they do not seem able to
- make headway against the enemy. Everything should be destroyed that
- cannot be removed out of the reach of Generals Sherman and Schofield.
- Provisions must be accumulated in Virginia, and every man in all the
- States must be brought out. I fear it may be necessary to abandon all
- our cities, and preparation should be made for this contingency.
-
-On February 22d, General Johnston was assigned to command of the
-departments of Tennessee and Georgia, and South Carolina, Georgia and
-Florida.
-
-On the 21 st, Sherman's advance was at Winnsboro, and Rocky Mount was
-occupied on the 23d. Kilpatrick's cavalry was ordered to Lancaster.
-For several days after this Sherman was delayed by high water in
-the rivers. Howard's wing, having crossed the Catawba before the
-rains set in, advanced on Cheraw, where Hardee was stationed with a
-force of about 12,000, and a cavalry command was sent to burn and
-destroy at Camden. Another body of cavalry attempting to cut the
-railroad from Charleston to Florence was met and routed by a part of
-Butler's command, at Mount Elon. General Butler met Howard's advance
-at Chesterfield, and skirmished to impede its march, but Cheraw
-was entered by the enemy March 2d, and much property destroyed. An
-expedition of Federals was sent toward Florence, but was defeated in
-its attempt to reach that place.
-
-Continuing his march northward, Sherman's left wing reached
-Fayetteville, N. C., on the 11th of March. General Hampton, with
-his cavalry, had maintained active skirmishing to cover the retreat
-of Hardee's troops, and on the morning of March 10th, finding
-Kilpatrick's cavalry in a scattered condition, he ordered Wheeler's and
-Butler's cavalry to attack. They charged the camps, took Kilpatrick's
-headquarters, artillery and wagons, destroying the latter, and captured
-350 prisoners, but the enemy reforming in a marsh, finally compelled
-the Confederates to withdraw.
-
-Sherman spent three days at Fayetteville, destroying the arsenal and
-machinery. He then began to fear serious trouble from the concentration
-of the Confederate forces in his front under General Johnston, and
-began a movement toward Goldsboro, where he ordered Schofield to join
-him. His march began March 15th, his advance being steadily resisted
-by Hampton, and on the 16th he encountered General Hardee near
-Averasboro, in the narrow, swampy neck between Cape Fear and South
-rivers, determined to check the Federal advance to gain time for the
-concentration of Johnston's army.
-
-At 7 a. m. on the 16th, Hardee's line was attacked, 5 miles south
-of Averasboro, and Colonel Rhett's brigade forced back, rallying on
-Elliott's. Forming a second line, supported by McLaws' division and
-later by Wheeler's cavalry, the fighting was continued, although the
-enemy's great superiority in numbers enabled him to flank the second
-line and compel Hardee to occupy a third. He maintained his position
-during the day and retreated upon Smithfield, where Johnston's
-headquarters was then located. He reported his loss as 400 or 500.
-Colonel Rhett was captured, in a skirmish preceding the battle, and
-Colonel Butler commanded his brigade. Casualties were reported in
-fourteen brigades of the Federal army, aggregating 95 killed, 533
-wounded and 54 missing.[N]
-
-[Footnote N: A Federal line officer, writing of this fight years
-afterward, said: "It was a wretched place for a fight. At some points
-we had to support our wounded until they could be carried off, to
-prevent their falling into the swamp water, in which we stood ankle
-deep. No ordinary troops were in our front. They would not give way
-until a division of Davis' corps was thrown upon their right while we
-pressed them closely. As we passed over their dead and wounded, I came
-upon the body of a very young officer, whose handsome, refined face
-attracted my attention. While the line of battle swept past me I knelt
-at his side for a moment. His buttons bore the arms of South Carolina.
-Evidently we were fighting the Charleston chivalry."]
-
-General Taliaferro, in his report of the battle of Averasboro, says:
-
- Our skirmish line, under the command of Captain Huguenin, First South
- Carolina infantry, received their advance very handsomely, and only
- fell back when forced by greatly superior numbers. On the right of the
- line and well advanced to the front, the houses at Smith's place were
- occupied by two companies of the First South Carolina artillery....
- The fighting was heavy during the entire morning. Men and officers
- displayed signal gallantry. Our loss on this [Elliott's] line was
- considerable, including some of our best officers, among whom were
- Lieutenant-Colonel De Treville, First South Carolina infantry, and
- Captain Lesesne, First South Carolina artillery. Our light artillery,
- which consisted of two 12-pounder howitzers of LeGardeur's (New
- Orleans) battery and one 12-pounder Napoleon of Stuart's (South
- Carolina) battery, was well served, and operated with good results
- upon the enemy's infantry and opposing battery. The ground was so
- soft with the heavy rains that the pieces could with difficulty be
- maneuvered, and when this line was abandoned, it was impossible to
- withdraw two of the guns, as every horse of Stuart's but one, and nine
- of LeGardeur's were killed, and nearly all the cannoneers of both guns
- were either killed or wounded. Spare horses had been ordered up, but
- did not arrive in time. All the ammunition, however, to the last shot
- of all the guns had been expended upon the enemy.[O]
-
-[Footnote O: Among South Carolinians specially mentioned by General
-Taliaferro were Brig.-Gen. Stephen Elliott and Colonel Butler,
-commanding brigades; Colonel Brown, Major Warley and Captain Humbert,
-Second South Carolina artillery; Captain Mathewes and Lieutenant
-Boag, Manigault's battalion; Lieutenant-Colonel Yates, Major Blanding
-(severely wounded) and Captain King, First South Carolina artillery;
-Captain Huguenin, First South Carolina infantry, and Major Lucas.]
-
-On being informed that the Fourteenth and Twentieth Federal corps,
-which had been engaged with Hardee at Averasboro, were moving by the
-Goldsboro road, at some distance from Sherman's other wing, Johnston
-immediately concentrated his troops available at Bentonville, and
-attacked Slocum at 3 p. m., at first meeting with brilliant success.
-A mile in the rear the Federals rallied. "We were able to press all
-back slowly until 6," said Johnston, "when receiving fresh troops
-apparently, they attempted the offensive, which we resisted without
-difficulty till dark." On the 20th, Hoke's division was attacked,
-but repulsed every assault. Next day there was heavy skirmishing,
-and Stewart's and Taliaferro's skirmishers were thrown forward, who
-found that Sherman, having united his two wings, was intrenching.
-On the evening of the 21st, General Hardee, assisted by Hampton and
-Wheeler, defeated an attempt of Blair's corps to move upon Bentonville.
-Then, learning that Schofield had reached Goldsboro, and Sherman was
-moving toward Cox's bridge, Johnston withdrew to the neighborhood of
-Smithfield, and thence through Raleigh toward Greensboro.
-
-The first attack upon the enemy preliminary to the battle of
-Bentonville was made by General Hampton, on the morning of the 18th, in
-defense of the position he had selected for the battle which had been
-planned. On the 19th, before the arrival of Hardee to take position
-between Hoke and Stewart, Hampton held the gap in the line with two
-South Carolina batteries of horse artillery, Hart's, under Capt. E. L.
-Halsey, and Capt W. E. Earle's.
-
-Maj.-Gen. D. H. Hill, commanding Lee's corps, which included the
-South Carolinians of Manigault's brigade, reported the entire success
-of his command in the first attack, and added: "Lieutenant-Colonel
-Carter [commanding Manigault's brigade] was in actual negotiation with
-a Yankee general for the surrender of his command." Unfortunately,
-at this juncture the enemy pressed upon the flank and rear of his
-advance, and many men were cut off. "Captain Wood, adjutant-general
-of Manigault's brigade, brought out 10 men and 8 prisoners, after a
-tiresome march all night around the Yankee forces."
-
-Gen. John D. Kennedy commanded Kershaw's old brigade, and he and his
-veterans did gallant service.[P]
-
-[Footnote P: General Kennedy complimented Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace,
-commanding the Second regiment, for skill and gallantry, and mentioned
-particularly, "Capt. C. R. Holmes, assistant adjutant-general,
-Lieutenant Harllee, acting assistant inspector-general, Lieutenant
-Sill, acting on staff, and C. Kennison, acting aide-de-camp; also the
-good conduct and coolness in bearing dispatches of Sergeant Blake and
-Corporal Pinckney of the Second South Carolina." Lieutenant-Colonel
-Roy, in the advance, was for a time on the left of the brigade,
-gallantly inspiriting the men.]
-
-During the operations just narrated, Hagood's brigade had been engaged,
-under Hoke and Bragg, in the defense of Wilmington, N. C., and of
-Kinston, maintaining in every combat its old-time reputation for valor.
-In the operations about Kinston, Lee's corps, under D. H. Hill, also
-took part, and in the actions of March 8th, 9th and 10th, the South
-Carolinians of Manigault's brigade were engaged.
-
-Having fought to the extremity for a great Right, the army under Gen.
-Joseph E. Johnston was surrendered April 26, 1865, upon the terms
-agreed upon between Lee and Grant at Appomattox. The South Carolina
-soldiery of all arms, and its men of the navy in all waters, had
-valorously sustained the honor of their State, making in long and
-arduous service a reputation for fortitude, courage, humanity, and
-devotion to the Confederacy, only equaled by the fame similarly earned
-by their comrades from other States. Accepting honorable parole in
-good faith, these chivalrous men retired from the theater of war to
-act well their parts in civil life, trusting their country's future
-to the honest hope that the operations in the minds and actions of
-their countrymen of the essential principles of free government under
-constitutional regulations, would yet accomplish in peace the great
-ends for which they had so terribly suffered in war.
-
-BIOGRAPHICAL
-
-
-
-
- MAJOR-GENERALS AND BRIGADIER-GENERALS, PROVISIONAL ARMY OF THE
- CONFEDERATE STATES, ACCREDITED TO SOUTH CAROLINA.
-
-
-Brigadier-General Barnard E. Bee was born at Charleston, S. C., in
-1823, the son of Col. Barnard E. Bee, who removed to Texas in 1835,
-and grandson of Thomas Bee, the first Federal judge of the State of
-South Carolina. He was appointed as a cadet-at-large to the United
-States military academy, and was graduated in 1845, with promotion to
-brevet second lieutenant, Third infantry. Immediately afterward he
-served in the military occupation of Texas, and during the war with
-Mexico participated in the battles of 1846 at Palo Alto and Resaca de
-la Palma, after which he was on recruiting service with promotion to
-second lieutenant. In 1847 he took part in the siege of Vera Cruz,
-and while storming the enemy's intrenched heights at Cerro Gordo, was
-wounded and earned the brevet of first lieutenant. His gallant record
-was continued in the conflicts at Contreras, Churubusco, Chapultepec
-and the City of Mexico, winning for him the rank of brevet captain
-and a sword of honor from South Carolina, his native State. After
-the close of this war he served as adjutant of the Third infantry at
-various army posts on the frontier, until the spring of 1855, with
-promotion to first lieutenant in 1851, and to captain of the Tenth
-infantry in 1855. For a short time he was detached at the cavalry
-school at Carlisle; then was on frontier duty in Minnesota; marched
-with Albert Sidney Johnston to Utah in 1857, and in that territory
-served as lieutenant-colonel of the volunteer battalion until the
-close of 1858. He was on duty at Fort Laramie, Dak., when he resigned
-in March, 1861, to enter the Confederate service. First commissioned
-major of infantry, C. S. A., he was promoted to brigadier-general,
-provisional army, in June, and given command of the Third brigade of
-the army of the Shenandoah, under Brig.-Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, whose
-other brigade commanders were Colonels Jackson, Bartow and Elzey. Bee's
-command was composed of the Second and Eleventh Mississippi, Sixth
-North Carolina and Fourth Alabama regiments, and Imboden's battery.
-After participating in the maneuvers in the valley against Patterson,
-his brigade was the first to reinforce Beauregard at Manassas Junction,
-arriving there on July 20th. He selected the position for the artillery
-on the morning of the 21st near the Henry house, almost simultaneously
-with the placing of Rickett's battery on the opposite hill, and ordered
-the opening of the artillery fire which checked the Federal advance and
-made the subsequent victory possible. He was the ranking officer on
-this part of the field during the early hours of battle, and supported
-Evans with his own and Bartow's brigades, while Jackson followed and
-took position on the line he had selected. Forced back by Federal
-reinforcements, he rallied his troops, and during the confusion shouted
-the historic words: "Look at Jackson's brigade. It stands there like
-a stonewall." His gallant men soon reformed and drove the Federals
-from the Henry house plateau which they had gained, and soon afterward
-were in turn driven back by the enemy. In the second charge of the
-Confederates which swept the Federals from the disputed position,
-captured the Rickett and Griffin batteries, and won the day, General
-Bee fell mortally wounded near the Henry house, close to the spot where
-he gave his first orders for battle. He died the following morning,
-July 22, 1861, in the little cabin on the field where he had made his
-headquarters. The death of General Bee, in this first great battle of
-the war, caused universal mourning in the South. He was an officer of
-tried courage and capacity, and had the promise of a glorious career
-in the great struggle into which he had entered with such generous
-enthusiasm.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General Milledge Luke Bonham was born near Red Bank,
-Edgefield district, December 22, 1813, the son of Capt. James Bonham,
-who came from Virginia to South Carolina about the close of the
-last century, and married Sophie, daughter of Jacob Smith, niece of
-Capt. James Butler, head of an illustrious South Carolina family.
-The grandfather of General Bonham was Maj. Absalom Bonham, a native
-of Maryland and a soldier of the revolutionary war. General Bonham,
-after graduation at the South Carolina college, had his first military
-experience as a volunteer in the company of Capt. James Jones, in
-the Seminole war, and was promoted to brigade major, a position
-corresponding to adjutant-general of brigade. Subsequently, while
-beginning his career as a lawyer and legislator, he continued his
-association with the militia and attained the rank of major-general.
-When war began with Mexico he went to the front as lieutenant-colonel
-of the Twelfth United States infantry, and served with distinction,
-earning promotion to colonel, and remained in Mexico a year after
-the close of the war, as military governor of one of the provinces.
-Then returning home he resumed the practice of law, was elected
-solicitor of the southern circuit, and in 1856, upon the death of
-Preston S. Brooks, was chosen as the successor of that gentleman in
-Congress. Upon the secession of the State he promptly resigned and
-was appointed commander-in-chief of the South Carolina army, with the
-rank of major-general. In this capacity, and waiving all questions of
-rank and precedence, at the request of Governor Pickens, he served
-upon the coast in hearty co-operation with General Beauregard, sent
-there by the provisional government of the Confederate States. At a
-later date he was commissioned brigadier-general in the provisional
-army, and he took to Richmond the first troops, not Virginian, that
-arrived for the defense of the capital. His regiments were commanded
-by Colonels Kershaw, Williams, Cash and Bacon, and were conspicuous in
-the operations before Washington and in the first battle of Manassas.
-Afterward, in consequence of a disagreement with the war department,
-he resigned and was elected to the Confederate Congress. In December,
-1862, he was elected governor of the State, an office which he filled
-with credit. In January, 1865, he was appointed to command of a brigade
-of cavalry, in the organization of which he was engaged at the close
-of military operations. His subsequent career was marked by the same
-ardent patriotism. As a delegate to President Grant from the taxpayers'
-convention, and a supporter of the revolution of 1876, he rendered the
-State valuable service. He was the first railroad commissioner of South
-Carolina, in 1878, and subsequently chairman of the commission until
-his death, August 27, 1890. As a soldier he is described as "one of the
-finest looking officers in the entire army. His tall, graceful figure,
-commanding appearance, noble bearing and soldierly mien, all excited
-the admiration and confidence of his troops. He wore a broad-brimmed
-hat with a waving plume, and sat his horse with the knightly grace of
-Charles the Bold or Henry of Navarre. His soldiers were proud of him,
-and loved to do him homage. While he was a good disciplinarian, so far
-as the volunteer service required, he did not treat his officers with
-any air of superiority."
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General John Bratton was born at Winnsboro, S. C., March
-7, 1831, the son of Dr. William Bratton by his second wife, Isabella
-Means. He is a descendant of Col. William Bratton, of Virginia, who
-removed to York county, S. C., and was a conspicuous figure in the war
-of the revolution. John Bratton was graduated at the South Carolina
-college in 1850, and a few years later embarked in the practice of
-medicine at his native town, having completed a professional course at
-the Charleston college. In 1861 he enlisted in the first call for ten
-regiments of troops, as a private, and being promoted captain, served
-in that capacity during the bombardment of Fort Sumter, and until the
-State troops were called upon to enlist in the Confederate service.
-His company declining to respond, he again enlisted as a private, and
-with twenty-three men of his old command helped to fill up a company
-for the Sixth regiment. This was soon ordered to Virginia, where he
-went as second lieutenant of Company C. Except for the engagement at
-Dranesville, the year for which the regiment enlisted was uneventful,
-but toward the close he attracted the favorable attention of General
-Johnston by advocating the enlistment of his regiment as a whole
-for the war, and though this proposition failed, he was enabled to
-re-enlist the first company of one year's men of Johnston's army.
-It followed that a battalion of six companies of the Sixth was
-re-enlisted, and he was soon elected to the command, and promoted
-colonel when the regiment was filled up. He commanded his regiment with
-gallantry in Jenkins' brigade, Longstreet's corps, at Williamsburg,
-Seven Pines, the Seven Days' battles, and the succeeding campaigns of
-the army of Northern Virginia, and in the Chickamauga and Knoxville
-campaigns, where he was in command of the brigade while Jenkins had
-charge of Hood's division. After the death of Jenkins at the battle of
-the Wilderness, he was at once promoted brigadier-general on the urgent
-request of General Lee, and he continued to lead this famous brigade
-to the end. At Appomattox, so well had his gallant men held together,
-he had the largest brigade in the army, a little over 1,500 men, and
-in fact it was larger than some of the divisions. His brigade alone
-made an orderly march to Danville and secured railroad transportation
-for a part of their homeward journey. When General Bratton reached
-home he gave his attention to planting, and in 1866 was elected to
-the legislature. In 1876 he was the chairman of the South Carolina
-delegation to the national Democratic convention, in 1880 was
-chairman of the State committee of his party, and in 1881 was elected
-comptroller of the State to fill an unexpired term. He was a stalwart
-lieutenant of Gen. Wade Hampton in the famous campaign of 1876, was
-elected to Congress in 1884, and was his party's candidate for governor
-in 1890. Having been for many years identified with the agricultural
-interests of the State, he was selected as the one man likely to unify
-his party. With the single purpose of mitigating the evils attending
-division among the whites, he sacrificed himself on the shrine of duty,
-as he saw it, and though defeated, again won the admiration of all
-classes. Until his death at Winnsboro, January 12, 1898, he held firmly
-the unalloyed love and respect of the people.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Major-General Matthew Calbraith Butler was born near Greenville, S. C.,
-March 6, 1836. His father was Dr. William Butler, an assistant surgeon
-in the United States navy, and a congressman in 1841; his mother, Jane
-T., daughter of Captain Perry, U. S. N., of Newport, R. I., and sister
-of Commodore Oliver H. Perry and Matthew Calbraith Perry. Judge A.
-P. Butler, United States senator, and Gov. Pierce M. Butler, colonel
-of the Palmetto regiment and killed at Churubusco, were his uncles;
-his grandfather, Gen. William Butler, was a gallant officer of the
-revolutionary army, and his great-grandfather, Capt. James Butler, a
-native of Loudoun county, Va., was the founder of the family in North
-Carolina. In childhood he accompanied his father to Arkansas, but after
-the latter's death returned to South Carolina in 1851, and made his
-home with Senator A. P. Butler near Edgefield. He was educated at the
-South Carolina college, and then reading law was admitted to practice
-in 1857. In the following year he was married to Maria, daughter
-of Gov. F. W. Pickens. He was elected to the legislature in 1860, but
-before the conclusion of his term, entered the military service of his
-State as captain of a company of cavalry in Hampton's legion. This
-command took a distinguished part in the first battle of Manassas,
-and Captain Butler was promoted major to date from July 21st, the
-beginning of his famous career in the cavalry of the army of Northern
-Virginia. He commanded the cavalry of the legion under Stuart in the
-withdrawal of the troops from Yorktown, and was warmly commended for
-gallantry at Williamsburg. In August, 1862, he was promoted to colonel
-of the Second regiment, South Carolina cavalry, Hampton's brigade,
-and in this rank he participated in the Second Manassas and Maryland
-campaigns, winning favorable mention for gallant leadership in the
-affair at Monocacy bridge, and in Stuart's Chambersburg raid. He
-commanded the main part of his brigade in the Dumfries expedition of
-December, 1862, and in June, 1863, he was one of the most conspicuous
-leaders in the famous cavalry battle of Brandy Station. Here he was
-severely wounded by a shell, losing his right foot, and promotion to
-brigadier-general followed in September. Returning to service before
-his wound healed he was sent home to recover. He succeeded General
-Hampton in brigade command, and took part in the fall campaigns of
-the army in 1863, and throughout the famous struggle of 1864, at
-the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and before Richmond in opposition to
-Sheridan, he was one of the heroic figures of this last great campaign
-of the Confederate armies. The reports of Sheridan himself attest
-the splendid fighting of Butler and his brigade at Hawe's Shop and
-Cold Harbor. At Trevilian Station he was in command of Hampton's
-division, and repulsed seven distinct and determined assaults by the
-largely superior forces under Sheridan, his command occupying the most
-important point of the Confederate line and fighting as infantry. In
-September he was promoted major-general, and in the spring of 1865 he
-was detached with a small division for the campaign against Sherman
-in the Carolinas. He commanded the rear guard of Hardee's army at the
-evacuation of Columbia and Cheraw, and at the last had division command
-of cavalry, his forces and Gen. Joe Wheeler's forming the command of
-Lieut.-Gen. Wade Hampton. The close of the war left him in financial
-ruin, but he bravely met the exigencies of the occasion, and in a short
-time attained national repute for the firmness and boldness with which
-he handled the political questions which concerned the essentials of
-the reorganized social life. While he powerfully advocated obedience to
-the reconstruction measures as the law, law being preferable to chaos,
-he receded at no time from a persistent opposition to infringements on
-good government, and was largely instrumental in securing the election
-of Gov. Wade Hampton. In 1876 he was elected to the United States
-Senate, where his admission was met by a storm of partisan protest
-which is memorable in the history of the nation, but his career of
-eighteen years in that exalted body vindicated the good judgment and
-patriotism of the State which deputed him as its representative. In the
-stormy days of sectional debate in Congress he was one of the foremost
-champions of the South, but at a later period he was enabled to make a
-splendid record in constructive statesmanship by his staunch advocacy
-of a strong navy, of civil service reform, and other measures now
-settled in national policy. After the expiration of his service in the
-Senate, March, 1895, he engaged in the practice of law at Washington,
-D. C. In 1898 he was appointed a major-general in the volunteer army of
-the United States, for the war with Spain, and after peace was secured
-he served as a member of the commission for the removal of the Spanish
-forces from Cuba.
-
-[Illustration: M. C. BUTLER]
-
-Brigadier-General Ellison Capers, a descendant of an English family
-which settled in South Carolina among the earliest colonists, was born
-in Charleston, October 14, 1837. His father, grandfather and several
-generations of the name, belonged to the parishes of St. Thomas and
-St. Denis, in Charleston county, in the territory originally called
-Berkeley county. His mother was of Irish extraction, her father,
-William McGill, having settled in Kershaw county, upon coming from
-Ireland. William Capers, the grandfather of Ellison, was a soldier of
-the revolution, a lieutenant in the Second South Carolina regiment,
-and after the fall of Charleston in 1780, one of Marion's captains in
-his famous partisan brigade, in which his only brother, G. Sinclair
-Capers, held the same rank. Several thrilling incidents in the career
-of these two gallant partisan captains are related by Judge James,
-of South Carolina, in his life of Marion. They were both planters.
-William Capers, father of Ellison, was born on his father's plantation,
-"Bull Head," in St. Thomas parish, about 20 miles north of Charleston,
-January 25, 1790. He was graduated at the South Carolina college in
-Columbia, entered the Methodist ministry in 1808, and devoted his
-life and brilliant talents to his sacred calling. He was elected and
-consecrated a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal church South, in 1845,
-and died at his home in Anderson, S. C., January 29, 1855. Ellison
-Capers, the fourth son of his marriage with Susan McGill, was graduated
-at the South Carolina military academy in November, 1857. The next year
-he was a resident graduate and assistant professor of mathematics and
-belles lettres in his alma mater. In 1859 he married Charlotte Rebecca,
-fourth daughter of John Gendron and Catherine Cotourier Palmer, of
-Cherry Grove plantation, St. John's, Berkeley, S. C. In the fall of
-this year he was appointed assistant professor of mathematics in the
-South Carolina military academy at Charleston with the rank of second
-lieutenant. The active state of affairs in Charleston during the
-summer and fall of 1860 roused the military spirit of the people, and
-the First regiment of Rifles was organized in Charleston, of which
-Lieutenant Capers was unanimously elected major. He served with this
-regiment at Castle Pinckney, and on Morris, Sullivan's, James and
-John's islands. His regiment also constituted a part of the army under
-Beauregard during the attack on Fort Sumter. He continued to serve in
-the vicinity of Charleston until November, when he resigned the rank
-of lieutenant-colonel to which he had been promoted, in order that he
-might enter the Confederate service. Satisfied that a terrible struggle
-was before his people, he resigned his professorship at the military
-academy and united with Col. Clement H. Stevens, of Charleston, in
-enlisting a regiment for the war. The regiment was mustered into the
-Confederate service as the Twenty-fourth South Carolina volunteer
-infantry, April 1, 1862, with Clement H. Stevens as colonel, Ellison
-Capers, lieutenant-colonel, and H. J. Hammond, major; on the 4th
-of April was ordered to Coles' island, and on the 25th of May was
-transferred to James island. On June 3d, Companies A, B, D and E,
-and the Charleston battalion, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel
-Capers, opened the James Island campaign. In this engagement Colonel
-Capers led the attack, and for his courageous and skillful management
-of this affair he was commended in general orders. At the battle of
-Secessionville, the Twenty-fourth was again engaged, and Colonel Capers
-was praised in orders. He was next detailed to command a battery of
-siege guns at Clark's house. Except a short service at Pocotaligo the
-regiment was on James island until December 15, 1862, when it was
-ordered to North Carolina to the relief of Wilmington, and stationed
-at the railroad crossing of Northeast river on Island Ford road. On
-February 13th it was returned to South Carolina and placed on duty
-in the Third military district (W. S. Walker's). Lieutenant-Colonel
-Capers, with part of his regiment and other commands, was detached to
-command the district between Combahee and Ashepoo rivers. Charleston
-being threatened with attack, the regiment was ordered back to
-Secessionville, April 5, 1863. On May 6th it left South Carolina
-for Jackson, Miss., being assigned to Gist's brigade, and eight
-days later, while commanding the regiment in the battle at Jackson,
-Lieutenant-Colonel Capers was wounded. About the last of August, Gist's
-brigade was sent to General Bragg. It participated in the battles
-of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, and in the former Capers was
-again wounded. During the winter at Dalton in January, 1864, Colonel
-Stevens was promoted to brigadier-general and placed in charge of the
-brigade formerly commanded by Gen. Claudius C. Wilson. It was while
-leading this brigade that General Stevens received his mortal wound
-at Peachtree creek, July 20, 1864. Lieutenant-Colonel Capers was
-promoted to the colonelcy of the Twenty-fourth, which he led through
-the Atlanta and Tennessee campaigns until the battle of Franklin,
-where he was wounded and Gist was killed. On March 1, 1865, on the
-recommendations of Generals Johnston, Hardee and Cheatham, he was
-commissioned brigadier-general and assigned to the command of Gist's
-brigade. After the war General Capers was elected secretary of state
-of South Carolina, December, 1866. In 1867 he entered the ministry of
-the Protestant Episcopal church. He was for twenty years rector at
-Greenville, S. C., for one year at Selma, Ala., and for six years at
-Trinity, Columbia. In 1889 the degree of D. D. was conferred on him by
-the university of South Carolina. On May 4, 1893, he was elected bishop
-by the convention of South Carolina on the first ballot, and on July
-20, 1893, was consecrated in this sacred office.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General James Chestnut, a gallant South Carolinian,
-distinguished as a general officer, also served as aide-de-camp on the
-staff of President Davis, in which connection his biography is given in
-the first volume of this work.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General James Conner was born at Charleston, the son of Henry
-W. Conner, of that city. After his graduation at the South Carolina
-college in 1849, he read law under James L. Petigru, and was admitted
-to practice in 1852. In 1856 his ability as a lawyer was recognized
-by appointment as United States district attorney, an office which
-he resigned in 1860 on account of the prospect of secession by his
-State. He was associated with Judge Magrath and Hon. W. F. Colcock on
-a committee which visited the legislature and urged the calling of a
-convention, and after the passage of the ordinance he devoted himself
-to preparation for the field. Though appointed Confederate States
-attorney for the district, he refused to leave the military service
-and deputed his official duties. He entered the Confederate service
-as captain of the Montgomery Guards, and in May, 1861, was chosen
-captain of Company A, Washington light infantry, Hampton's legion.
-He was promoted major to date from the first battle of Manassas, and
-in June, 1862, became colonel of the Twenty-second North Carolina
-regiment. Being disabled for duty, he was detailed as one of the judges
-of the military court of the Second corps, with the rank of colonel of
-cavalry. On June 1, 1864, he was promoted brigadier-general, and was
-assigned to command of McGowan's and Lane's brigades. Subsequently,
-as acting major-general, he commanded a division consisting of the
-brigades of McGowan, Lane and Bushrod Johnson. On the return of General
-McGowan to duty, General Conner was assigned permanently to the command
-of Kershaw's old brigade. In 1865 he was promoted to major-general,
-and the commission was made out, and forwarded, but failed to reach
-him in the confusion of the final days of the Confederacy. He was at
-the bombardment of Fort Sumter, 1861, and participated in the battles
-of First Manassas, Yorktown, New Stone Point, West Point, Seven
-Pines, Mechanicsville, Chancellorsville, Riddle's Shop, Darby's Farm,
-Fussell's Mill, Petersburg, Jerusalem Plank Road, Reams' Station,
-Winchester, Port Republic and Cedar Creek. He was severely wounded in
-the leg at Mechanicsville, and again in the same leg near Fisher's
-Hill, October, 1864, compelling the amputation of the limb. At First
-Manassas the command of the legion was given him as senior captain,
-by Colonel Hampton, when the latter was wounded, and Captain Conner
-gallantly led in the charge upon Rickett's battery. As commander of
-Kershaw's South Carolinians he was greatly beloved by his men. After
-his return to Charleston he resumed the practice of law, in which
-he gained distinction. For many years he was assistant counsel and
-then solicitor of the South Carolina railroad, and for the bank of
-Charleston, and for some time was receiver of the Greenville & Columbia
-railroad. In 1876 he was chairman of the Democratic executive committee
-of the State, and was nominated and elected attorney-general of the
-State, on the ticket headed by General Hampton. During the exciting
-period of this campaign he was in command of the rifle-clubs which
-were depended upon for the preservation of order, and his calmness and
-self-control were of great value to the State. His performance of the
-duties of attorney-general elicited the warm official commendation of
-Governor Hampton, and thanks were tendered him by the legislature in
-the name of the people of the State.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General Thomas Fenwick Drayton was born in South Carolina
-about 1807, of an ancestral line distinguished in the history of the
-State. His grandfather, William Drayton, born in South Carolina
-in 1733, was educated in law at the Temple, London; was appointed
-chief justice of the province of East Florida in 1768, and after the
-revolution was judge of admiralty, associate justice of the supreme
-court, and first United States district judge. His father, William
-Drayton, born in 1776, a lawyer, entered the United States service
-as lieutenant-colonel in 1812; was promoted colonel, and later
-inspector-general; was associated with Generals Scott and Macomb in
-the preparation of a system of infantry tactics; resigned in 1815,
-afterward served in Congress 1825-33, and was a warm friend and
-supporter of President Jackson. General Drayton was graduated at the
-United States military academy in 1828, in the class of Jefferson
-Davis, and was in the service as second lieutenant of Sixth infantry
-until his resignation in 1836. Subsequently he was occupied as a civil
-engineer at Charleston, Louisville and Cincinnati for two years, then
-becoming a planter in St. Luke's parish. He served as captain of South
-Carolina militia five years, was a member of the board of ordnance of
-the State, a State senator 1853-61, and president of the Charleston
-& Savannah railroad 1853-56. September 25, 1861, he was commissioned
-brigadier-general, provisional army of the Confederate States, and was
-assigned to the command of the Third military district of the State.
-He was in command of the Confederate forces during the bombardment and
-capture of Forts Walker and Beauregard, at Port Royal entrance, in
-November, 1861, on which occasion his brother, Capt. Percival Drayton,
-commanded the steamer Pocahontas, one of the Federal vessels under
-Admiral DuPont. He was in charge of the Fifth military district, under
-Gen. R. E. Lee, and the Sixth and Fourth districts under Pemberton, in
-the same region, with headquarters at Hardeeville. During the Second
-Manassas and Maryland campaigns he commanded a brigade composed of
-the Fifteenth South Carolina, and two Georgia regiments, which, with
-Toombs' Georgia brigade, constituted the division of D. R. Jones,
-Longstreet's corps, and participated in the battles of Thoroughfare
-Gap and Second Manassas, South Mountain and Sharpsburg. In August,
-1863, he was ordered to report to Gen. T. H. Holmes, at Little Rock,
-Ark., and was there assigned to command of a brigade of Sterling
-Price's division, consisting of Missouri and Arkansas troops. From
-the beginning of 1864 he was in command of this division in Arkansas,
-until Gen. Kirby Smith relieved Holmes, when he was transferred to the
-command of the West sub-district of Mexico. He was also in command of
-the Texas cavalry division composed of the brigades of Slaughter and
-H. E. McCullough. In the spring of 1865 he was a member of the board
-of inquiry demanded by General Price after his Missouri expedition.
-After the close of hostilities, General Drayton farmed in Dooly county,
-Ga., until 1872, afterward was an insurance agent, and in 1878 removed
-to Charlotte, N. C., as president of the South Carolina immigration
-society. He died at Florence, February 18, 1891.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General John Dunovant held the rank of major of infantry
-in the State army during the initial operations of the war of the
-Confederacy, and during the bombardment of Fort Sumter was present at
-Fort Moultrie, doing all that was in his power. Subsequently he became
-colonel of the First regiment of infantry, and was stationed for some
-time on Sullivan's island and at Fort Moultrie. Later in 1862 he was
-given command of the Fifth regiment, South Carolina cavalry, in which
-capacity he served in the State, until ordered to Virginia in March,
-1864. There he and his regiment were under the brigade command of Gen.
-M. C. Butler, in Wade Hampton's division of Stuart's cavalry. The
-regiment under his leadership did admirable service, General Ransom
-reported, at the battle of Drewry's Bluff, May 16th, and subsequently
-in the encounters with Sheridan's cavalry, he shared the services
-of Butler's brigade at Cold Harbor, Trevilian's and other important
-conflicts. On August 2, 1864, President Davis suggested to General
-Lee, Dunovant's promotion to temporary rank as brigadier-general, and
-it was soon afterward ordered. In this capacity he had brigade command
-under General Hampton until, in the fighting north of the James river,
-following the capture of Fort Harrison, he was killed October 1, 1864.
-On receipt of news of the death of the gallant soldier, General Lee
-replied to General Hampton: "I grieve with you at the loss of General
-Dunovant and Dr. Fontaine, two officers whom it will be difficult to
-replace."
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General Stephen Elliott, Jr., was born at Beaufort, S. C., in
-1832, son of Stephen Elliott, first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal
-diocese of Georgia and provisional bishop of Florida; and grandson of
-Stephen Elliott, a distinguished naturalist. He passed his youth on the
-plantation, devoted to manly sports. At the beginning of the formation
-of the Confederate States, he organized and equipped a light battery,
-known as the Beaufort artillery, of which he was commissioned captain.
-He was present at the bombardment of Fort Sumter, aiming several shots
-from the siege guns, and during his subsequent service in the State he
-became famous for daring and skillful fighting. On guard in 1861 in
-the vicinity of Port Royal harbor, he put twenty of his boys on the
-tug Lady Davis, and ran out to sea to find a prize. With indomitable
-pluck, accompanied by good fortune, he captured a sailing vessel, of
-1,200 tons, and brought her in to Beaufort. Subsequently he was ordered
-to Bay Point, the other side of Port Royal entrance being held by the
-German volunteers under Captain Wagener. There he fought a Federal
-fleet for two hours, until his guns were dismounted. After the Federals
-occupied the coast islands, he engaged in numerous daring raids.
-During one night he burned fourteen plantation settlements; again he
-surprised a picket post successfully, and in August, 1862, he commanded
-an expedition against a Federal force on Pinckney island, which was
-very successful and gained for him the unstinted commendation of his
-superiors. His activity also turned to the direction of inventing
-floating torpedoes, with which he blew up a tender in St. Helena bay.
-He was promoted to chief of artillery of the Third military district,
-including Beaufort, near where, in April, 1863, he captured the Federal
-steamer George Washington. Promotion followed to major and then to
-lieutenant-colonel. Twice he met the enemy in open field at Pocotaligo,
-where his guns put the invaders to flight. In command of the Charleston
-battalion he occupied Fort Sumter, September 5, 1863, and held the
-ruins of the famous citadel against the enemy until May, 1864. Then as
-colonel of Holcombe's legion he was ordered to Petersburg, Va., and
-was soon promoted to brigadier-general and assigned to the command
-of N. G. Evans' old brigade, which included the legion. He served
-actively in the defense of Petersburg, his brigade, a part of Bushrod
-Johnson's division, holding that important part of the line selected
-by the Federals as the point to be mined, and carried by an assaulting
-party. Two of his regiments, the Eighteenth and Twenty-second, occupied
-the works blown up on the morning of July 30th, and the immense
-displacement of earth which formed the crater maimed and buried many of
-the command. But, undismayed, General Elliott and his brigade received
-the onslaught made through the breach of the Confederate intrenchments.
-In the words of the division commander, "Brigadier-General Elliott, the
-gallant commander of the brigade which occupied the salient, was making
-prompt disposition of his forces to assault the enemy and reoccupy the
-remaining portion of the trenches when he was dangerously wounded."
-Entirely disabled for further service he returned to his home at
-Beaufort, and died from the effects of his wound, March 21, 1866.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General Nathan George Evans was born in Marion county, S.
-C., February 6, 1824, the third son of Thomas Evans, who married Jane
-Beverly Daniel, of Virginia. He was graduated at Randolph-Macon college
-before he was eighteen, and at the United States military academy,
-which he entered by appointment of John C. Calhoun, in 1848. With
-a lieutenancy in the Second Dragoons, he was first on duty at Fort
-Leavenworth, Kan., whence he marched to the Rocky mountains in 1849.
-In 1850 to 1853 he served in New Mexico, and began a famous career as
-an Indian fighter, which was continued in Texas and Indian Territory
-after his promotion to captain in 1856, in various combats with the
-hostile Comanches. At the battle of Wachita Village, October 1, 1858,
-his command defeated a large body of the Comanches, and he killed two
-of their noted chieftains in a hand-to-hand fight. For this he was
-voted a handsome sword by the legislature of South Carolina. In 1860
-he was married to a sister of Gen. M. W. Gary, of Abbeville county. He
-resigned from the old army in February, 1861, being then stationed in
-Texas, and taking farewell of his colonel, Robert E. Lee, proceeded
-to Montgomery, and was commissioned major of cavalry, C. S. A. Being
-assigned to duty as adjutant-general of the South Carolina army, he
-was present at the bombardment of Fort Sumter and was soon afterward
-promoted colonel. Joining the army under General Beauregard at Manassas
-Junction, Va., he had a command on the field during the first encounter
-at Blackburn's ford, and again in the great battle of July 21, 1861.
-At the opening of the latter engagement, his forces, consisting of the
-Fourth South Carolina regiment, a battalion of Louisiana volunteers,
-Terry's squadron of cavalry, and a section of Latham's battery, were
-stationed at the stone bridge, where he held the enemy in check in
-front, until he perceived in operation the flank movement which was
-the Federal plan of battle. Instantly without waiting for orders
-he threw his little command in a new line, facing the enemy, and
-alone held him in check until reinforced by General Bee. With great
-intrepidity he and his men held their ground against great odds until
-the Confederate army could adapt itself to this unexpected attack.
-As remarked by a Northern historian: "Evans' action was probably
-one of the best pieces of soldiership on either side during the
-campaign, but it seems to have received no special commendation from
-his superiors." General Beauregard commended his "dauntless conduct
-and imperturbable coolness," but it was not until after the fight at
-Leesburg that he was promoted. This latter engagement, known also as
-Ball's Bluff, was fought in October, near the Potomac river, by his
-brigade, mainly Mississippians, and a splendid victory was gained over
-largely superior numbers, with great loss to the enemy. His promotion
-to brigadier-general was made to date from this memorable affair, and
-South Carolina again, through her general assembly, gave him a vote
-of thanks and presented him with a gold medal. In 1862 he commanded
-a brigade consisting of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-second
-and Twenty-third regiments, and Holcombe's legion, South Carolina
-troops, and was mentioned by General Longstreet among the officers
-most prominently distinguished in the battles of Second Manassas and
-Sharpsburg. In the latter fight he commanded his division. Thereafter
-his service was mainly rendered in South Carolina. In 1863 he moved to
-the support of Johnston against Grant. After the fall of Richmond he
-accompanied President Davis as far as Cokesbury, S. C. A year later he
-engaged in business at Charleston, but was mainly occupied as a teacher
-at Midway, Ala., until his death at that place, November 30, 1868. Gen.
-Fitzhugh Lee has written of him: "'Shanks' Evans, as he was called, was
-a graduate of the military academy, a native South Carolinian, served
-in the celebrated old Second Dragoons, and was a good type of the
-rip-roaring, scorn-all-care element, which so largely abounded in that
-regiment. Evans had the honor of opening the fight (First Manassas), we
-might say fired the first gun of the war."
-
-[Illustration:
-
- Brig.-Gen. JOHN DUNOVANT.
-
- Brig.-Gen. JAMES CHESTNUT.
-
- Brig.-Gen. BARNARD E. BEE.
-
- Maj.-Gen. M. C. BUTLER.
-
- Brig.-Gen. JOHN BRATTON.
-
- Brig.-Gen. M. L. BONHAM.
-
- Brig.-Gen. N. G. EVANS.
-
- Brig.-Gen. STEPHEN ELLIOTT, JR.
-
- Maj.-Gen. M. W. GARY.
-
- Brig.-Gen. THOS. F. DRAYTON.]
-
-Brigadier-General Samuel W. Ferguson was born and reared at Charleston,
-and was graduated at the United States military academy in 1857. As a
-lieutenant of dragoons he participated in the Utah expedition under
-Albert Sidney Johnston, and in 1859-60 was on duty at Fort Walla Walla,
-Washington. When informed of the result of the presidential election
-of 1860, he resigned his commission and returned to Charleston, and
-on March 1, 1861, entered the service of his native State with the
-rank of captain. Being appointed aide-de-camp to General Beauregard,
-he received the formal surrender of Major Anderson, raised the first
-Confederate flag and posted the first guards at Fort Sumter. He was
-then sent to deliver to the Congress at Montgomery the flag used at
-Fort Moultrie, the first standard of the Confederacy struck by a
-hostile shot. He remained on Beauregard's staff and took an active
-part in the battle of Shiloh, on the second day being assigned to
-command a brigade of the Second corps. At the battle of Farmington he
-was also on duty with General Beauregard. At the same time he held the
-rank of lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-eighth Mississippi regiment
-cavalry, and subsequently, stationed at Vicksburg, he had command of
-cavalry and outlying pickets until detailed for special duty along
-the Yazoo delta, opposing with cavalry and artillery the advance of
-the Federal transports. During Grant's preliminary movements against
-Vicksburg he thwarted the attempt of Sherman and Porter to reach the
-city in the rear by way of Deer creek. In 1863 he was promoted to
-brigadier-general. He was active in command of cavalry in harassing
-Sherman's movement to Chattanooga, and during the Georgia campaign of
-1864 his brigade of Alabamians and Mississippians, with Armstrong's
-and Ross' brigades, formed the cavalry of the army of Mississippi,
-under command of Gen. W. H. Jackson, operating on the left wing
-of Johnston's army. He defeated Wilder's "lightning brigade," and
-displayed gallantry on every field. When Sherman began his march to
-Savannah, he harassed the Federal flank until within a few miles
-of Savannah, when he left his horses on the South Carolina side of
-the river, after swimming it, and entering Savannah with his men as
-infantry, covered the rear of Hardee's army at the evacuation. He
-subsequently operated in southern Georgia until ordered to Danville,
-Va., but on reaching Greensboro was ordered back, escorting President
-Davis from Charlotte to Abbeville, and as far as Washington, Ga.,
-where his command was disbanded. He then made his home in Mississippi,
-and practiced law at Greenville. In 1876 he was made president of the
-board of Mississippi levee commission for several counties, and in
-1883 became a member of the United States river commission. In 1894 he
-returned to his native city of Charleston, and devoted himself to the
-profession of civil engineering. In 1898 he offered his services for
-the war with Spain.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General Martin Witherspoon Gary was born in 1831 at
-Cokesbury, Abbeville county, the third son of Dr. Thomas Reeder Gary.
-He was educated at the South Carolina college and Harvard college,
-graduating at the latter institution in 1854. Then studying law he
-was admitted to the bar in 1855, and soon acquired distinction in
-both law and politics. As a member of the South Carolina legislature
-in 1860 and 1861, he advocated secession, and when the ordinance
-was enacted, at once went into the military service as captain of
-the Watson Guards, which became Company B of the Hampton legion. At
-First Manassas the command of the legion devolved upon him after
-Colonel Hampton was wounded, Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson killed and
-Captain Conner disabled. At the reorganization in 1862 he was elected
-lieutenant-colonel of the infantry of the legion, a battalion of eight
-companies, and after it was filled to a regiment, he was promoted
-colonel. He participated in the battles around Richmond, at Second
-Manassas, Boonsboro and Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and with Longstreet
-at Suffolk, Chickamauga, Bean's Station, Campbell's Station and
-Knoxville. His command was subsequently mounted as cavalry, and served
-on the north side of the James before Richmond. After the fight at
-Riddle's Shop, in June, 1864, he was promoted brigadier-general, his
-cavalry brigade including the Hampton legion, Seventh South Carolina,
-Seventh Georgia and Twenty-fourth Virginia regiments, and Harkerson's
-artillery. He led the brigade in all the heavy fighting north of the
-James during the siege, and was the last to leave Richmond. Capt.
-Clement Sulivane, left behind to destroy the bridge after Gary had
-crossed, relates that at daylight April 3d, when the Union troops
-were in sight advancing, and a mob was ravaging the storehouses, "a
-long line of cavalry in gray turned into Fourteenth street, and sword
-in hand galloped straight down to the river; Gary had come. The mob
-scattered right and left before the armed horsemen, who reined up at
-the canal. Presently a single company of cavalry appeared in sight,
-and rode at headlong speed to the bridge. 'My rear guard!' exclaimed
-Gary. Touching his hat to me, he called out, 'All over, good-bye!'
-and trotted over the bridge." Joining Lee's rear guard he was one of
-the heroes of Fitzhugh Lee's command, engaged in incessant fighting
-until Appomattox Court House was reached. There he did not surrender,
-but cut his way through the Federal lines, and rode to Greensboro,
-where he took command of about 200 men of his brigade on their way to
-Virginia, and escorted the President and his cabinet to Cokesbury, S.
-C. The cabinet held one of their last meetings in his mother's house
-at that place. Then resuming the practice of law, he continued in that
-profession until his death at Edgefield, April 9, 1881. He was a noted
-figure in the exciting political campaign of 1876, and for four years
-thereafter held a seat in the State senate.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General States R. Gist was a descendant of that gallant
-Marylander, Gen. Mordecai Gist, who distinguished himself at the battle
-of Camden in 1780, and at the Combahee in 1782, and subsequently
-resided at Charleston, at his death leaving two sons who bore the names
-of Independent and States. At the organization of the army of South
-Carolina early in 1861, States R. Gist was assigned to the position of
-adjutant and inspector general, in which capacity he rendered valuable
-service in the preparation for the occupation of Charleston harbor
-and the reduction of Fort Sumter. He went to Virginia as a volunteer
-aide to General Bee, and at the critical moment in the first battle of
-Manassas, when Gen. J. E. Johnston rode to the front with the colors
-of the Fourth Alabama at his side, Beauregard relates that "noticing
-Col. S. R. Gist, an aide to General Bee, a young man whom I had known
-as adjutant-general of South Carolina, and whom I greatly esteemed, I
-presented him as an able and brave commander to the stricken regiment,
-who cheered their new leader, and maintained under him to the end of
-the day, their previous gallant behavior." Subsequently he resumed his
-duties as adjutant-general, organizing South Carolina troops for the
-war, until in March, 1862, he was commissioned brigadier-general in
-the Confederate service, and ordered to report to General Pemberton,
-then in command of the department. He was after this on duty on the
-South Carolina coast, in command east of James island in June, on that
-island from July; temporarily in command of the first district, and
-in December, 1862, in command of the troops ordered to the relief of
-Wilmington, until May, 1863, when he was ordered to take command of a
-brigade and go to the assistance of General Pemberton in Mississippi.
-Reaching Jackson his command formed part of the troops under J. E.
-Johnston, took part in the engagement of May 14th at Jackson, marched
-to the Big Black river just before the surrender of Vicksburg, and then
-returning to Jackson was besieged by Sherman. His brigade comprised the
-Forty-sixth Georgia, Fourteenth Mississippi and Twenty-fourth South
-Carolina, the Sixteenth South Carolina soon afterward being substituted
-for the Mississippi regiment, and was assigned to the division of Gen.
-W. H. T. Walker. He fought gallantly at Chickamauga, commanding during
-part of the battle Ector's and Wilson's brigades, his own brigade being
-led by Colonel Colquitt, and on Sunday commanding Walker's division.
-At an important stage of the fight Gen. D. H. Hill called for Gist's
-brigade for dangerous duty, in the performance of which it suffered
-severely. He continued in conspicuous and valuable service; during the
-battle of Missionary Ridge commanded Walker's division, and throughout
-the Atlanta campaign of 1864 was identified with that division. After
-the fall of General Walker he was transferred to Cheatham's division,
-which he commanded for some time during the fall campaign of that year.
-At the terribly destructive battle of Franklin, Tenn., he was one of
-the noblest of the brave men whose lives were sacrificed. Attended by
-Capt. H. D. Garden and Lieut. Frank Trenholm, of his staff, he rode
-down the front, and after ordering the charge and waving his hat to the
-Twenty-fourth, rode away in the smoke of battle, never more to be seen
-by the men he had commanded on so many fields. His horse was shot, and
-he was leading the right of the brigade on foot when he fell, pierced
-through the heart.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General Maxcy Gregg was born in Columbia, S. C, the son of
-Col. James Gregg, a distinguished lawyer of that city, and was educated
-at the South Carolina college, where he graduated with the first honors
-of his class. He then entered upon the practice of law as a partner of
-his father. In 1846 he had his first military experience as major of a
-regiment of the second levy of volunteers sent to Mexico, but did not
-arrive at the scene of conflict in time to share in any of the famous
-battles. He was a member of the convention of 1860 which determined
-upon the secession of the State, and then became colonel of the First
-North Carolina regiment, enlisted for six months' service, with which
-he was on duty on Sullivan's and Morris islands during the reduction
-of Fort Sumter, and afterward in Virginia. Previous to the battle of
-Manassas he was stationed at Centreville, and then near Fairfax Court
-House, and commanded the infantry in the action at Vienna. At the
-expiration of the term of enlistment he reorganized his regiment in
-South Carolina, and returning to Virginia was stationed at Suffolk.
-In December, 1861, he was promoted to brigadier-general and ordered
-to South Carolina, where he took command of a brigade composed of
-the First, Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth regiments. With this
-brigade he was attached to the famous light division of A. P. Hill for
-the Seven Days' campaign before Richmond. He led the advance of the
-division at Cold Harbor, crossing the creek under fire made what Hill
-pronounced "the handsomest charge in line I have seen during the war,"
-and during the remainder of the battle displayed undaunted bravery.
-At Frayser's Farm he charged and captured a Federal battery. At the
-battle of August 29th, on the plains of Manassas, he with his comrades
-of the division, fought "with a heroic courage and obstinacy almost
-beyond parallel," repelling six determined assaults of the enemy, who
-sought to overwhelm Jackson's corps before Longstreet could arrive.
-Hill reported: "The reply of the gallant Gregg to a message of mine
-is worthy of note: 'Tell General Hill that my ammunition is exhausted,
-but that I will hold my position with the bayonet.'" In the battle of
-the 30th and at Ox Hill on September 1st, he was again distinguished.
-He participated in the capture of Harper's Ferry, at Sharpsburg shared
-with distinguished gallantry in the heroic work of the Light division,
-which reached the field in time to save the Confederate right, and was
-wounded in the fight; and at Shepherdstown, after the crossing of the
-Potomac by the army, commanded the line of three brigades which drove
-back and terribly punished the enemy's forces, which had the temerity
-to pursue the lion-hearted veterans of Lee's army. His part in the
-battle of Fredericksburg we may best describe in the words of the
-immortal Lee. After describing the momentary success of the Federals
-on the right, he wrote: "In the meantime a large force had penetrated
-the wood so far as Hill's reserve, and encountered Gregg's brigade.
-The attack was so sudden and unexpected that Orr's Rifles, mistaking
-the enemy for our own troops retiring, were thrown into confusion.
-While in the act of rallying them, that brave soldier and true
-patriot, Brig.-Gen. Maxcy Gregg, fell mortally wounded." Again, "In
-Brigadier-Generals Gregg and Cobb the Confederacy has lost two of its
-noblest citizens and the army two of its bravest and most distinguished
-officers. The country consents to the loss of such as these, and the
-gallant soldiers who fell with them, only to secure the inestimable
-blessing they died to obtain."
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General Johnson Hagood was born in Barnwell county, February
-21, 1829. His ancestors were of English extraction, and the family
-in America was first established in Virginia, removing thence to
-South Carolina before the revolution. He was graduated at the Citadel
-military academy in 1847, and then studying law was admitted to the bar
-in 1850. Throughout his subsequent career he maintained an association
-with the State military forces, holding the rank of brigadier-general
-when South Carolina seceded. He was then elected colonel of the First
-regiment, and after participating in the reduction of Fort Sumter
-was ordered to Virginia, where he was present at the first battle of
-Manassas. Returning to South Carolina with his regiment he was engaged
-in the operations about Charleston and the battle of Secessionville,
-June, 1862, after which he was promoted brigadier-general. Until May,
-1864, he served on the coast of the State, in defense of Charleston
-during Gillmore's siege, and was distinguished for gallantry in the
-defense of Fort Wagner and the operations on James island. On May 6,
-1864, part of his brigade arrived at Petersburg and immediately went
-into battle at Walthall Junction with the advancing forces of Butler,
-and a few hours later General Hagood arrived with reinforcements. With
-three regiments, the Twenty-first, Twenty-fifth and Twenty-seventh
-South Carolina, he repulsed Butler's advance, "at least two brigades,"
-on the 7th; and on the 9th, the remainder of his brigade having come
-up, the Eleventh regiment and Seventh battalion, he was again engaged.
-As General Beauregard has written: "General Hagood and his command
-became the heroes of the day, and were justly looked upon as the
-saviors of Petersburg on that occasion." At the battle of Drewry's
-Bluff, May 16th, Hagood, with great vigor and dash, drove the enemy
-from the outer lines in his front, capturing a number of prisoners
-and three 20-pound Parrotts and two fine Napoleons. These Parrott
-guns were afterward used in shelling Butler's transports, causing
-him to set about the famous Dutch Gap canal. In June Hagood and his
-gallant men fought at Cold Harbor, and soon afterward were sent to
-meet Grant before Petersburg, the brigade being the first of Hoke's
-division to reach the field, June 16th, at the critical moment and
-save Petersburg for the second time. During the siege which followed
-his brigade served in the trenches at one period sixty-seven days
-without relief, and was reduced in numbers from 2,300 to 700 present
-for duty. In August, 1864, during the fighting on the Weldon railroad,
-200 of his men, he accompanying them, charged into the enemy's works at
-a re-entering angle, and found themselves under a severe cross-fire,
-and about to be surrounded. A Federal officer rode up, seized the
-colors of the Eleventh and called upon them to surrender, when General
-Hagood, on foot, his horse having been killed, demanded the return
-of the colors, and ordered the officer back to his lines. This being
-refused, he shot the Federal officer from his horse, the colors were
-regained by Orderly Stoney, and the intrepid general mounted his
-antagonist's horse and brought off his men. General Beauregard warmly
-commended this act of gallantry of a "brave and meritorious officer,"
-and recommended him for promotion. When Wilmington was threatened in
-December, Hagood was sent to the relief of Fort Fisher. Subsequently
-he participated in the North Carolina campaign, including the battles
-of Kinston and Bentonville, and was surrendered with Johnston's army,
-the brigade then containing less than 500 officers and men. During the
-exciting period of reconstruction he took a conspicuous part in the
-movement which finally brought about the election of General Hampton
-in 1876, and he was elected on the same ticket as comptroller-general,
-having previously rendered services of great value in investigating the
-financial condition of the State and the State bank. He and Gen. James
-Conner were the advisers and executive officers of General Hampton
-during the perilous period preceding the recognition by President Hayes
-of the Hampton government. In 1878 he was re-elected comptroller, and
-in 1880 he was honored with the highest office in the gift of the
-commonwealth. His admirable reorganization of the finances of the State
-was fitly complemented by his honest, business-like and common-sense
-administration as governor. By his marriage to Eloise, daughter of
-Senator A. P. Butler, he had one son, Butler Hagood. The death of
-General Hagood occurred at Barnwell, January 4, 1898.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Major-General Benjamin Huger was born at Charleston in 1806, son
-of Francis Kinlock Huger, whose wife was a daughter of Gen. Thomas
-Pinckney. His father, who was aide-de-camp to General Wilkinson in
-1800, and adjutant-general in the war of 1812, suffered imprisonment in
-Austria for assisting in the liberation of Lafayette from the fortress
-of Olmutz; his grandfather, Benjamin Huger, was a famous revolutionary
-patriot, killed before Charleston during the British occupation; and
-his great-great-grandfather was Daniel Huger, who fled from France
-before the revocation of the edict of Nantes and died in South Carolina
-in 1711. General Huger was graduated at West Point in 1825, with a
-lieutenancy in the Third artillery. He served on topographical duty
-until 1828, then visited Europe on leave of absence; after being on
-ordnance duty a year was promoted captain of ordnance in 1832, a
-department of the service in which he had a distinguished career. He
-was in command of Fortress Monroe arsenal twelve years, was member of
-the ordnance board seven years, and one year was on official duty in
-Europe. He went into the war with Mexico as chief of ordnance on the
-staff of General Scott, and received in quick succession the brevets
-of major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel, for gallant and meritorious
-conduct at Vera Cruz, Molino del Rey and Chapultepec. In 1852 he
-was presented a sword by South Carolina in recognition of the honor
-his career had cast upon his native State. After this war he was a
-member of the board which prepared a system of artillery instruction
-for the army, and was in command of the armories at Harper's Ferry,
-Charleston and Pikesville, Md., with promotion to major of ordnance,
-until his resignation from the old army to follow his State in her
-effort for independence. He was commissioned colonel of artillery in
-the regular army of the Confederate States, in June, brigadier-general
-in the provisional service, and in October, 1861, major-general. In
-May, 1861, he was assigned to command of the department of Southern
-Virginia and North Carolina, with headquarters at Norfolk, and after
-the evacuation of Norfolk and Portsmouth in the spring of 1862, he
-commanded a division of the army under General Johnston and General
-Lee, during the campaigns which included the battles of Seven Pines and
-the series of important actions ending at Malvern hill. Subsequently he
-was assigned as inspector of artillery and ordnance in the armies of
-the Confederate States, and in 1863 was appointed chief of ordnance of
-the Trans-Mississippi department. After the conclusion of hostilities
-he was engaged for several years in farming in Fauquier county, Va. His
-death occurred at his native city of Charleston, December 7, 1877. His
-son, Frank Huger, a graduate of the United States military academy,
-1860, entered the Confederate service as captain of the Norfolk light
-artillery and had a conspicuous career with the army of Northern
-Virginia, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and the command of a
-battalion of artillery of the First corps.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General Micah Jenkins was born on Edisto island in 1839.
-After his graduation at the South Carolina military academy, at the
-head of his class, he with the co-operation of his classmate, Asbury
-Coward, founded the King's Mountain military school in 1855. His
-military genius was valuable in the first organization of troops in
-1861, and he was elected colonel of the Fifth regiment, with which
-he went to Virginia, in the brigade of Gen. D. R. Jones. In the
-latter part of 1861 he was in command of that brigade, and had grown
-greatly in favor with his division commander, General Longstreet.
-Longstreet proposed to begin the reorganization, a matter approached
-with much misgiving, in this brigade, and he declared that he hoped to
-hold every man in it if Jenkins could be promoted brigadier-general.
-"Besides being much liked by his men, Colonel Jenkins is one of the
-finest officers of this army," Longstreet wrote. Beauregard also added
-his approval to this recommendation. Still in the rank of colonel,
-Palmetto sharpshooters, he commanded R. H. Anderson's brigade in the
-battles of Williamsburg and Seven Pines, and was warmly commended by
-Longstreet and D. H. Hill and by J. E. B. Stuart, whom he supported
-at Fort Magruder. He was again distinguished at Gaines' Mill, and at
-Frayser's Farm, having been ordered to silence a battery, Longstreet
-supposing he would use his sharpshooters alone, he threw forward his
-brigade and captured the guns, bringing on the battle. July 22, 1862,
-he was promoted brigadier-general, and continuing in command of the
-same brigade, participated in the battles of August 29th and 30th,
-Second Manassas, and was severely wounded. He was on duty again at the
-battle of Fredericksburg and during the Suffolk campaign, his division
-now being commanded by General Pickett, and was on the Blackwater under
-Gen. D. H. Hill, during the Gettysburg campaign. When Longstreet was
-sent to the assistance of Bragg at Chattanooga, Jenkins' brigade was
-transferred to Hood's division, and reached the field of Chickamauga
-after the battle. During the investment of Chattanooga he commanded
-the attack upon the Federal reinforcements arriving under Hooker, and
-then accompanied Longstreet in the Knoxville campaign, commanding
-Hood's division. He took a conspicuous part in the operations in east
-Tennessee, and then, early in 1864, returned to Northern Virginia.
-Field was now in charge of the division, and Jenkins led his famous
-old brigade to battle on May 6th, the second day of the Wilderness
-fighting, when the splendid veterans of the First corps arrived in
-time to check the current of threatened disaster. As he rode by the
-side of Longstreet, he said to his chief, "I am happy. I have felt
-despair for the cause for some months, but now I am relieved, and
-feel assured that we will put the enemy across the Rapidan before
-night." Immediately afterward, by the mistaken fire of another
-body of Confederates, he and Longstreet were both wounded, Jenkins
-mortally. General Longstreet has written of him: "He was one of the
-most estimable characters of the army. His taste and talent were for
-military service. He was intelligent, quick, untiring, attentive,
-zealous in discharge of duty, truly faithful to official obligations,
-abreast with the foremost in battle, and withal a humble, noble
-Christian. In a moment of highest earthly hope, he was transported to
-serenest heavenly joy; to that life beyond that knows no bugle call,
-beat of drum or clash of steel. May his beautiful spirit, through the
-mercy of God, rest in peace! Amen!"
-
- * * * * *
-
-Major-General David Rump Jones was born in Orangeburg county, S. C.,
-in 1825. His family removed to Georgia in his childhood, and from
-that State he was appointed to the United States military academy,
-where he was graduated in 1846 in the class with Stonewall Jackson,
-McClellan and other famous commanders. As a lieutenant of the Second
-infantry he served in the war with Mexico, participating in the siege
-of Vera Cruz, the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco,
-Molino del Rey, and the capture of the city of Mexico, particularly
-being distinguished and earning promotion on the fields of Contreras
-and Churubusco. He subsequently served as adjutant of his regiment,
-made the voyage to California in 1848-49, and with promotion to first
-lieutenant was on duty there until the fall of 1851, after which
-he acted as instructor in infantry tactics at West Point. With the
-brevet rank of captain of staff he served from the spring of 1853,
-successively as adjutant-general of the Western department and the
-Pacific department, as acting judge-advocate of the Pacific department,
-and as assistant adjutant-general of the department of the West, until
-his resignation, February 15, 1861. He was commissioned major in the
-Confederate States army, and assigned to duty as chief-of-staff of
-General Beauregard, in which capacity he visited Fort Sumter on April
-13th and offered the terms of surrender, which were accepted. On June
-17, 1861, he was promoted brigadier-general. With the army under
-Beauregard at Manassas, Va., he had command of a brigade composed of
-Jenkins' Fifth South Carolina and Burt's Eighteenth and Featherston's
-Seventeenth Mississippi. In the original Confederate plan of battle,
-July 21st, he was to have taken a prominent part in the fight, but the
-actual events of the day confined him to demonstrations against the
-Federal flank. Soon afterward his brigade was composed of the Fourth,
-Fifth, Sixth and Ninth South Carolina regiments, until February, 1862,
-when he was assigned to command of Gen. Sam Jones' Georgia brigade.
-He was in charge of General Magruder's first division, including the
-Georgia brigade of Robert Toombs and his own under George T. Anderson,
-during the retreat from Yorktown, and the battles of Gaines' Mill,
-Savage Station and Malvern Hill, and other engagements of the Seven
-Days before Richmond. In the Second Manassas campaign he commanded a
-division of Longstreet's corps, Drayton's brigade having been added to
-the two previously mentioned. He drove the enemy through Thoroughfare
-Gap, held the extreme right next day, confronting Fitz John Porter, and
-in the battle of the 30th actively engaged the Federal left. In the
-Maryland campaign his division, increased by the addition of Kemper's
-and Garnett's Virginia brigades and Jenkins' South Carolina brigade,
-had a conspicuous part, winning renown first by the heroic defense of
-the passes of South mountain, and at Sharpsburg fighting desperately
-against the advance of Burnside across the Antietam on the Confederate
-right. After this battle he was promoted major-general. His coolness
-and excellent judgment as a commanding officer would have doubtless
-brought still higher honors, but at this time an affection of the heart
-to which he had long been subject was greatly aggravated, and after a
-lingering illness he died at Richmond, January 19, 1863.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General John D. Kennedy was born at Camden, January 5, 1840,
-son of a native of Scotland, who settled in Kershaw county about 1830,
-and married a granddaughter of Abraham Belton, a pioneer of Camden and
-a soldier of the revolution. He was a student at the South Carolina
-college, read law, and was admitted to practice in January, 1861, but
-at once gave himself to the military service of his State. In April,
-1861, he became captain of Company E, Second South Carolina infantry,
-under Col. J. B. Kershaw. With this command he was in the first battle
-of Manassas, and was struck by a Federal ball. Upon the promotion of
-Kershaw to brigadier-general he became colonel of the Second regiment,
-and in that rank participated in the skirmish on the Nine-mile road
-near Richmond, in June, 1862, and the battle of Savage Station, after
-which he was disabled for some time by fever. During the investment of
-Harper's Ferry he was with Kershaw's brigade in the capture of Maryland
-heights, and at Sharpsburg his regiment was the first of the brigade
-to come to the relief of Jackson. He drove the enemy from his front,
-but fell painfully wounded in the first charge. At Fredericksburg
-he was sent with his own and the Eighth regiment to the support of
-General Cobb at Marye's hill, the focus of the hottest fighting of that
-memorable battle, and aided materially in the defeat of the Federal
-attacks; and at Chancellorsville he was identified with the gallant
-action of his brigade. During 1864 when not disabled he was either in
-command of his regiment or of Kershaw's old brigade, in the Richmond
-and Shenandoah Valley campaigns, and in December he was promoted to
-the temporary rank of brigadier-general. With his brigade in McLaws'
-division of Hardee's corps he took part in the final campaign in North
-Carolina against Sherman, including the battle of Bentonville, and
-surrendered with the army at Greensboro. He was six times wounded
-during his service, and was hit fifteen times by spent balls. After
-the close of hostilities he was mainly engaged in planting until 1877,
-when he resumed the profession of law. He was elected to Congress in
-1865, but declined to take the "ironclad" oath demanded and did not
-take his seat. In 1878-79 he represented his county in the legislature,
-was elected in 1880 and served as lieutenant-governor of the State
-to 1882, and in the latter year was a prominent candidate for the
-nomination of governor. In 1884 he was presidential elector-at-large
-on the Democratic ticket, and in 1886 was appointed consul-general at
-Shanghai, China, by President Cleveland. Returning from that post in
-1889, he continued the practice of law at Camden until his death in
-April, 1896.
-
-[Illustration:
-
- Maj.-Gen. J. B. KERSHAW.
-
- Brig.-Gen. ROSWELL S. RIPLEY.
-
- Maj.-Gen. BENJAMIN HUGER.
-
- Brig.-Gen. A. M. MANIGAULT.
-
- Brig.-Gen. ABNER PERRIN.
-
- Brig.-Gen. ELLISON CAPERS.
-
- Brig.-Gen. C. H. STEVENS.
-
- Brig.-Gen. J. B. VILLEPIGUE.
-
- Brig.-Gen. W. H. WALLACE.
-
- Brig.-Gen. SAMUEL MCGOWAN.]
-
-Major-General Joseph Brevard Kershaw was born at Camden, S. C.,
-January 5, 1822, son of John Kershaw, member of Congress in 1812-14,
-whose wife was Harriet, daughter of Isaac Du Bose, an aide-de-camp of
-General Marion. His line of the Kershaw family in South Carolina was
-founded by Joseph Kershaw, a native of Yorkshire, who immigrated in
-1750, and served as a colonel in the war of the revolution. General
-Kershaw was educated for the legal profession and began practice in
-1844 at Camden. He was a member of the governor's staff in 1843, and
-served one year in the Mexican war as first lieutenant of Company C,
-Palmetto regiment. From 1852 to 1856 he was a representative in the
-legislature, and in 1860 participated in the convention which enacted
-the ordinance of secession. In February, 1861, he was commissioned
-colonel of the Second South Carolina regiment, with which he served
-at Sullivan's island, and in April went to Virginia. He commanded his
-regiment, in the brigade of General Bonham, at the Blackburn's Ford
-engagement and the battle of First Manassas, and in February, 1862,
-was promoted brigadier-general, to succeed General Bonham. In this
-rank he participated in the Yorktown campaign, and in McLaws' division
-fought through the Seven Days' campaign before Richmond, commanded the
-troops which captured Maryland heights, and had a gallant part in the
-fighting at Sharpsburg. At Fredericksburg his brigade was sent into
-the fight at Marye's hill, where Kershaw was in command after General
-Cobb was wounded; at Chancellorsville he was an active participant,
-and at Gettysburg he and his brigade were conspicuous in the defeat
-of Sickles at the peach orchard. Reaching the field of Chickamauga in
-time for the fighting of September 20th, he was in the grand line of
-veterans with which Longstreet overwhelmed the Federals, commanding
-McLaws' division, and in the last grand assault on George H. Thomas
-also commanding McNair's, Grade's, Kelly's and Anderson's brigades.
-He drove the enemy into their lines at Chattanooga, and subsequently
-participated in the Knoxville campaign, at Bean's Station and other
-engagements commanding the division. In the same command he went into
-the Wilderness campaign of May, 1864, checked the Federal success
-on May 6th with his veterans, sweeping the enemy from his front and
-capturing his works. He was riding with Longstreet and Jenkins when
-these two generals were wounded, and fortunately escaped injury. It was
-his division which reached Spottsylvania Court House in time to support
-Stuart's cavalry and thwart the flank movement of Grant, and by an
-attack on Sheridan opened the bloody struggle at Cold Harbor, where the
-heaviest Federal loss was before Kershaw's position. He was promoted
-major-general, and after participating in the Petersburg battles
-was ordered to the support of Early in the Shenandoah valley. In
-September he was ordered back to Richmond, and while on the way Early
-was defeated at Winchester. Then returning to the valley he opened the
-attack at Cedar Creek, with great success. After this, until the fall
-of Richmond, he served before that city, north of the James. His last
-battle was Sailor's Creek, where he was captured with General Ewell and
-the greater part of the remnant of his command. As a prisoner of war he
-was held at Fort Warren, Boston, until August 12, 1865. On his return
-to South Carolina he again took up the practice of law, and in the same
-year was elected to the State senate and made president of that body.
-In 1874 he was the Democratic candidate for Congress in his district,
-and three years later was elected to the position of judge of the
-Fifth circuit. He served upon the bench until 1893, when he resigned
-on account of failing health and resumed practice as an attorney at
-Camden. In February, 1894, he was commissioned postmaster at that city,
-but he died on the 12th of April following. His wife, Lucretia Douglas,
-to whom he was married in 1844, four daughters and a son survive him.
-The latter is rector of St. Michael's church, Charleston.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General Thomas M. Logan was born at Charleston, November 3,
-1840, the son of Judge George William and Eliza Staun (Yonge) Logan.
-His family is of ancient Scottish descent. He was graduated at the
-head of his class at the North Carolina college in 1860, and was among
-the early volunteers in 1861 as a private in the Washington light
-infantry, with which he served during the investment of Fort Sumter.
-Then aiding in the organization of Company A, Hampton legion, he was
-elected first lieutenant and accompanied the legion to Virginia, where
-he participated in the first battle of Manassas, and was soon afterward
-elected captain. Though wounded at Gaines' Mill he continued on duty
-at Second Manassas, and for conspicuous gallantry at Sharpsburg was
-promoted major. His command was subsequently transferred to Jenkins'
-brigade, and he was promoted lieutenant-colonel. During the Suffolk and
-Blackwater campaigns under Gen. D. H. Hill he was distinguished for the
-successful management of a reconnoissance in force fifteen miles in
-advance of the Confederate lines; and in command of the sharpshooters
-of Longstreet's corps in the Chattanooga and Knoxville campaigns, he
-gained new laurels as a daring and active leader. He commanded the
-advance guard which Longstreet organized to push Burnside back toward
-Knoxville in an attempt to prevent his intrenching, and kept up a
-running skirmish with the Federals for several days. On May 19, 1864,
-he was promoted colonel of Hampton's legion, served temporarily on
-the staff of General Beauregard during the battle of Drewry's Bluff,
-and was severely wounded in the fight at Riddle's shop. Promoted
-brigadier-general at the age of twenty-four years, he was assigned
-to the command of the old cavalry brigade of Gen. M. C. Butler, with
-which he served in the North Carolina campaign and at the battle of
-Bentonville, and made the last charge of this last campaign at the head
-of Keitt's battalion. After the close of hostilities General Logan
-began the study of law at Richmond, Va., in which State he has since
-resided and practiced that profession for several years. He then became
-interested in railroad management, and soon became prominent in the
-organization of the Richmond & Danville system, of which he was elected
-vice-president.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General Samuel McGowan was born of Scotch-Irish parentage
-in Laurens county, October 19, 1819, and was graduated at the South
-Carolina college in 1841. He embarked in the practice of law at
-Abbeville, but answered the call of his country in 1846 and started
-for the Mexican war as a private in the Palmetto regiment. He was
-soon appointed to the general quartermaster's staff, with the rank
-of captain, in which capacity he served during the war, first on the
-staff of General Quitman and afterward with Generals Worth and Twiggs.
-As volunteer aide to General Quitman at the storming of Chapultepec
-and the capture of Garita de Belen he was distinguished for gallantry.
-On his return to South Carolina he continued with much success the
-practice of his profession, and sat twelve years in the lower house
-of the State legislature; but also retained his connection with
-military matters, becoming major-general in the State militia. Upon
-the secession of South Carolina he was commissioned brigadier-general
-in the State army and assigned to command of one of the four brigades
-first formed, and in that capacity assisted General Beauregard during
-the reduction of Fort Sumter. Upon the transfer of the troops to the
-Confederate service he joined General Bonham in Virginia, and served as
-a volunteer aide at the battles of Blackburn Ford and First Manassas.
-Then returning to South Carolina he was elected lieutenant-colonel of
-the Fourteenth regiment, and in the spring of 1862, while in service
-on the coast, was promoted colonel. Soon afterward, with Gregg's
-brigade, he began a distinguished career in the army of Northern
-Virginia. He was wounded at Cold Harbor, where he led his regiment in
-several daring charges; retrieved the ground lost by another brigade
-at Frayser's Farm, and continued on duty in spite of his injury
-until after Malvern Hill. For his gallantry in these battles he was
-recommended by General Gregg for promotion. After fighting at Cedar
-Run he was wounded at Second Manassas, and for some time disabled, but
-he rejoined his regiment after the battle of Sharpsburg and commanded
-it at Fredericksburg. There General Gregg was killed, and in January,
-1863, Colonel McGowan was promoted brigadier-general and became Gregg's
-successor in command of the gallant brigade. In this capacity he served
-until the end of the war, receiving several wounds, the most severe of
-which befell him at Chancellorsville and during the fight at the bloody
-angle at Spottsylvania Court House. After the surrender at Appomattox
-he returned to his home and resumed the profession from which he had
-been twice diverted by war. He was elected to Congress in 1865, but was
-not permitted to take his seat; made a thorough canvass of the State as
-an elector-at-large on the Democratic presidential ticket in 1876; in
-1878 was elected to the legislature, and in 1879 was elected associate
-justice of the supreme court. In the latter office he won lasting honor
-and distinction as he had upon the field of battle. His death occurred
-in December, 1893.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General Arthur Middleton Manigault was born at Charleston
-in 1824. He was a great-grandson of Gabriel Manigault, a native of
-Charleston, and a famous merchant who was treasurer of the province
-in 1738; after the declaration of independence advanced $220,000 from
-his private fortune for war purposes, and in 1779, with his grandson
-Joseph, served as a private soldier in the defense of Charleston.
-General Manigault entered business life at Charleston in youth. In
-1846 he went to the Mexican war as first lieutenant of a company of
-the Palmetto regiment, and served in the army of General Scott from
-Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico. Returning to Charleston he was in
-the commission business until 1856, and then was engaged in rice
-planting until the beginning of the Confederate war, when he raised
-a company of volunteers. He served as inspector-general on the staff
-of General Beauregard during the period including the reduction of
-Fort Sumter, after which he was elected colonel of the Tenth South
-Carolina regiment. Under Gen. R. E. Lee he commanded the First military
-district of South Carolina, with headquarters at Georgetown. After the
-battle of Shiloh he and his regiment were transferred to the army in
-Mississippi under General Bragg, forming part of the brigade composed
-of the Tenth and Nineteenth South Carolina and three Alabama regiments,
-commanded by General Withers until the latter was given division
-command, afterward by Patton Anderson and later by Colonel Manigault.
-He was in brigade command from the summer of 1862, and participated
-in the occupation of Corinth during the siege, and the operations of
-the army in Tennessee and Kentucky. In April, 1863, he was promoted to
-brigadier-general. At the battle of Stone's River his brigade under his
-gallant leadership was distinguished in the assaults upon the Federal
-line, and at Chickamauga again was conspicuous in the attacks upon the
-position held by George H. Thomas. In both these battles the brigade
-suffered severely in the loss of officers and men, but the remnant
-fought through the Atlanta campaign of 1864 among the bravest of the
-heroes of that memorable struggle, from Dalton to Ezra church. He
-subsequently participated in the operations under General Hood, until
-he fell severely wounded in the disastrous battle of Franklin, Tenn.
-After the conclusion of hostilities he engaged in rice planting in
-South Carolina. In 1880 he was elected adjutant-general of the State,
-was continued in this office, and was about to be re-elected when he
-died from the effects of his wound received at Franklin, August 16,
-1886.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General Abner M. Perrin was born in Edgefield district,
-in 1827. He entered the Confederate States service as captain of a
-company of the Fourteenth regiment, South Carolina infantry, Col.
-James Jones, and was present at the engagement at Port Royal Ferry,
-January 1, 1862. His regiment was ordered to Virginia in the spring of
-1862, and attached to the South Carolina brigade of Gen. Maxcy Gregg,
-the regiment then being commanded by Col. Samuel McGowan. Captain
-Perrin shared the services of the Fourteenth in the battles before
-Richmond, at Cedar run, Second Manassas, Harper's Ferry, Sharpsburg and
-Fredericksburg, and then being promoted colonel, commanded the regiment
-at Chancellorsville, where, after the wounding of General McGowan and
-Colonel Edwards, he had command of the remnant of the brigade in the
-Sunday battle. He continued in charge of this brigade, consisting of
-the First, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth South Carolina regiments
-and First Rifles, Pender's division, A. P. Hill's corps, during the
-Gettysburg campaign. On the afternoon of July 1, 1863, said A. P.
-Hill, Perrin's brigade took position after position of the enemy,
-driving him through the town of Gettysburg. He maintained an advanced
-position throughout the next two days, keeping up a continual heavy
-skirmish and repelling several assaults on the third. On the retreat
-he repulsed an attack of cavalry near Falling Waters. He was promoted
-to brigadier-general in September, 1863. Previous to the campaign of
-May, 1864, in Virginia, General McGowan returned to the command of
-the South Carolina brigade, and General Perrin was transferred to
-the Alabama brigade lately commanded by General Wilcox, Anderson's
-division. He passed through the fiery ordeal in the Wilderness, but at
-Spottsylvania, in the words of the telegram of General Lee to President
-Davis, "the brave General Perrin was killed." It was just after Hancock
-had swept over the "bloody angle," early on May 12th, capturing the
-larger part of Johnson's division, and A. P. Hill was called on for
-reinforcements, that Perrin came up leading his brigade through a
-terribly destructive fire, and fell dead from his horse just as he
-reached the works.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General John Smith Preston was born at Salt Works, near
-Abingdon, Va., on April 20, 1809, of Irish descent, his ancestors
-having emigrated from Donegal, Ireland, in the early part of the
-seventeenth century. He was educated at Hampden-Sidney college
-and graduated at that institution in 1824. He then studied law at
-the university of Virginia and Harvard college. In 1830 he married
-Caroline, daughter of Gen. Wade Hampton, and settled at Abingdon, Va.,
-where he began the practice of his profession, but later removed to
-Columbia, S. C. He was engaged for several years in sugar planting in
-Louisiana, also devoted a great deal of his time to literary pursuits,
-and the collection of paintings and statuary. His interest in art
-led him to assist many struggling young men of genius, notably Hiram
-Powers, who in appreciation, gave him the replica of the "Greek Slave."
-General Preston was a distinguished orator, and made many brilliant
-addresses, among them the speech of welcome to the Palmetto regiment on
-its return from the Mexican war in 1848. He was an ardent secessionist,
-and in May, 1860, was chairman of the South Carolina delegation to
-the Democratic convention that met at Charleston. After the election
-of President Lincoln, he was a commissioner to Virginia, and in
-February, 1861, made an eloquent plea in favor of the withdrawal of
-that State from the Union. He entered the Confederate army, and served
-on the staff of General Beauregard during 1861 and 1862, receiving
-special commendation for efficiency in the first battle of Bull Run.
-He was promoted, June 10, 1864, brigadier-general in the provisional
-army of the Confederate States, and placed in charge of the bureau
-of conscription, in which office he rendered valuable service. He
-went to England shortly after the war, and remained several years.
-After his return he delivered an address at a commencement of the
-university of Virginia, which, as a fervent assertion of the right
-of secession, incurred the severe criticism of the Northern press.
-His last appearance as an orator was on the occasion of unveiling the
-Confederate monument at Columbia.
-
-[Illustration:
-
- Brig.-Gen. JOHN S. PRESTON.
-
- Brig.-Gen. MAXCY GREGG.
-
- Brig.-Gen. T. M. LOGAN.
-
- Maj.-Gen. DAVID R. JONES.
-
- Brig.-Gen. MICAH JENKINS.
-
- Brig.-Gen. JOHNSON HAGOOD.
-
- Brig.-Gen. S. W. FERGUSON.
-
- Brig.-Gen. JAMES CONNER.
-
- Brig.-Gen. JOHN D. KENNEDY.
-
- Brig.-Gen. S. R. GIST.]
-
-Brigadier-General Roswell Sabine Ripley was born at Worthington,
-Ohio, March 14, 1823. He was graduated at the United States military
-academy, number seven in the class of 1843, of which Gen. U. S. Grant
-was twenty-first. With promotion to brevet second lieutenant, Third
-artillery, he served until 1846 on garrison duty, and for a few months
-as assistant professor of mathematics at West Point. In 1846, being
-commissioned second lieutenant, he was on the coast survey until
-ordered to Mexico, where he fought at Monterey in September. Then
-being promoted first lieutenant, Second artillery, he took part in the
-siege of Vera Cruz, and at the battle of Cerro Gordo won the brevet of
-captain. At Contreras, Churubusco Molino del Rey, Chapultepec and the
-capture of the Mexican capital he won new honors and came out of the
-war with the brevet rank of major. After service as aide-de-camp to
-General Pillow to July, 1848, he prepared and published a history of
-the war in 1849, and subsequently was engaged in the Indian hostilities
-in Florida and in garrison duty until March, 1853, when he resigned
-and engaged in business at Charleston, the home of his wife. At the
-organization of the South Carolina army he received the rank of
-lieutenant-colonel, commanding the First artillery battalion, and at
-the bombardment of Fort Sumter was highly commended by the generals
-commanding for his services in charge of the batteries on Sullivan's
-island. In August following he was commissioned brigadier-general in
-the provisional army of the Confederate States, and was put in command
-of the department of South Carolina, and when that was merged in a
-larger department under Gen. R. E. Lee, he was given charge of the
-Second military district of the State. Joining the army of Northern
-Virginia in June, 1862, he commanded a brigade of D. H. Hill's
-division, composed of Georgia and North Carolina regiments, in the
-battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Malvern Hill, South Mountain
-and Sharpsburg. In the latter engagement he was shot in the throat,
-but returned to the fight after his wound was dressed. About a month
-later he took command of the First military district of South Carolina,
-including Charleston and its defenses, and was in immediate command
-during the memorable attacks of the Federal fleets and army in 1863 and
-1864. In January, 1865, he was ordered to report to General Hood, and
-at the last was assigned to command of a division of Cheatham's corps
-of the army in North Carolina. Then going abroad he resided in Paris
-several years, and upon his return resumed his business operations at
-Charleston. He died at New York, March 26, 1887.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General Clement Hoffman Stevens was born in Norwich,
-Conn., August 14, 1821, the son of Lieut. Clement W. Stevens, United
-States navy, and Sarah J. Fayssoux, daughter of Dr. Peter Fayssoux,
-surgeon-general of the army in South Carolina during the war of the
-revolution. Not long after his birth the father left the navy and the
-family settled in Florida, but removed to Pendleton, S. C., at the
-outbreak of Indian troubles in 1836. In youth he served for several
-years as private secretary to his kinsmen, Commodore William B.
-Shubrick and Capt. Edward Shubrick. In 1842 he abandoned this service
-at sea, and became an official of the Planters and Mechanics bank at
-Charleston, of which he was cashier at the period of secession. In
-January, 1861, he presented to Gen. David F. Jamison, secretary of war
-for the State, a design he had prepared for an ironclad battery, and it
-being approved, he immediately began the erection of an armored battery
-of two guns on Cummings point, known as the Stevens' iron battery. It
-was built of heavy yellow pine timber with great solidity, and the
-face, inclined at an angle of forty degrees, was covered with bars of
-railroad iron. In this protected battery, which was of service in the
-bombardment of Fort Sumter, was the germ of the armored ship Virginia,
-and her class. The floating battery designed by Lieut. J. R. Hamilton,
-in use at the same time, approached still more closely the plan of the
-famous ironclad of Hampton Roads. General Stevens' mechanical ingenuity
-was later shown in the invention of portable ovens, by the use of which
-his regiment was supplied with excellent bread. Stevens next served as
-volunteer aide to his cousin, Gen. Barnard E. Bee, at the battle of
-First Manassas, and was severely wounded. Returning home, as soon as he
-had recovered from his wound he took charge of a militia regiment at
-Charleston, but soon joined in the organization of the Twenty-fourth
-regiment, of which he was elected colonel. In the winter of 1861-62
-he was for some time on duty as aide to General Ripley. In the fight
-at Secessionville he commanded the Confederate forces on the field.
-In December, 1862, he was assigned to command one of the brigades to
-be sent under General Gist for the support of Wilmington, and in May,
-1863, he and his regiment were ordered to Mississippi under the brigade
-command of Gist. With the forces collected under Gen. J. E. Johnston
-he participated in the summer campaign of that year for the relief of
-Vicksburg, and the defense of Jackson against Sherman, and subsequently
-joined the army at Chattanooga. At the battle of Chickamauga he was
-actively engaged until two horses were killed under him and he was
-wounded. Gist alluded to him as the "iron-nerved," and General Walker
-reported "that the gallant Stevens, who was severely wounded, from what
-I know of his capacity as an officer, from his gallantry on the field,
-and from his devotion to the cause, would grace any position that might
-be conferred." January 20, 1864, he was promoted to brigadier-general,
-and was assigned to the command of a Georgia brigade, formerly known
-as Wilson's, of Walker's division, which he led with distinction
-throughout the Atlanta campaign, until he was killed in the battle of
-July 20, 1864, near the city of Atlanta.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General James H. Trapier, a native of South Carolina, was
-graduated in the United States military academy, third in the class of
-1838, of which General Beauregard was second and William J. Hardee,
-Edward Johnson and Carter L. Stevenson were other famous members. As
-a lieutenant of engineers in the United States service he assisted in
-the construction of defenses at Charleston harbor and Fort Pulaski, and
-was promoted first lieutenant in 1839. Subsequently he was constructing
-engineer of repairs at Forts Macon and Caswell, and Forts Ontario,
-Niagara and Porter, New York; served in the war with Mexico in 1847,
-and was assistant engineer connected with the fortification of New
-York harbor until his resignation in 1848. Returning to South Carolina
-he was engaged as a planter at Georgetown until the organization of
-the Confederacy, serving also as chief of ordnance of the State in
-1851-52, and as aide-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, on the staff
-of Governor Means. With the rank of captain of engineers he rendered
-valuable service in the construction of the Confederate batteries for
-the attack on Fort Sumter, and was engineer-in-chief on Morris island.
-Soon afterward he was promoted major of engineers, and in October was
-promoted brigadier-general and assigned to command of the department
-of Eastern and Middle Florida, with especial care of Cumberland
-sound. Asking to be relieved in March, 1862, he was ordered to report
-to General Johnston in Alabama. He commanded the First division of
-General Polk's corps at Corinth and in the battle of Farmington, May 9,
-1862, and in November following was assigned to command of the Fourth
-district of South Carolina, with headquarters at Georgetown. In the
-spring of 1863 he was in command on Sullivan's island during the attack
-by the Federal fleet, April 7th, and not long afterward resumed his
-duties at Georgetown. Surviving the war he died at Mansfield, S. C,
-January 2, 1866, at the age of fifty-one years.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General John Bordenave Villepigue was born at Camden, S. C,
-July 2, 1830, of French descent. He was graduated at the United States
-military academy in 1854, with a brevet lieutenancy in the dragoons;
-a year later was promoted to second lieutenant, and in 1857 to first
-lieutenant. His military service of about seven years in the old army
-was rendered in the Second dragoons, mainly on the frontier in Kansas
-and Nebraska, participating in the Sioux expedition of 1855 and the
-march to Fort Lookout, Dakota, in 1856. He took part in the Utah
-campaign of 1857-58, and then after a period spent at the Carlisle
-cavalry school, was on duty in Utah until he resigned, March 31, 1861,
-to enter the service of the Southern Confederacy. He received the
-commission of captain of artillery from the government at Montgomery,
-and soon afterward was promoted colonel in the provisional army, and
-assigned to the Thirty-sixth Georgia regiment. In command of Georgia
-and Mississippi soldiers he first attracted attention by his heroic
-defense of Fort McRee, Pensacola harbor, during the bombardment of
-November 22, 1861. General Bragg reported at that time that for the
-number and caliber of guns brought into action it would rank with the
-heaviest bombardment of the world. The buildings of the fort were
-several times on fire, and Villepigue was seriously wounded, but
-his coolness inspired his volunteers to fight with the tenacity of
-veterans. Said Bragg: "An educated soldier, possessing in an eminent
-degree the love and confidence of his officers and men, he had been
-specially selected for this important and perilous post. The result
-fully vindicates the fortunate choice, and presents for our admiration,
-blended in perfect harmony, the modest but heroic soldier with the
-humble but confiding Christian." Villepigue was appointed chief of
-engineers and artillery on the staff of General Bragg, was for a time
-in command at Pensacola, then was at Mobile, and joining Bragg was
-promoted brigadier-general early in 1862. He was assigned to command
-at Fort Pillow on the Mississippi, General Beauregard sending him
-there as "the most energetic young officer" at his command. Week after
-week he held the open batteries, and kept back the enemy's superior
-land and naval forces until ordered to retire, when he blew up his
-fortifications and brought off his command in safety, June 4th. He was
-given command of a brigade of the army in Mississippi, under General
-Van Dorn, and at the battle of Corinth in October was distinguished
-both in the attack and in the protection of the rear during the
-retreat. Soon after this arduous and dispiriting campaign the young
-soldier was prostrated by a severe illness, which resulted in his death
-at Port Hudson, November 9, 1862.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Brigadier-General William Henry Wallace was born in Laurens county,
-March 24, 1827, son of Daniel Wallace, for several terms a member of
-the legislature, a major-general of militia, and from 1849 to 1853
-representative in Congress. His grandfather was Jonathan Wallace, a
-native of Virginia who removed to South Carolina before the war of
-the revolution, in which he was a patriot soldier. General Wallace
-was graduated at the South Carolina college in December, 1849, and in
-the following spring was married to Sarah, daughter of Robert Dunlap,
-of Newberry. She was the niece of James Dunlap, appointed governor
-of Florida by Andrew Jackson, and granddaughter of William Dunlap, a
-revolutionary soldier who was the grandson of John Hunter, a native
-of Ireland who was United States senator from South Carolina in
-1801. General Wallace was occupied as planter in Union county until
-1857, when he became the proprietor of the Union Times newspaper,
-and in 1859 began the practice of law at Union. In 1860 as a member
-of the legislature he supported the call for a convention, and at
-the expiration of his term he enlisted as a private in Company A,
-Eighteenth South Carolina volunteers. A few days later he was appointed
-adjutant of the regiment by Col. James M. Gadberry, who was killed
-at Second Manassas. Before going into the field the regiment was
-reorganized, and Wallace was elected lieutenant-colonel in May, 1861.
-The regiment was ordered into Virginia in time to engage the enemy near
-Malvern Hill in August, after which it fought at the battle of Second
-Manassas, losing about half its number in battle, including the gallant
-Colonel Gadberry. Wallace was at once promoted colonel, and he led
-his regiment, in the brigade of Gen. N. G. Evans, through the battles
-of South Mountain and Sharpsburg with the army of Northern Virginia.
-Subsequently he was on duty in defense of Charleston. In the spring of
-1864 the brigade under Gen. Stephen Elliott was ordered to Petersburg,
-where Colonel Wallace participated in the defense of the lines and all
-the operations of Bushrod Johnson's division. His brigade suffered most
-heavily at the battle of the Crater, four companies of his regiment
-being blown up or destroyed by falling earth at the explosion of the
-mine, July 30, 1864. In September he was promoted brigadier-general,
-and up to the eve of the surrender he commanded the brigade, fighting
-gallantly at Gravelly run and Namozine church on the retreat. At
-Appomattox Court House, on the night of April 8th, he was assigned by
-General Gordon to the command of Johnson's division, in which capacity
-he reported to Gen. Clement A. Evans and participated in the last
-action of the army on the morning of April 9th. After his parole he
-devoted himself to the practice of the law, the care of his plantation
-and the restoration of good government in the State. He was one of the
-few Democrats elected to the legislature in 1872, and was re-elected
-in 1874 and 1876. In 1877 he was chosen judge of the Seventh circuit,
-a position in which he continued to serve with honor and ability until
-1893, when he retired from public life.
-
- TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
-
- Compound nouns, names, and hyphenated words
- are not consistant in the original text.
-
- Silently corrected simple spelling, grammar, and typographical
- errors.
-
- Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
-
- Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
-
- Enclosed bold font in =equals signs=.
-
- The caret symbol (^) has been used to indicate superscript
- characters.
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Confederate Military History - Volume
-5 (of 12), by Ellison Capers
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-
-
-<pre>
-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Confederate Military History - Volume 5 (of
-12), by Ellison Capers
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-
-
-Title: Confederate Military History - Volume 5 (of 12)
- A Library of Confederate States History
-
-Author: Ellison Capers
-
-Editor: Clement Anselm Evans
-
-Release Date: December 21, 2015 [EBook #50737]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Alan and the Online Distributed Proofreading
-Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
-images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-</pre>
-
-
-<div class="mynote">
-Transcriber's Note:<br />
-For readability illustrations have been slightly moved thus altering the
-page numbers in the List of Illustrations. Compound nouns, names, and
-hyphenated words are not consistant in the original text.
-
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="center">
-<img src="images/frontcover.jpg" alt="" id="coverpage" />
-</div>
-
-<h1 class="break-before">
- <span class="smcap">Confederate<br />
- Military History</span></h1>
-
-<div class="center">
-<img src="images/fig1.jpg" alt="" id="printmark" />
-</div>
-
-
-<div class="center">
-
- A LIBRARY OF CONFEDERATE<br />
- STATES HISTORY, IN TWELVE<br />
- VOLUMES, WRITTEN BY DISTINGUISHED<br />
- MEN OF THE SOUTH,<br />
- AND EDITED BY GEN. CLEMENT<br />
- A. EVANS OF GEORGIA....
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="center">
-<img src="images/fig1.jpg" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-
-
-<div class="center">
-
- VOL. V.
-
-</div>
-
-
-<div class="center">
-<img src="images/fig1.jpg" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-
-<div class="center">
-
- Atlanta, Ga.<br />
- Confederate Publishing Company<br />
- 1899
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="center">
-<img src="images/fig2.jpg" alt="" id="printmark2" />
-</div>
-
-<div class="center">
-
- <span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1899,<br />
- BY <span class="smcap">Confederate Publishing Company.</span>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="center">
-<img src="images/fig2.jpg" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p class="ph2 break-before">
-
- TABLE OF CONTENTS.
-
-</p>
-
-
-<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="80%" summary="">
-
-<tr valign="top"><td>&nbsp;</td><td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a> Spirit of Secession&mdash;The State Militia&mdash;Charleston
- and the Forts&mdash;The Violated Agreement&mdash;Major Anderson
- Occupies Fort Sumter&mdash;South Carolina Occupies Pinckney
- and Moultrie&mdash;The Star of the West&mdash;Fort Sumter
- Surrendered&mdash;Carolinians in Virginia&mdash;Battle of Manassas</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">4</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a> Affairs on the Coast&mdash;Loss of Port Royal Harbor&mdash;Gen.
- R. E. Lee in Command of the Department&mdash;Landing
- of Federals at Port Royal Ferry&mdash;Gallant Fight on
- Edisto Island&mdash;General Pemberton Succeeds Lee
- in Command&mdash;Defensive Line, April, 1862</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">29</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a> South Carolinians in Virginia&mdash;Battle of
- Williamsburg&mdash;Eltham's Landing&mdash;Seven Pines and Fair
- Oaks&mdash;Nine-Mile Road&mdash;Gaines' Mill&mdash;Savage Station&mdash;Frayser's
- Farm&mdash;Malvern Hill</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">43</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a> The Coast of South Carolina, Summer of 1862&mdash;Operations
- under General Pemberton&mdash;Engagement at
- Old Pocotaligo&mdash;Campaign on James Island&mdash;Battle of
- Secessionville</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">76</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a> General Beauregard in Command&mdash;The Defenses
- of Charleston&mdash;Disposition of Troops&mdash;Battle of
- Pocotaligo&mdash;Repulse of Enemy at Coosawhatchie Bridge&mdash;Operations
- in North Carolina&mdash;Battle of Kinston&mdash;Defense
- of Goldsboro</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">94</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a> South Carolinians in the West&mdash;Manigault's
- and Lythgoe's Regiments at Corinth&mdash;The Kentucky Campaign&mdash;Battle
- of Murfreesboro</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">111</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a> With Lee in Northern Virginia, 1862&mdash;The
- Maneuvers on the Rappahannock&mdash;Second Manassas Campaign&mdash;Battle
- of Ox Hill</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">120</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a> The Maryland Campaign&mdash;The South
- Mountain Battles&mdash;Capture of Harper's Ferry&mdash;Battles of
- Sharpsburg and Shepherdstown</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">140</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a> Hampton's Cavalry in the Maryland Raid&mdash;The
- Battle of Fredericksburg&mdash;Death of Gregg&mdash;South Carolinians
- at Marye's Hill&mdash;Cavalry Operations</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">165</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a> Operations in South Carolina, Spring of 1863&mdash;Capture
- of the Isaac Smith&mdash;Ingraham's Defeat of the
- Blockading Squadron&mdash;Naval Attack on Fort Sumter&mdash;Hunter's
- Raids</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">188</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a> South Carolina Troops in Mississippi&mdash;Engagement
- near Jackson&mdash;The Vicksburg Campaign&mdash;Siege of
- Jackson</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">203</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a> South Carolinians in the Chancellorsville
- Campaign&mdash;Service of Kershaw's and McGowan's Brigades&mdash;A
- Great Confederate Victory</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">213</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a> Operations in South Carolina&mdash;Opening of
- Gillmore's Campaign against Fort Sumter&mdash;The Surprise of
- Morris Island&mdash;First Assault on Battery Wagner&mdash;Demonstrations
- on James Island and Against the Railroad&mdash;Action
- near Grimball's Landing</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">223</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a> Second Assault on Battery Wagner&mdash;Siege
- of Wagner and Bombardment of Fort Sumter&mdash;Evacuation
- of Morris Island</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">235</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a> The Gettysburg Campaign&mdash;Gallant Service
- of Perrin's and Kershaw's Brigades&mdash;Hampton's Cavalry
- at Brandy Station</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">257</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a> South Carolinians at Chickamauga&mdash;Organization
- of the Armies&mdash;South Carolinians Engaged&mdash;Their
- Heroic Service and Sacrifices</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">277</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a> The Siege of Charleston&mdash;Continued Bombardment
- of Fort Sumter&mdash;Defense Maintained by the Other
- Works&mdash;The Torpedo Boats&mdash;Bombardment of the City&mdash;Transfer
- of Troops to Virginia&mdash;Prisoners under Fire&mdash;Campaign
- on the Stono</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">291</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a> South Carolinians with Longstreet and
- Lee&mdash;Wauhatchie&mdash;Missionary Ridge&mdash;Knoxville&mdash;The Virginia
- Campaign of 1864&mdash;From the Wilderness to the Battle
- of the Crater</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">310</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</a> The Atlanta Campaign&mdash;Battles around
- Atlanta&mdash;Jonesboro&mdash;Hood's Campaign in North Georgia&mdash;The
- Defense of Ship's Gap&mdash;Last Campaign in Tennessee&mdash;Battle
- of Franklin</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">328</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</a> The Closing Scenes in Virginia&mdash;Siege of
- Richmond and Petersburg&mdash;Fall of Fort Fisher&mdash;South Carolina
- Commands at Appomattox</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">346</td></tr>
-<tr><td><p class="hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</a> Battle of Honey Hill&mdash;Sherman's Advance
- into South Carolina&mdash;Organization of the Confederate
- Forces&mdash;Burning of Columbia&mdash;Battles of Averasboro and
- Bentonville&mdash;Conclusion</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom">354</td></tr>
-<tr><td><a href="#BIOGRAPHICAL">BIOGRAPHICAL</a></td><td align="right">373</td></tr>
-
-
-</table>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p class="ph2 break-before">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</p>
-
-<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="40%" summary="">
-
-<tr valign="top"><td>&nbsp;</td><td align="right"><small>FACING PAGE.</small></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Bee, Barnard E.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_394">394</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Bonham, M. L.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_394">394</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Bratton, John</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_394">394</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Butler, M. C.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Capers, Ellison</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Charleston, Defenses</span> (Map)</td><td align="right">Between pages 296 and <a href="#Page_297">297</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Chestnut, James</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_394">394</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Connor, James</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_417">417</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Drayton, Thos. F.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_394">394</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Dunovant, John</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_394">394</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Elliott, Stephen, Jr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_394">394</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Evans, N. G.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_394">394</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Ferguson, S. W.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_417">417</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Gary, M. W.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_394">394</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Gist, S. R.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_417">417</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Gregg, Maxcy</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_417">417</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Hagood, Johnson</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_417">417</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Honey Hill, Battle</span> (Map)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_357">357</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Huger, Benjamin</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_409">409</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Jenkins, Micah</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_417">417</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Jones, David R.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_417">417</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Kennedy, John D.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_417">417</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Kershaw, J. B.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_409">409</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Logan, J. M.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_417">417</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">McGowan, Samuel</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_409">409</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Manigault, A. M.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_409">409</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Perrin, Abner</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_409">409</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Preston, John S.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_417">417</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Ripley, Roswell S.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_409">409</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">South Carolina</span> (Map)</td><td align="right">Between pages <a href="#Page_371">371</a> and <a href="#Page_372">372</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Stevens, C. H.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_409">409</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Villepigue, J. B.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_409">409</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">Wallace, W. H.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_409">409</a></td></tr>
-</table>
-
-<hr />
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter break-before">
-<img src="images/fig3.jpg" alt="" />
-<p class="caption center">ELLISON CAPERS</p>
-</div>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p>
-
-<p class="ph2 break-before">SOUTH CAROLINA<br />
-<br />
-<small>BY</small><br />
-<br />
-<span class="smcap">Brig.-Gen. Ellison Capers</span>.
-</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak">INTRODUCTORY.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>The writer of the following sketch does not attempt,
-in the space assigned him, to give a complete history
-of the various commands of Carolinians, who for four
-years did gallant and noble service in the armies of the
-Confederacy.</p>
-
-<p>A faithful record of their names alone would fill the
-pages of a volume, and to write a history of their marches
-and battles, their wounds and suffering, their willing sacrifices,
-and their patient endurance, would demand more
-accurate knowledge, more time and more ability than
-the author of this sketch can command.</p>
-
-<p>He trusts that in the brief history which follows he has
-been able to show that South Carolina did her duty to
-herself and to the Southern Confederacy, and did it
-nobly.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>SPIRIT OF SECESSION&mdash;THE STATE MILITIA&mdash;CHARLESTON
-AND THE FORTS&mdash;THE VIOLATED AGREEMENT&mdash;MAJOR
-ANDERSON OCCUPIES FORT SUMTER&mdash;SOUTH
-CAROLINA OCCUPIES PINCKNEY AND MOULTRIE&mdash;THE
-STAR OF THE WEST&mdash;FORT SUMTER
-SURRENDERED&mdash;CAROLINIANS IN VIRGINIA&mdash;BATTLE
-OF MANASSAS.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">From</span> the time that the election of the President was
-declared, early in November, 1860, the military
-spirit of the people of South Carolina was thoroughly
-awake. Secession from the Union was in the air,
-and when it came, on the 20th of December following, it
-was received as the ultimate decision of duty and the call
-of the State to arms. The one sentiment, everywhere
-expressed by the vast majority of the people, was the
-sentiment of independence; and the universal resolve
-was the determination to maintain the secession of the
-State at any and every cost.</p>
-
-<p>The militia of the State was, at the time, her only arm
-of defense, and every part of it was put under orders.</p>
-
-<p>Of the State militia, the largest organized body was
-the Fourth brigade of Charleston, commanded by Brig.-Gen.
-James Simons. This body of troops was well organized,
-well drilled and armed, and was constantly under
-the orders of the governor and in active service from
-the 27th of December, 1860, to the last of April, 1861.
-Some of the commands continued in service until the
-Confederate regiments, battalions and batteries were
-organized and finally absorbed all the effective material
-of the brigade.</p>
-
-<p>This efficient brigade was composed of the following
-commands:</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>First regiment of rifles: Col. J. J. Pettigrew, Lieut.-Col.
-John L. Branch, Maj. Ellison Capers, Adjt. Theodore
-G. Barker, Quartermaster Allen Hanckel, Commissary
-L. G. Young, Surg. George Trescot, Asst. Surg. Thomas
-L. Ozier, Jr. Companies: Washington Light Infantry,
-Capt. C. H. Simonton; Moultrie Guards, Capt. Barnwell
-W. Palmer; German Riflemen, Capt. Jacob Small; Palmetto
-Riflemen, Capt. Alex. Melchers; Meagher Guards,
-Capt. Edward McCrady, Jr.; Carolina Light Infantry,
-Capt. Gillard Pinckney; Zouave Cadets, Capt. C. E.
-Chichester.</p>
-
-<p>Seventeenth regiment: Col. John Cunningham, Lieut.-Col.
-William P. Shingler, Maj. J. J. Lucas, Adjt. F. A.
-Mitchel. Companies: Charleston Riflemen, Capt.
-Joseph Johnson, Jr.; Irish Volunteers, Capt. Edward
-McGrath; Cadet Riflemen, Capt. W. S. Elliott; Montgomery
-Guards, Capt. James Conner; Union Light Infantry,
-Capt. David Ramsay; German Fusiliers, Capt.
-Samuel Lord, Jr.; Palmetto Guards, Capt. Thomas W.
-Middleton; Sumter Guards, Capt. Henry C. King;
-Emmet Volunteers, Capt. P. Grace; Calhoun Guards,
-Capt. John Fraser.</p>
-
-<p>First regiment of artillery: Col. E. H. Locke, Lieut.-Col.
-W. G. De Saussure, Maj. John A. Wagener, Adjt.
-James Simmons, Jr.</p>
-
-<p>Light batteries: Marion Artillery, Capt. J. G. King;
-Washington Artillery, Capt. George H. Walter; Lafayette
-Artillery, Capt. J. J. Pope; German Artillery (A),
-Capt. C. Nohrden; German Artillery (B), Capt. H.
-Harms.</p>
-
-<p>Cavalry: Charleston Light Dragoons, Capt. B. H.
-Rutledge; German Hussars, Capt. Theodore Cordes;
-Rutledge Mounted Riflemen, Capt. C. K. Huger.</p>
-
-<p>Volunteer corps in the fire department: Vigilant Rifles,
-Capt. S. V. Tupper; Ph&#339;nix Rifles, Capt. Peter C. Gaillard;
-Ætna Rifles, Capt. E. F. Sweegan; Marion Rifles,
-Capt. C. B. Sigwald.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Charleston, the metropolis and seaport, for a time absorbed
-the interest of the whole State, for it was everywhere
-felt that the issue of secession, so far as war with
-the government of the United States was concerned, must
-be determined in her harbor. The three forts which had
-been erected by the government for the defense of the
-harbor, Moultrie, Castle Pinckney and Sumter, were built
-upon land ceded by the State for that purpose, and with
-the arsenal and grounds in Charleston, constituted the
-property of the United States.</p>
-
-<p>The secession of South Carolina having dissolved her
-connection with the government of the United States,
-the question of the possession of the forts in the harbor
-and of the military post at the arsenal became at once a
-question of vital interest to the State. Able commissioners,
-Robert W. Barnwell, James H. Adams and James
-L. Orr, were elected and sent by the convention of the
-State to treat with the government at Washington for an
-amicable settlement of this important question, and other
-questions growing out of the new relation which South
-Carolina bore to the Union. Pending the action of the
-commissioners in Washington, an unfortunate move was
-made by Maj. Robert Anderson, of the United States
-army, who commanded the only body of troops stationed
-in the harbor, which ultimately compelled the return of
-the commissioners and led to the most serious complications.
-An understanding had been established between
-the authorities in Washington and the members of Congress
-from South Carolina, that the forts would not be
-attacked, or seized as an act of war, until proper negotiations
-for their cession to the State had been made and had
-failed; provided that they were not reinforced, and their
-military status should remain as it was at the time of this
-understanding, viz., on December 9, 1860.</p>
-
-<p>Fort Sumter, in the very mouth of the harbor, was
-in an unfinished state and without a garrison. On the
-night of the 26th of December, 1860, Maj. Robert Ander<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>son
-dismantled Fort Moultrie and removed his command
-by boats over to Fort Sumter. The following account of
-the effect of this removal of Major Anderson upon the
-people, and the action of the government, is taken from
-Brevet Major-General Crawford's "Genesis of the Civil
-War." General Crawford was at the time on the medical
-staff and one of Anderson's officers. His book is a clear
-and admirable narrative of the events of those most eventful
-days, and is written in the spirit of the utmost candor
-and fairness. In the conclusion of the chapter describing
-the removal, he says:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>The fact of the evacuation of Fort Moultrie by Major
-Anderson was soon communicated to the authorities and
-people of Charleston, creating intense excitement.
-Crowds collected in streets and open places of the city,
-and loud and violent were the expressions of feeling
-against Major Anderson and his action.... [The governor
-of the State was ready to act in accordance with
-the feeling displayed.] On the morning of the 27th, he
-dispatched his aide-de-camp, Col. Johnston Pettigrew, of
-the First South Carolina Rifles, to Major Anderson. He
-was accompanied by Maj. Ellison Capers, of his regiment.
-Arriving at Fort Sumter, Colonel Pettigrew sent a card
-inscribed, "Colonel Pettigrew, First Regiment Rifles,
-S.C.M., Aide-de-Camp to the Governor, Commissioner
-to Major Anderson. Ellison Capers, Major First Regiment
-Rifles, S.C.M." ... Colonel Pettigrew and his
-companion were ushered into the room. The feeling was
-reserved and formal, when, after declining seats, Colonel
-Pettigrew immediately opened his mission: "Major
-Anderson," said he, "can I communicate with you now,
-sir, before these officers, on the subject for which I am
-here?" "Certainly, sir," replied Major Anderson, "these
-are all my officers; I have no secrets from them, sir."</p>
-
-<p>The commissioner then informed Major Anderson that
-he was directed to say to him that the governor was much
-surprised that he had reinforced "this work." Major
-Anderson promptly responded that there had been no
-reinforcement of the work; that he had removed his
-command from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, as he had
-a right to do, being in command of all the forts in the
-harbor. To this Colonel Pettigrew replied that when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>
-the present governor (Pickens) came into office, he found
-an understanding existing between the previous governor
-(Gist) and the President of the United States, by which
-all property within the limits of the State was to remain
-as it was; that no reinforcements were to be sent here,
-particularly to this post; that there was to be no
-attempt made against the public property by the State,
-and that the status in the harbor should remain unchanged.
-He was directed also to say to Major Anderson
-that it had been hoped by the governor that a peaceful
-solution of the difficulties could have been reached, and a
-resort to arms and bloodshed might have been avoided;
-but that the governor thought the action of Major
-Anderson had greatly complicated matters, and that he
-did not now see how bloodshed could be avoided; that
-he had desired and intended that the whole matter might
-be fought out politically and without the arbitration of
-the sword, but that now it was uncertain, if not impossible.</p>
-
-<p>To this Major Anderson replied, that as far as any
-understanding between the President and the governor
-was concerned, he had not been informed; that he knew
-nothing of it; that he could get no information or positive
-orders from Washington, and that his position was threatened
-every night by the troops of the State. He was
-then asked by Major Capers, who accompanied Colonel
-Pettigrew, "How?" when he replied, "By sending out
-steamers armed and conveying troops on board;" that
-these steamers passed the fort going north, and that he
-feared a landing on the island and the occupation of the
-sand-hills just north of the fort; that 100 riflemen on
-these hills, which commanded his fort, would make it
-impossible for his men to serve their guns; and that any
-man with a military head must see this. "To prevent
-this," said he earnestly, "I removed on my own responsibility,
-my sole object being to prevent bloodshed." Major
-Capers replied that the steamer was sent out for patrol
-purposes, and as much to prevent disorder among his
-own people as to ascertain whether any irregular attempt
-was being made to reinforce the fort, and that the idea
-of attacking him was never entertained by the little
-squad who patrolled the harbor.</p>
-
-<p>Major Anderson replied to this that he was wholly in
-the dark as to the intentions of the State troops, but that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
-had reason to believe that they meant to land and attack
-him from the north; that the desire of the governor to have
-the matter settled peacefully and without bloodshed was
-precisely his object in removing his command from Moultrie
-to Sumter; that he did it upon his own responsibility
-alone, because he considered that the safety of his command
-required it, as he had a right to do. "In this controversy,"
-said he, "between the North and the South,
-my sympathies are entirely with the South. These
-gentlemen," said he (turning to the officers of the post
-who stood about him), "know it perfectly well." Colonel
-Pettigrew replied, "Well, sir, however that may be, the
-governor of the State directs me to say to you courteously
-but peremptorily, to return to Fort Moultrie." "Make
-my compliments to the governor (said Anderson) and say
-to him that I decline to accede to his request; I cannot
-and will not go back." "Then, sir," said Pettigrew,
-"my business is done," when both officers, without further
-ceremony or leavetaking, left the fort.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Colonel Pettigrew and Major Capers returned to the
-city and made their report to the governor and council
-who were in session in the council chamber of the city
-hall. That afternoon Major Anderson raised the flag of
-his country over Sumter, and went vigorously to work
-mounting his guns and putting the fort in military order.
-The same afternoon the governor issued orders to Colonel
-Pettigrew, First regiment of rifles, and to Col. W. G.
-De Saussure, First regiment artillery, commanding them
-to take immediate possession of Castle Pinckney and
-Fort Moultrie. Neither fort was garrisoned, and the
-officers in charge, after making a verbal protest, left and
-went to Fort Sumter, and the Palmetto flag was raised
-over Moultrie and Pinckney. In the same manner the
-arsenal in Charleston was taken possession of by a detachment
-of the Seventeenth regiment, South Carolina militia,
-Col. John Cunningham, and Fort Johnson on James
-island, by Capt. Joseph Johnson, commanding the Charleston
-Riflemen. The governor also ordered a battery to be
-built for two 24-pounders on Morris island, bearing on
-Ship channel, and his order was speedily put into execu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>tion
-by Maj. P. F. Stevens, superintendent of the South
-Carolina military academy, with a detachment of the
-cadets, supported by the Vigilant Rifles, Captain Tupper.
-This battery was destined soon to fire the first gun of the
-war. In taking possession of the forts and the arsenal,
-every courtesy was shown the officers in charge, Captain
-Humphreys, commanding the arsenal, saluting his flag
-before surrendering the property.</p>
-
-<p>By the possession of Forts Moultrie and Pinckney and
-the arsenal in Charleston, their military stores fell into
-the hands of the State of South Carolina, and by the governor's
-orders a careful inventory was made at once of
-all the property and duly reported to him. At Moultrie
-there were sixteen 24-pounders, nineteen 32-pounders,
-ten 8-inch columbiads, one 10-inch seacoast mortar, four
-6-pounders, two 12-pounders and four 24-pounder howitzers
-and a large supply of ammunition. At Castle Pinckney
-the armament was nearly complete and the magazine
-well filled with powder. At the arsenal there was a large
-supply of military stores, heavy ordnance and small-arms.
-These exciting events were followed by the attempt of
-the government to succor Major Anderson with supplies
-and reinforce his garrison.</p>
-
-<p>The supplies and troops were sent in a large merchant
-steamer, the Star of the West. She crossed the bar early
-on the morning of January 9, 1861, and steamed up Ship
-channel, which runs for miles parallel with Morris island,
-and within range of guns of large caliber. Her course lay
-right under the 24-pounder battery commanded by Major
-Stevens and manned by the cadets. This battery was
-supported by the Zouave Cadets, Captain Chichester; the
-German Riflemen, Captain Small, and the Vigilant Rifles,
-Captain Tupper. When within range a shot was fired
-across her bow, and not heeding it, the battery fired
-directly upon her. Fort Moultrie also fired a few shots,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>
-and the Star of the West rapidly changed her course and,
-turning round, steamed out of the range of the guns,
-having received but little material damage by the fire.</p>
-
-<p>Major Anderson acted with great forbearance and judgment,
-and did not open his batteries. He declared his
-purpose to be patriotic, and so it undoubtedly was. He
-wrote to the governor that, influenced by the hope that
-the firing on the Star of the West was not supported by
-the authority of the State, he had refrained from opening
-fire upon the batteries, and declared that unless it was
-promptly disclaimed he would regard it as an act of war,
-and after waiting a reasonable time he would fire upon
-all vessels coming within range of his guns.</p>
-
-<p>The governor promptly replied, justifying the action of
-the batteries in firing upon the vessel, and giving his
-reasons in full. He pointed out to Major Anderson that
-his removal to Fort Sumter and the circumstances attending
-it, and his attitude since were a menace to the State
-of a purpose of coercion; that the bringing into the harbor
-of more troops and supplies of war was in open defiance
-of the State, and an assertion of a purpose to reduce her
-to abject submission to the government she had discarded;
-that the vessel had been fairly warned not to continue
-her course, and that his threat to fire upon the vessels in
-the harbor was in keeping with the evident purpose of
-the government of the United States to dispute the right
-of South Carolina to dissolve connection with the Union.
-This right was not to be debated or questioned, urged
-the governor, and the coming of the Star of the West, sent
-by the order of the President, after being duly informed
-by commissioners sent to him by the convention of the
-people of the State to fully inform him of the act of the
-State in seceding from the Union, and of her claim of
-rights and privileges in the premises, could have no other
-meaning than that of open and hostile disregard for the
-asserted independence of South Carolina. To defend
-that independence and to resent and resist any and every<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>
-act of coercion are "too plainly a duty," said Governor
-Pickens, "to allow it to be discussed."</p>
-
-<p>To the governor's letter Major Anderson replied, that
-he would refer the whole matter to the government at
-Washington, and defer his purpose to fire upon vessels in
-the harbor until he could receive his instructions in reply.
-Thus a truce was secured, and meanwhile active preparations
-for war were made daily by Major Anderson in Fort
-Sumter and by Governor Pickens on the islands surrounding
-it. War seemed inevitable, and the whole State, as
-one man, was firmly resolved to meet it.</p>
-
-<p>The legislature had passed a bill on December 17th
-providing for the organization of ten regiments for the
-defense of the State, and the convention had ordered the
-formation of a regiment for six months' service, to be
-embodied at once, the governor to appoint the field
-officers. This last was "Gregg's First regiment," which
-was organized in January, 1861, and on duty on Sullivan's
-and Morris islands by the 1st of February following.
-The governor appointed Maxcy Gregg, of Columbia, colonel;
-Col. A. H. Gladden, who had been an officer of the
-Palmetto regiment in the Mexican war, lieutenant-colonel;
-and D. H. Hamilton, the late marshal of the
-United States court in South Carolina, major. On March
-6, 1861, the adjutant-general of the State reported to Gen.
-M. L. Bonham, whom the governor had commissioned
-major-general, to command the division formed under the
-act of December 17, 1860, that he had received into the
-service of the State 104 companies, under the said act of
-the legislature, aggregating an effective force of 8,836
-men and officers; that these companies had been formed
-into ten regiments and the regiments into four brigades.</p>
-
-<p>These regiments were mustered for twelve months'
-service, were numbered respectively from 1 to 10, inclusive,
-and commanded by Cols. Johnson Hagood, J. B.
-Kershaw, J. H. Williams, J. B. E. Sloan, M. Jenkins,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>
-J. H. Rion, T. G. Bacon, E. B. Cash, J. D. Blanding,
-and A. M. Manigault.</p>
-
-<p>The brigadier-generals appointed by the governor
-under the act above referred to, were R. G. M. Dunovant
-and P. H. Nelson. By an act of the legislature, January
-28, 1861, the governor was authorized to raise a battalion
-of artillery and a regiment of infantry, both to be formed
-and enlisted in the service of the State as regulars, and to
-form the basis of the regular army of South Carolina.
-The governor appointed, under the act, R. S. Ripley,
-lieutenant-colonel in command of the artillery battalion,
-and Richard Anderson, colonel of the infantry regiment.
-The artillery battalion was afterward increased to a regiment,
-and the regiment of infantry converted, practically,
-into a regiment of artillery. Both regiments served in
-the forts and batteries of the harbor throughout the war,
-with the greatest distinction, as will afterward appear.
-These troops, with the Fourth brigade, South Carolina
-militia, were under the orders of the government and
-were practically investing Fort Sumter.</p>
-
-<p>The States of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
-Louisiana and Texas, having left the Union during the
-month of January, and the Confederate government having
-been organized early in February, at Montgomery,
-President Davis, on the 1st of March, ordered Brigadier-General
-Beauregard to Charleston to report for duty to
-Governor Pickens. Thenceforward this distinguished
-soldier became the presiding genius of military operations
-in and around Charleston.</p>
-
-<p>Repeated demands having been made upon Major Anderson,
-and upon the President, for the relinquishment
-of Fort Sumter, and these demands having been refused
-and the government at Washington having concluded
-to supply and reinforce the fort by force of arms, it was
-determined to summon Major Anderson to evacuate the
-fort, for the last time. Accordingly, on April 11th, General
-Beauregard sent him the following communication:</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-<p>
-Headquarters Provisional Army, C. S. A.<br />
-Charleston, April 11, 1861.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>Sir: The government of the Confederate States has
-hitherto foreborne from any hostile demonstrations
-against Fort Sumter, in hope that the government of the
-United States, with a view to the amicable adjustment of
-all questions between the two governments, and to avert
-the calamities of war, would voluntarily evacuate it.</p>
-
-<p>There was reason at one time to believe that such
-would be the course pursued by the government of the
-United States, and under that impression my government
-has refrained from making any demand for the surrender
-of the fort. But the Confederate States can no longer
-delay assuming actual possession of a fortification commanding
-the entrance of one of their harbors and necessary
-to its defense and security.</p>
-
-<p>I am ordered by the government of the Confederate
-States to demand the evacuation of Fort Sumter. My
-aides, Colonel Chestnut and Captain Lee, are authorized
-to make such demand of you. All proper facilities will
-be afforded for the removal of yourself and command,
-together with company arms and property, and all private
-property, to any post in the United States which you may
-select. The flag which you have upheld so long and with
-so much fortitude, under the most trying circumstances,
-may be saluted by you on taking it down. Colonel
-Chestnut and Captain Lee will, for a reasonable time,
-await your answer.</p>
-
-<p>I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,</p>
-
-<p>
-G. T.<span class="smcap">Beauregard</span>, Brigadier-General Commanding.<br />
-</p>
-</blockquote>
-
-<p>Major Anderson replied as follows:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>
-
-Fort Sumter, S. C., April 11, 1861.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>General: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt
-of your communication demanding the evacuation of this
-fort, and to say, in reply thereto, that it is a demand with
-which I regret that my sense of honor, and of my obligations
-to my government, prevent my compliance. Thanking
-you for the fair, manly and courteous terms proposed,
-and for the high compliment paid me,</p>
-
-<p>I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Robert Anderson</span>,<br />
-Major, First Artillery, Commanding.<br />
-</p>
-</blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Major Anderson, while conversing with the messengers
-of General Beauregard, having remarked that he would
-soon be starved into a surrender of the fort, or words to
-that effect, General Beauregard was induced to address
-him a second letter, in which he proposed that the major
-should fix a time at which he would agree to evacuate,
-and agree also not to use his guns against the Confederate
-forces unless they fired upon him, and so doing, he,
-General Beauregard, would abstain from hostilities. To
-this second letter Major Anderson replied, naming noon
-on the 15th, provided that no hostile act was committed
-by the Confederate forces, or any part of them, and provided,
-further, that he should not, meanwhile, receive
-from the government at Washington controlling instructions
-or additional supplies.</p>
-
-<p>The fleet which was to reinforce and supply him was
-then collecting outside the bar, and General Beauregard
-at once notified him, at 3:20 a. m. on the morning of the
-12th of April, that he would open fire on the fort in one
-hour from that time.</p>
-
-<p>The shell which opened the momentous bombardment
-of Fort Sumter was fired from a mortar, located at Fort
-Johnson on James island, at 4:30 on the morning of the
-12th.</p>
-
-<p>For over three months the troops stationed on the
-islands surrounding Fort Sumter had been constantly
-employed building batteries, mounting guns, and making
-every preparation for the defense of the harbor, and, if
-necessary, for an attack on the fort if the government
-at Washington persisted in its refusal to order its
-evacuation. Lieut.-Col. R. S. Ripley, an able and energetic
-soldier, commanded the artillery on Sullivan's
-island, with his headquarters at Fort Moultrie, Brigadier-General
-Dunovant commanding the island. Under
-Ripley's direction, six 10-inch mortars and twenty
-guns bore on Sumter. The guns were 24, 32 and 42
-pounders, 8-inch columbiads and one 9-inch Dahlgren.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>
-The supports to the batteries were the First regiment of
-rifles, Colonel Pettigrew; the regiment of infantry, South
-Carolina regulars, Col. Richard Anderson; the Charleston
-Light Dragoons, Capt. B. H. Rutledge, and the German
-Flying Artillery, the latter attached to Col. Pettigrew's
-command, stationed at the east end of the island. These
-commands, with Ripley's battalion of South Carolina
-regular artillery and Capt. Robert Martin's mortar battery
-on Mount Pleasant, made up the force under General
-Dunovant.</p>
-
-<p>On Morris island, Gen. James Simons was commanding,
-with Lieut.-Col. W. G. De Saussure for his artillery chief,
-and Maj. W. H. C. Whiting for chief of staff. The infantry
-supports on the island were the regiments of Cols.
-John Cunningham, Seventeenth South Carolina militia,
-and Maxcy Gregg, Johnson Hagood and J. B. Kershaw,
-of the South Carolina volunteers. The artillery was in
-position bearing on Ship channel, and at Cummings point,
-bearing on Sumter. The fleet making no attempt to
-come in, the channel batteries took no part in the bombardment
-of Sumter.</p>
-
-<p>On Cummings point, six 10-inch mortars and six guns
-were placed. To the command and direction of these
-guns, Maj. P. F. Stevens was specially assigned. One
-of the batteries on the point was of unique structure,
-hitherto unknown in war. Three 8-inch columbiads
-were put in battery under a roofing of heavy timbers,
-laid at an angle of forty degrees, and covered with railroad
-T iron. Portholes were cut and these protected by
-heavy iron shutters, raised and lowered from the inside
-of the battery. This battery was devised and built by
-Col. Clement H. Stevens, of Charleston, afterward a brigadier-general
-and mortally wounded in front of Atlanta,
-July 20, 1864, leading his brigade. "Stevens' iron battery,"
-as it was called, was "the first ironclad fortification
-ever erected," and initiated the present system of
-armor-plated vessels. The three mortars in battery at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>
-Fort Johnson were commanded by Capt. G. S. James.
-The batteries above referred to, including Fort Moultrie,
-contained fifteen 10-inch mortars and twenty-six guns
-of heavy caliber.</p>
-
-<p>For thirty-four hours they assaulted Sumter with an
-unceasing bombardment, before its gallant defenders
-consented to give it up, and not then until the condition
-of the fort made it impossible to continue the defense.
-Fort Moultrie alone fired 2,490 shot and shell. Gen. S.
-W. Crawford, in his accurate and admirable book, previously
-quoted, thus describes the condition of Sumter
-when Anderson agreed to its surrender:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>It was a scene of ruin and destruction. The quarters
-and barracks were in ruins. The main gates and the
-planking of the windows on the gorge were gone; the
-magazines closed and surrounded by smouldering flames
-and burning ashes; the provisions exhausted; much of
-the engineering work destroyed; and with only four barrels
-of powder available. The command had yielded to the
-inevitable. The effect of the direct shot had been to
-indent the walls, where the marks could be counted by
-hundreds, while the shells, well directed, had crushed the
-quarters, and, in connection with hot shot, setting them
-on fire, had destroyed the barracks and quarters down to
-the gun casemates, while the enfilading fire had prevented
-the service of the barbette guns, some of them comprising
-the most important battery in the work. The breaching
-fire from the columbiads and the rifle gun at Cummings
-point upon the right gorge angle, had progressed
-sensibly and must have eventually succeeded if continued,
-but as yet no guns had been disabled or injured at that
-point. The effect of the fire upon the parapet was pronounced.
-The gorge, the right face and flank as well as
-the left face, were all taken in reverse, and a destructive
-fire maintained until the end, while the gun carriages on
-the barbette of the gorge were destroyed in the fire of
-the blazing quarters.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The spirit and language of General Beauregard in communicating
-with Major Anderson, and the replies of the
-latter, were alike honorable to those distinguished soldiers.
-The writer, who was on duty on Sullivan's island,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>
-as major of Pettigrew's regiment of rifles, recalls vividly
-the sense of admiration felt for Major Anderson and his
-faithful little command throughout the attack, and at the
-surrender of the fort. "While the barracks in Fort Sumter
-were in a blaze," wrote General Beauregard to the
-secretary of war at Montgomery, "and the interior of the
-work appeared untenable from the heat and from the
-fire of our batteries (at about which period I sent three
-of my aides to offer assistance), whenever the guns of
-Fort Sumter would fire upon Moultrie, the men occupying
-the Cummings point batteries (Palmetto Guard, Captain
-Cuthbert) at each shot would cheer Anderson for his
-gallantry, although themselves still firing upon him; and
-when on the 15th instant he left the harbor on the steamer
-Isabel, the soldiers of the batteries lined the beach, silent
-and uncovered, while Anderson and his command passed
-before them."</p>
-
-<p>Thus closed the memorable and momentous attack upon
-Fort Sumter by the forces of South Carolina, and thus
-began the war which lasted until April, 1865, when the
-Southern Confederacy, as completely ruined and exhausted
-by fire and sword as Fort Sumter in April, 1861,
-gave up the hopeless contest and reluctantly accepted the
-inevitable.</p>
-
-<p>The following is believed to be a correct list of the
-officers who commanded batteries, or directed, particularly,
-the firing of the guns, with the commands serving
-the same:</p>
-
-<p>On Cummings point: (1) Iron battery&mdash;three 8-inch
-columbiads, manned by detachments of Palmetto Guard,
-Capt. George B. Cuthbert directing, assisted by Lieut.
-G. L. Buist. (2) Point battery&mdash;mortars, by Lieut. N.
-Armstrong, assisted by Lieut. R. Holmes; 42-pounders,
-Lieut. T. S. Brownfield; rifle gun, directed by Capt. J. P.
-Thomas, who, with Lieutenant Armstrong, was an officer
-of the South Carolina military academy. Iron battery
-and Point battery both manned by Palmetto Guard. (3)<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>
-Trapier battery&mdash;three 10-inch mortars, by Capt. J.
-Gadsden King and Lieuts. W. D. H. Kirkwood and
-Edward L. Parker; Corp. McMillan King, Jr., and Privates
-J. S. and Robert Murdock, pointing the mortars; a
-detachment of Marion artillery manning the battery,
-assisted by a detachment of the Sumter Guards, Capt.
-John Russell.</p>
-
-<p>On Sullivan's island: (1) Fort Moultrie&mdash;Capt. W. R.
-Calhoun, Lieutenants Wagner, Rhett, Preston, Sitgreaves,
-Mitchell, Parker, Blake (acting engineer). (2)
-mortars&mdash;Capt. William Butler and Lieutenants Huguenin,
-Mowry, Blocker, Billings and Rice. (3) Mortars&mdash;Lieutenants
-Flemming and Blanding. (4) Enfilade&mdash;Captain
-Hallonquist and Lieutenants Valentine and Burnet.
-(5) Floating battery&mdash;Lieutenants Yates and Frank
-Harleston. (6) Dahlgren battery&mdash;Captain Hamilton.</p>
-
-<p>On Mount Pleasant: (1) Mortars&mdash;Captain Martin and
-Lieuts. F. H. Robertson and G. W. Reynolds.</p>
-
-<p>On Fort Johnson: (1) Mortars&mdash;Capt. G. S. James and
-Lieut. W. H. Gibbes.</p>
-
-<p>Immediately upon the fall of Sumter the most active
-and constant efforts were made by Governor Pickens and
-General Beauregard to repair and arm the fort, to
-strengthen the batteries defending the harbor, and to
-defend the city from an attack by the Stono river and
-James island. General Beauregard inspected the coast,
-and works of defense were begun on James island and
-at Port Royal harbor.</p>
-
-<p>But South Carolina was now to enjoy freedom from
-attack, by land or sea, until early in November, and while
-her soldiers and her people were making ready her defense,
-and her sons were flocking to her standard in larger
-numbers than she could organize and arm, she was called
-upon to go to the help of Virginia. William H. Trescot,
-of South Carolina, in his beautiful memorial of Brig.-Gen.
-Johnston Pettigrew, has described the spirit with which
-"the youth and manhood of the South" responded to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>
-the call to arms, in language so true, so just and so eloquent,
-that the author of this sketch inserts it here.
-Writing more than five years after the close of the great
-struggle, Mr. Trescot said:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>We who are the vanquished in this battle must of necessity
-leave to a calmer and wiser posterity to judge of the
-intrinsic worth of that struggle, as it bears upon the
-principles of constitutional liberty, and as it must affect
-the future history of the American people; but there is
-one duty not only possible but imperative, a duty which
-we owe alike to the living and the dead, and that is the
-preservation in perpetual and tender remembrance of the
-lives of those who, to use a phrase scarcely too sacred for
-so unselfish a sacrifice, died in the hope that we might
-live. Especially is this our duty, because in the South a
-choice between the parties and principles at issue was
-scarcely possible. From causes which it is exceedingly
-interesting to trace, but which I cannot now develop
-the feeling of State loyalty had acquired throughout the
-South an almost fanatic intensity; particularly in the
-old colonial States did this devotion to the State assume
-that blended character of affection and duty which gives
-in the old world such a chivalrous coloring to loyalty to
-the crown.... When, therefore, by the formal and constitutional
-act of the States, secession from the Federal government
-was declared in 1860 and 1861, it is almost
-impossible for any one not familiar with the habits and
-thoughts of the South, to understand how completely the
-question of duty was settled for Southern men. Shrewd,
-practical men who had no faith in the result, old and
-eminent men who had grown gray in service under the
-national flag, had their doubts and their misgivings; but
-there was no hesitation as to what they were to do.
-Especially to that great body of men, just coming into
-manhood, who were preparing to take their places as the
-thinkers and actors of the next generation, was this call
-of the State an imperative summons.</p>
-
-<p>The fathers and mothers who had reared them; the
-society whose traditions gave both refinement and assurance
-to their young ambition; the colleges in which the
-creed of Mr. Calhoun was the text-book of their studies;
-the friends with whom they planned their future; the
-very land they loved, dear to them as thoughtless boys,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>
-dearer to them as thoughtful men, were all impersonate,
-living, speaking, commanding in the State of which they
-were children. Never in the history of the world has
-there been a nobler response to a more thoroughly recognized
-duty; nowhere anything more truly glorious
-than this outburst of the youth and manhood of the
-South.</p>
-
-<p>And now that the end has come and we have seen it,
-it seems to me that to a man of humanity, I care not in
-what section his sympathies may have been matured,
-there never has been a sadder or sublimer spectacle than
-these earnest and devoted men, their young and vigorous
-columns marching through Richmond to the Potomac,
-like the combatants of ancient Rome, beneath the imperial
-throne in the amphitheater, and exclaiming with uplifted
-arms, "<i>morituri te salutant</i>."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>President Lincoln had issued his proclamation calling
-for 75,000 volunteers to coerce the South; Virginia had
-withdrawn from the Union, and before the end of April
-had called Lee, J. E. Johnston and Jackson into her service;
-the seat of the Confederate government had been
-transferred from Montgomery, Ala., to Richmond; and
-early in May, General Beauregard was relieved from duty
-in South Carolina and ordered to the command of the
-Alexandria line, with headquarters at Manassas Junction.
-He had been preceded by General Bonham, then a Confederate
-brigadier, with the regiments of Colonels Gregg,
-Kershaw, Bacon, Cash, Jenkins and Sloan&mdash;First, Second,
-Seventh, Eighth, Fifth and Fourth South Carolina volunteers.</p>
-
-<p>Before General Beauregard's arrival in Virginia, General
-Bonham with his Carolina troops had been placed in
-command of the Alexandria line, the regiments being
-at Fairfax Court House, and other points of this line,
-fronting Washington and Alexandria.</p>
-
-<p>These South Carolina regiments were reinforced during
-the month of July by the Third, Colonel Williams; the
-Sixth, Colonel Rion, and the Ninth, Colonel Blanding.
-The infantry of the Hampton legion, under Col. Wade<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>
-Hampton, reached the battlefield of Manassas on the
-morning of July 21st, but in time to take a full share in
-that decisive contest.</p>
-
-<p>On the 20th of June, General Beauregard, commanding
-the "army of the Potomac," headquarters at Manassas
-Junction, organized his army into six brigades, the First
-commanded by Bonham, composed of the regiments of
-Gregg, Kershaw, Bacon and Cash. Sloan's regiment
-was assigned to the Sixth brigade, Early's; and Jenkins'
-regiment to the Third, Gen. D. R. Jones. Col. N. G.
-Evans, an officer of the old United States army, having
-arrived at Manassas, was assigned to command of a
-temporary brigade&mdash;Sloan's Fourth South Carolina,
-Wheat's Louisiana battalion, two companies Virginia
-cavalry, and four 6-pounder guns.</p>
-
-<p>On the 11th of July, General Beauregard wrote to the
-President that the enemy was concentrating in his front
-at Falls church, with a force of not less than 35,000 men,
-and that to oppose him he had only about half that number.
-On the 17th, Bonham's brigade, stationed at Fairfax, met
-the first aggressive movement of General McDowell's
-army, and was attacked early in the morning. By General
-Beauregard's orders Bonham retired through Centreville,
-and took the position assigned him behind Mitchell's
-ford, on Bull run. The Confederate army was in position
-behind Bull run, extending from Union Mills ford on the
-right to the stone bridge on the left, a distance of 5
-miles.</p>
-
-<p>The brigades were stationed, from right to left, as follows:
-Ewell, D. R. Jones, Longstreet, Bonham, Cocke,
-and Evans on the extreme left. Early was in reserve,
-in rear of the right. To each brigade a section or a
-battery of artillery was attached, except in the case of
-Bonham who had two batteries and six companies of
-cavalry attached to his command. Seven other cavalry
-companies were distributed among the other brigades.
-Bonham's position was behind Mitchell's ford, with his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>
-four regiments of Carolinians; Jenkins' Fifth regiment
-was with General Jones' brigade, behind McLean's ford,
-and Sloan's Fourth regiment was with Evans' brigade
-on the left, at the stone bridge. With this disposition of his
-little army, General Beauregard awaited the development
-of the enemy's movement against him.</p>
-
-<p>At noon on the 18th, Bonham at Mitchell's ford and
-Longstreet at Blackburn's ford, were attacked with infantry
-and artillery, and both attacks were repulsed. General
-McDowell was engaged on the 19th and 20th in
-reconnoitering the Confederate position, and made no
-decided indication of his ultimate purpose. The delay was
-golden for the Confederates. Important reinforcements
-arrived on the 20th and on the morning of the 21st, which
-were chiefly to fight and win the battle, while the main
-body of Beauregard's army held the line of Bull run.
-General Holmes, from the lower Potomac, came with
-over 1,200 infantry, six guns and a fine company of cavalry;
-Colonel Hampton, with the infantry of his legion,
-600 strong, and the Thirteenth Mississippi; Gen. Joseph
-E. Johnston, from the Shenandoah, with Jackson's,
-Bee's and Bartow's brigades, 300 of Stuart's cavalry and
-two batteries, Imboden's and Pendleton's.</p>
-
-<p>The reinforcements were put in line in rear of the
-troops already in position, Bee and Bartow behind Longstreet,
-covering McLean's and Blackburn's fords, with
-Barksdale's Thirteenth Mississippi; Jackson in rear of
-Bonham, covering Mitchell's ford; and Cocke's brigade,
-covering the fords further to the left, was strengthened
-and supported by a regiment of infantry and six guns,
-and Hampton was stationed at the Lewis house. Walton's
-and Pendleton's batteries were placed in reserve in
-rear of Bonham and Bee. Thus strengthened, the army
-of General Beauregard numbered about 30,000 effectives,
-with fifty-five guns.</p>
-
-<p>General Beauregard had planned an attack on McDowell's
-left, which was to be executed on the 21st; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>
-before he put his right brigades in motion, McDowell had
-crossed two of his divisions at Sudley's ford, two miles to
-the left of Evans, who was posted at the stone bridge, and
-while threatening Evans and Cocke in front, was marching
-rapidly down the rear of Beauregard's left. Satisfied
-of this movement, Evans left four companies of the
-Fourth South Carolina to defend the bridge, and taking
-the six remaining companies of the Fourth, with
-Wheat's Louisiana battalion and two guns of Latham's
-battery, moved rapidly to his rear and left and formed
-his little brigade at right angles to the line on Bull run
-and just north of the turnpike road. In this position he
-was at once assailed by the advance of the enemy, but held
-his ground for an hour, when Bee, who had been moved
-up to stone bridge, came to his assistance. Evans, with
-his Carolinians and Louisianians; Bee, with his Alabama,
-Mississippi and Tennessee regiments, and Bartow with
-his Georgia and Kentucky battalions, and the batteries
-of Latham and Imboden, with heroic fortitude sustained
-the assault for another hour, before falling back south of
-the turnpike. It was then evident that the battle was
-not to be fought in front of Bull run, but behind it, and
-in rear of General Beauregard's extreme left. Both
-generals, whose headquarters had been at the Lewis
-house, three miles away, hurried to the point of attack
-and arrived, as General Johnston reported, "not a moment
-too soon." Fifteen thousand splendidly equipped troops
-of McDowell's army, with numerous batteries, many of
-the guns rifled, were driving back the little brigade of
-Evans and the regiments of the gallant Bee and Bartow,
-and the moment was critical. The presence and example
-of the commanding generals, the firm conduct of the
-officers, and the hurrying forward of Hampton with his
-legion, and Jackson with his brigade, re-established the
-battle on the line of the Henry house, a half mile south
-of the turnpike and two miles in the rear of the stone
-bridge. Beauregard took immediate command on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>
-field of battle, and Johnston assumed the general direction
-from the Lewis house, whose commanding elevation
-gave him a view of the whole field of operations. "The
-aspect of affairs (he says in his report) was critical, but I
-had full confidence in the skill and indomitable courage
-of General Beauregard, the high soldierly qualities of
-Generals Bee and Jackson and Colonel Evans, and the
-devoted patriotism of the troops."</p>
-
-<p>At this first stage of the battle, from 8:30 to 11 a. m.,
-the troops from South Carolina actively engaged were
-the Fourth regiment, Colonel Sloan, and the legion of
-Hampton. Two companies of the Fourth, thrown out
-as skirmishers in front of the stone bridge, fired the first
-gun of the battle early in the morning, and the regiment
-bore a glorious part in the battle which Evans fought
-for the first hour, and in the contest of the second hour
-maintained by Bee, Bartow and Evans. The Fourth
-lost 11 killed and 79 wounded.</p>
-
-<p>Hampton arrived at the Lewis house in the morning,
-and being connected with no particular brigade, was
-ordered to march to the stone bridge. On his march,
-hearing of the attack on the rear, and the roar of the
-battle being distinctly heard, he changed the direction of
-his march toward the firing. Arriving at the Robinson
-house, he took position in defense of a battery and attacked
-the enemy in his front. Advancing to the turnpike under
-fire, Lieut.-Col. B. J. Johnson, of the legion, fell, "as,
-with the utmost coolness and gallantry, he was placing
-our men in position," says his commander. Soon enveloped
-by the enemy in this direction, the legion fell back
-with the commands of Bee and Evans to the first position
-it occupied, and, as before reported, formed an important
-element in re-establishing the battle under the immediate
-direction of Generals Beauregard and Johnston.</p>
-
-<p>The troops ordered by the commanding generals to
-prolong the line of battle, formed at 11 o'clock, took
-position on the right and left as they successively arrived,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>
-those on the left assaulting at once, and vigorously, the
-exposed right flank of the enemy, and at each assault
-checking, or repulsing, his advance. No attempt will be
-made by the author to follow the movements of all of
-these gallant troops who thus stemmed the sweeping
-advance of strong Federal brigades, and the fire of McDowell's
-numerous batteries. He is confined, particularly,
-to the South Carolina commands.</p>
-
-<p>The line of battle as now re-established, south of the
-Warrenton turnpike, ran at a right angle with the Bull
-run line, and was composed of the shattered commands
-of Bee, Bartow and Evans on the right, with Hampton's
-legion infantry; Jackson in the center, and Gartrell's,
-Smith's, Faulkner's and Fisher's regiments, with two
-companies of Stuart's cavalry, on the left. The artillery
-was massed near the Henry house. With this line the
-assaults of Heintzelman's division and the brigades of
-Sherman and Keyes, with their batteries, numbering
-some 18,000 strong, were resisted with heroic firmness.</p>
-
-<p>By 2 o'clock, Kershaw's Second and Cash's Eighth
-South Carolina, General Holmes' brigade of two regiments,
-Early's brigade, and Walker's and Latham's batteries,
-arrived from the Bull run line and reinforced the
-left. The enemy now held the great plateau from which
-he had driven our forces, and was being vigorously assailed
-on his left by Kershaw and Cash, with Kemper's battery,
-and by Early and Stuart. General Beauregard ordered
-the advance of his center and right, the latter further
-strengthened by Cocke's brigade, taken by General Johnston's
-order from its position at the stone bridge.</p>
-
-<p>This charge swept the great plateau, which was then
-again in possession of the Confederates. Hampton fell,
-wounded in this charge, and Capt. James Conner took
-command of the legion. Bee, the heroic and accomplished
-soldier, fell at the head of the troops, and Gen. S.
-R. Gist, adjutant-general of South Carolina, was wounded
-leading the Fourth Alabama. Reinforced, the Federal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>
-troops again advanced to possess the plateau, but Kirby
-Smith's arrival on the extreme left, and his prompt attack,
-with Kershaw's command and Stuart's cavalry, defeated
-the right of McDowell's advance and threw it into confusion,
-and the charge of Beauregard's center and right
-completed the victory of Manassas.</p>
-
-<p>In the operations of this memorable day, no troops displayed
-more heroic courage and fortitude than the troops
-from South Carolina, who had the fortune to bear a part
-in this the first great shock of arms between the contending
-sections. These troops were the Second regiment,
-Col. J. B. Kershaw; the Fourth, Col. J. B. E. Sloan;
-the Eighth, Col. E. B. Cash; the Legion infantry, Col.
-Wade Hampton, and the Fifth, Col. Micah Jenkins.
-The latter regiment was not engaged in the great battle,
-but, under orders, crossed Bull run and attacked the strong
-force in front of McLean's ford. The regiment was
-wholly unsupported and was forced to withdraw, Colonel
-Jenkins rightly deeming an assault, under the circumstances,
-needless.</p>
-
-<p>The following enumeration of losses is taken from the
-several reports of commanders as published in the War
-Records, Vol. II, p. 570: Kershaw's regiment, 5 killed,
-43 wounded; Sloan's regiment, 11 killed, 79 wounded;
-Jenkins' regiment, 3 killed, 23 wounded; Cash's regiment,
-5 killed, 23 wounded; Hampton's legion, 19 killed, 102
-wounded; total, 43 killed, 270 wounded.</p>
-
-<p>Gen. Barnard Elliott Bee, who fell, leading in the final
-and triumphant charge of the Confederates, was a South
-Carolinian. Col. C. H. Stevens, a volunteer on his staff,
-his near kinsman, and the distinguished author of the
-iron battery at Sumter, was severely wounded. Lieut.-Col.
-B. J. Johnson, who fell in the first position taken by
-the Hampton legion, was a distinguished and patriotic
-son of the State, and Lieut. O. R. Horton, of the Fourth,
-who was killed in front of his company, had been prominent
-in the battle of the early morning. At Manassas,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>
-South Carolina was well represented by her faithful sons,
-who willingly offered their lives in defense of her principles
-and her honor. The blood she shed on that ever-memorable
-field was but the token of the great offering
-with which it was yet to be stained by the sacrifices of
-more than a thousand of her noblest sons.</p>
-
-<p>The battle of Manassas fought and won, and trophies
-of the Confederate victory gathered from the plateau of
-the great strife, and from the line of the Union army's
-retreat, the South Carolina troops with General Beauregard's
-command were put into two brigades, Bonham's,
-the First, and D. R. Jones', the Third. The Second,
-Third, Seventh and Eighth regiments made up General
-Bonham's brigade; the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Ninth,
-General Jones' brigade. Gregg's First regiment was at
-Norfolk, and Hampton's legion was not brigaded. Headquarters
-were established at Fairfax Court House, and
-the Confederate line ran from Springfield on the Orange
-&amp; Alexandria railroad to Little Falls above Georgetown.
-No event of great importance occurred in which the
-troops of South Carolina took part, in Virginia, during
-the remainder of the summer.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>AFFAIRS ON THE COAST&mdash;LOSS OF PORT ROYAL HARBOR&mdash;GEN.
-R. E. LEE IN COMMAND OF THE DEPARTMENT&mdash;LANDING
-OF FEDERALS AT PORT ROYAL
-FERRY&mdash;GALLANT FIGHT ON EDISTO ISLAND&mdash;GENERAL
-PEMBERTON SUCCEEDS LEE IN COMMAND&mdash;DEFENSIVE
-LINE, APRIL, 1862.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">Throughout</span> the summer of 1861, in Charleston
-and along the coast of South Carolina, all was
-activity in the work of preparation and defense.
-On August 21st, Brig.-Gen. R. S. Ripley, whose promotion
-to that rank had been applauded by the soldiers and
-citizens of the State, was assigned to the "department of
-South Carolina and the coast defenses of that State."
-On assuming command, General Ripley found the governor
-and people fully alive to the seriousness of the situation,
-and everything being done which the limited
-resources of the State permitted, to erect fortifications
-and batteries on the coast, and to arm and equip troops
-for State and Confederate service.</p>
-
-<p>Governor Pickens wrote to the secretary of war at
-Richmond about the time of the Federal expedition to
-North Carolina, and the capture of the batteries at Hatteras
-inlet, urgently requesting that Gregg's First regiment
-might be sent him from Virginia, as he expected
-an attack to be made at some point on the coast. In this
-letter he begged that 40,000 pounds of cannon powder be
-forwarded from Norfolk at once. The governor had
-bought in December, 1860, and January, 1861, 300,000
-pounds from Hazard's mills in Connecticut, for the use
-of the State, but he had loaned 25,000 pounds to the governor
-of North Carolina, 5,000 pounds to the governor of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>
-Florida, and a large amount to the governor of Tennessee.
-Of what remained he needed 40,000 pounds to supply
-"about 100 guns on the coast below Charleston."
-The governor estimated the troops in the forts and on the
-islands around Charleston at 1,800 men, all well drilled,
-and a reserve force in the city of 3,000. These forces,
-with Manigault's, Heyward's, Dunovant's and Orr's
-regiments, he estimated at about 9,500 effective.</p>
-
-<p>On October 1st, General Ripley reported his Confederate
-force, not including the battalion of regular artillery
-and the regiment of regular infantry, at 7,713 effectives,
-stationed as follows: Orr's First rifles, on Sullivan's
-island, 1,521; Hagood's First, Cole's island and stone
-forts, 1,115; Dunovant's Twelfth, north and south
-Edisto, 367; Manigault's Tenth, Georgetown and
-defenses, 538; Jones' Fourteenth, camp near Aiken,
-739; Heyward's Eleventh, Beaufort and defenses, 758;
-cavalry, camp near Columbia, 173; cavalry, camp near
-Aiken, 62; arsenal, Charleston (artillery), 68; Edwards'
-Thirteenth, De Saussure's Fifteenth, and remainder of
-Dunovant's Twelfth, 2,372.</p>
-
-<p>On the first day of November, the governor received the
-following dispatch from the acting secretary of war: "I
-have just received information which I consider entirely
-reliable, that the enemy's expedition is intended for Port
-Royal." Governor Pickens answered: "Please telegraph
-General Anderson at Wilmington, and General
-Lawton at Savannah, to send what forces they can spare,
-as the difficulty with us is as to arms." Ripley replied,
-"Will act at once. A fine, strong, southeast gale blowing,
-which will keep him off for a day or so." The fleet
-sailed from Hampton Roads on the 29th of October, and
-on the 4th of November the leading vessels that had
-withstood the gale appeared off Port Royal harbor. The
-storm had wrecked several of the transports, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
-whole fleet suffered and was delayed until the 7th, before
-Admiral DuPont was ready to move in to the attack of
-the forts defending this great harbor.</p>
-
-<p>Port Royal harbor was defended by two forts, Walker
-and Beauregard, the former on Hilton Head island, and
-the latter on Bay point opposite. The distance across
-the harbor, from fort to fort, is nearly 3 miles, the harbor
-ample and deep, and the water on the bar allowing the
-largest vessels to enter without risk. A fleet of 100 sail
-could maneuver between Forts Walker and Beauregard
-and keep out of range of all but their heaviest guns. To
-defend such a point required guns of the longest range
-and the heaviest weight of metal.</p>
-
-<p>In planning the defense of Port Royal, General Beauregard
-designed that batteries of 10-inch columbiads and
-rifled guns should be placed on the water fronts of both
-forts, and so directed; but the guns were not to be had,
-and the engineers, Maj. Francis D. Lee and Capt. J. W.
-Gregory, were obliged to mount the batteries of the forts
-with such guns as the Confederate government and the
-governor of South Carolina could command. The forts
-were admirably planned and built, the planters in the
-vicinity of the forts supplying all the labor necessary, so
-that by September 1, 1861, they were ready for the
-guns.</p>
-
-<p>Fort Walker mounted twenty guns and Fort Beauregard
-nineteen, but of this armament Walker could use but
-thirteen, and Beauregard but seven against a fleet attacking
-from the front. The rest of the guns were placed
-for defense against attack by land, or were too light to
-be of any use. The twenty guns of Walker and Beauregard
-that were used in the battle with the fleet, were
-wholly insufficient, both in weight of metal and number.
-The heaviest of the guns in Walker were two columbiads,
-10-inch and 8-inch, and a 9-inch rifled Dahlgren.
-The rest of the thirteen were 42, 32 and 24 pounders. Of
-the seven guns in Beauregard, one was a 10-inch colum<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>biad,
-and one a 24-pounder, rifled. The rest were 42 and
-32 pounders; one of the latter fired hot shot.</p>
-
-<p>Col. William C. Heyward, Eleventh South Carolina
-volunteers, commanded at Fort Walker, and Col. R. G.
-M. Dunovant, of the Twelfth, commanded at Fort Beauregard.
-The guns at Walker were manned by Companies
-A and B, of the German Flying Artillery, Capts. D.
-Werner and H. Harms; Company C, Eleventh volunteers,
-Capt. Josiah Bedon, and detachments from the
-Eleventh under Capt. D. S. Canaday. Maj. Arthur M.
-Huger, of the Charleston artillery battalion, was in command
-of the front batteries, and of the whole fort after
-Col. John A. Wagener was disabled. The guns in Fort
-Beauregard were manned by the Beaufort artillery;
-Company A, Eleventh volunteers, Capt. Stephen Elliott,
-and Company D, Eleventh volunteers, Capt. J. J. Harrison;
-Captain Elliott directing the firing. The infantry
-support at Walker was composed of three companies of
-the Eleventh and four companies of the Twelfth, and
-a company of mounted men under Capt. I. H. Screven.
-The fighting force of Fort Walker then, on the morning
-of the 7th of November, preparing to cope with the great
-fleet about to attack, was represented by thirteen guns,
-manned and supported by 622 men. The infantry support
-at Fort Beauregard was composed of six companies
-of the Twelfth, the whole force at Beauregard, under
-Colonel Dunovant, amounting to 640 men and seven
-guns.</p>
-
-<p>Brig.-Gen. Thomas F. Drayton, with headquarters at
-Beaufort, commanded the defenses at Port Royal harbor
-and vicinity. He removed his headquarters to Hilton
-Head on the 5th, and pushed forward every preparation
-in his power for the impending battle. The remote
-position of Fort Beauregard and the interposition of the
-fleet, lying just out of range, made it impossible to reinforce
-that point. An attempt made early on the morning
-of the 7th, supported by the gallant Commodore Tattnall,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>
-was prevented by the actual intervention of the leading
-battleships of the enemy. Fort Walker, however,
-received just before the engagement, a reinforcement of
-the Fifteenth volunteers, Colonel DeSaussure, 650
-strong; Captain Read's battery of two 12-pounder howitzers,
-50 men and 450 Georgia infantry, under Capt. T. J.
-Berry.</p>
-
-<p>The morning of the 7th of November was a still, clear,
-beautiful morning, "not a ripple," wrote General Drayton,
-"upon the broad expanse of water to disturb the
-accuracy of fire from the broad decks of that magnificent
-armada, about advancing in battle array." The attack
-came about 9 o'clock, nineteen of the battleships
-moving up and following each other in close order, firing
-upon Fort Beauregard as they passed, then turning to
-the left and south, passing in range of Walker, and pouring
-broadside after broadside into that fort. Captain
-Elliott reports: "This circuit was performed three
-times, after which they remained out of reach of any
-except our heaviest guns." From this position the heavy
-metal and long range guns of nineteen batteries poured
-forth a ceaseless bombardment of both Beauregard and
-Walker, but paying most attention to the latter.</p>
-
-<p>Both forts replied with determination, the gunners
-standing faithfully to their guns, but the vastly superior
-weight of metal and the number of the Federal batteries,
-and the distance of their positions from the forts (never
-less than 2,500 yards from Beauregard and 2,000 from
-Walker), made the contest hopeless for the Confederates
-almost from the first shot. Shortly after the engagement
-began, several of the largest vessels took flanking positions
-out of reach of the 32-pounder guns in Walker, and
-raked the parapet of that fort. "So soon as these positions
-had been established," reported Major Huger, "the
-fort was fought simply as a point of honor, for from that
-moment we were defeated." This flank fire, with the
-incessant direct discharge of the fleet's heavy batteries,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>
-dismounted or disabled most of Fort Walker's guns.
-The 10-inch columbiad was disabled early in the action;
-the shells for the rifled guns were too large to be used,
-and the ammunition for all but the 32-pounders exhausted,
-when, after four hours of hard fighting, Colonel
-Heyward ordered that two guns should be served slowly,
-while the sick and wounded were removed from the fort;
-that accomplished, the fort to be abandoned. Thus terminated
-the fight at Fort Walker.</p>
-
-<p>At Fort Beauregard, the battle went more fortunately
-for the Confederates. A caisson was exploded by the
-fire of the fleet, and the rifled 24-pounder burst, and several
-men and officers were wounded by these events, but
-none of the guns were dismounted, and Captain Elliott
-only ceased firing when Walker was abandoned. In his
-report, he says: "Our fire was directed almost exclusively
-at the larger vessels. They were seen to be struck
-repeatedly, but the distance, never less than 2,500 yards,
-prevented our ascertaining the extent of injury." General
-Drayton successfully conducted his retreat from
-Hilton Head, and Colonel Dunovant from Bay point, all
-the troops being safely concentrated on the main behind
-Beaufort.</p>
-
-<p>The taking of Port Royal harbor on the 7th of November,
-1861, gave the navy of the United States a safe and
-ample anchorage, while the numerous and rich islands
-surrounding it afforded absolutely safe and comfortable
-camping grounds for the army of Gen. T. W. Sherman,
-who was specially in charge of this expedition. The
-effect of this Union victory was to give the fleet and
-army of the United States a permanent and abundant
-base of operations against the whole coast of South Carolina,
-and against either Charleston or Savannah, as the
-Federal authorities might elect; but its worst result was
-the immediate abandonment of the whole sea-island
-country around Beaufort, the houses and estates of the
-planters being left to pillage and ruin, and thousands of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>
-negro slaves falling into the hands of the enemy. General
-Sherman wrote to his government, from Hilton
-Head, that the effect of his victory was startling. Every
-white inhabitant had left the islands of Hilton Head, St.
-Helena, Ladies, and Port Royal, and the beautiful
-estates of the planters were at the mercy of hordes of
-negroes.</p>
-
-<p>The loss of the forts had demonstrated the power of the
-Federal fleet, and the impossibility of defending the
-island coast with the guns which the State and the Confederacy
-could furnish. The 32 and 42 pounders were
-no match for the 11-inch batteries of the fleet, and gunboats
-of light draught, carrying such heavy guns, could
-enter the numerous rivers and creeks and cut off forts or
-batteries at exposed points, while larger vessels attacked
-them, as at Port Royal, in front. It was evident that
-the rich islands of the coast were at the mercy of the
-Federal fleet, whose numerous gunboats and armed
-steamers, unopposed by forts or batteries, could cover
-the landing of troops at any point or on any island
-selected.</p>
-
-<p>On the capture of Port Royal, it was uncertain, of
-course, what General Sherman's plans would be, or what
-force he had with which to move on the railroad between
-Charleston and Savannah. The fleet was ample for all
-aggressive purposes along the coast, but it was not
-known at the time that the army numbered less than
-15,000 men, all told. But it was well known how easily a
-landing could be effected within a few miles of the railroad
-bridges crossing the three upper branches of the
-Broad river, the Coosawhatchie, Tulifinny and Pocotaligo,
-and the rivers nearer to Charleston, the Combahee,
-Ashepoo and Edisto. Bluffton, easily reached by gunboats,
-afforded a good landing and base for operations
-against the railroad at Hardeeville, only 4 miles from
-the Savannah river, and 15 from the city of Savannah.
-On this account, General Ripley, assisted by the planters,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>
-caused the upper branches of the Broad, and the other
-rivers toward Charleston to be obstructed, and meanwhile
-stationed the troops at his command at points covering
-the landings.</p>
-
-<p>General Drayton, with a part of Martin's regiment of
-cavalry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Colcock, and Heyward's
-and De Saussure's regiments, was watching Bluffton
-and the roads to Hendersonville. Clingman's and
-Radcliffe's North Carolina regiments, with artillery
-under Col. A. J. Gonzales, Captain Trezevant's company
-of cavalry, and the Charleston Light Dragoons and the
-Rutledge Riflemen, were stationed in front of Grahamville,
-to watch the landings from the Broad. Colonel
-Edwards' regiment and Moore's light battery were at
-Coosawhatchie, Colonel Dunovant's at Pocotaligo, and
-Colonel Jones', with Tripp's company of cavalry, in front
-of the important landing at Port Royal ferry. Colonel
-Martin, with part of his regiment of cavalry, was in
-observation at the landings on Combahee, Ashepoo and
-Edisto rivers. The idea of this disposition, made by
-Ripley immediately upon the fall of Forts Walker and
-Beauregard, was to guard the railroad bridges, and keep
-the troops in hand to be moved for concentration in case
-any definite point was attacked.</p>
-
-<p>On the 8th of November, the day after Port Royal was
-taken, Gen. Robert E. Lee took command of the department
-of South Carolina and Georgia, by order of the
-President of the Confederacy. It was evident to him
-that the mouths of the rivers and the sea islands, except
-those immediately surrounding the harbor of Charleston,
-could not be defended with the guns and troops at his
-command, and, disappointing and distressing as such a
-view was to the governor and especially to the island
-planters, whose homes and estates must be abandoned
-and ruined, General Lee prepared for the inevitable.
-He wrote to General Ripley, in Charleston, to review the
-whole subject and suggest what changes should be made.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>
-"I am in favor," he wrote, "of abandoning all exposed
-points as far as possible within reach of the enemy's fleet
-of gunboats, and of taking interior positions, where all
-can meet on more equal terms. All our resources should
-be applied to those positions." Subsequently the government
-at Richmond ordered General Lee, by telegraph,
-to withdraw all his forces from the islands to the mainland.
-When the order was carried out, it was done at
-a terrible sacrifice, to which the planters and citizens
-yielded in patient and noble submission, turning their
-backs upon their homes and their property with self-sacrificing
-devotion to the cause of Southern independence.
-Never were men and women subjected to a greater test
-of the depth and strength of their sentiments, or put to
-a severer trial of their patriotism, than were the planters
-and their families, who abandoned their houses and
-estates along the coast of South Carolina, and retired as
-refugees into the interior, all the men who were able
-entering the army.</p>
-
-<p>At the time of the fall of Forts Walker and Beauregard,
-Charleston harbor was defended by Forts Moultrie
-and Sumter, Castle Pinckney and Fort Johnson, and by
-batteries on Sullivan's and Morris islands. All these
-were to be strengthened, and the harbor made secure
-against any attack in front. To prevent the occupation
-of James island, the mouth of Stono river was defended
-by forts built on Cole's and Battery islands, and a line
-of defensive works built across the island. No attempt
-had been made to erect forts or batteries in defense of
-the inlets of Worth or South Edisto, but the harbor of
-Georgetown was protected by works unfinished on Cat
-and South islands, for twenty guns, the heaviest of which
-were 32-pounders.</p>
-
-<p>When General Lee took command, November 8th,
-he established his headquarters at Coosawhatchie, and
-divided the line of defense into five military districts,
-from east to west, as follows: The First, from the North<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>
-Carolina line to the South Santee, under Col. A. M.
-Manigault, Tenth volunteers, with headquarters at
-Georgetown; the Second, from the South Santee to the
-Stono, under Gen. R. S. Ripley, with headquarters at
-Charleston; the Third, from the Stono to the Ashepoo,
-under Gen. N. G. Evans, with headquarters at Adams'
-run; the Fourth, from Ashepoo to Port Royal entrance,
-under Gen. J. C. Pemberton, with headquarters at Coosawhatchie;
-the Fifth, the remainder of the line to the
-Savannah river, under Gen. T. F. Drayton, with headquarters
-at Hardeeville.</p>
-
-<p>On the 27th of December, General Lee wrote to Governor
-Pickens that his movable force for the defense of
-the State, not including the garrisons of the forts at
-Georgetown and those of Moultrie, Sumter, Johnson,
-Castle Pinckney and the works for the defense of the
-approaches through Stono, Wappoo, etc., which could
-not be removed from their posts, amounted to 10,036
-Confederate troops&mdash;the Fourth brigade, South Carolina
-militia, 1,531 strong; Colonel Martin's mounted regiment,
-567 strong; two regiments from North Carolina,
-Clingman's and Radcliffe's; two regiments from Tennessee,
-the Eighth and Sixteenth, and Colonel Starke's Virginia
-regiment; the Tennesseeans and Virginians making
-a brigade under Brigadier-General Donelson. The above,
-with four field batteries, made up the force scattered
-from Charleston to the Savannah river, and stationed
-along the line, on the mainland, in front of the headquarters
-above named.</p>
-
-<p>Nothing of great importance occurred for the remainder
-of the year 1861 along the coast of South Carolina,
-except the sinking of a "stone fleet" of some twenty
-vessels across the main ship channel on December 20th,
-in Charleston harbor. This was done by the order of
-the United States government to assist the blockade of
-the port, and was pronounced by General Lee as an
-"achievement unworthy of any nation."</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>On January 1, 1862, at Port Royal ferry, was demonstrated
-the ease with which a large force could be placed
-on the mainland under the protection of the fleet batteries.
-Brig.-Gen. Isaac Stevens landed a brigade of 3,000
-men for the purpose of capturing a supposed battery of
-heavy guns, which, it was believed, the Confederates had
-built at the head of the causeway leading to Port Royal
-ferry. Landing from Chisolm's island, some distance
-east of the small earthwork, Col. James Jones, Fourteenth
-volunteers, had promptly withdrawn the guns in
-the earthwork, except a 12-pounder, which was overturned
-in a ditch. Believing the movement to be an
-attack in force upon the railroad, Colonel Jones disposed
-his regiment and a part of the Twelfth, under Lieut.-Col.
-Dixon Barnes, with a section of Leake's battery, and 42
-mounted men, under Major Oswald, for resisting the
-attack, forming his line about a mile from the ferry.
-But there was no engagement. The deserted earthwork
-was easily captured, and the 12-pounder gun righted on
-its carriage and hauled off, under the constant bombardment
-of the vessels in the Coosaw river. The opposing
-troops caught glimpses of each other, and fired accordingly,
-but not much harm was done on either side. Colonel
-Jones lost Lieut. J. A. Powers and 6 men killed and
-20 wounded by the fire of the gunboats, and Colonel
-Barnes, 1 man killed and 4 wounded; 32 casualties. The
-Federal general reported 2 men killed, 12 wounded and
-1 captured. During the winter and early spring the fleet
-was busy exploring the rivers, sounding the channels, and
-landing reconnoitering parties on the various islands.</p>
-
-<p>Edisto island was garrisoned early in February, and
-the commander, Col. Henry Moore, Forty-seventh New
-York, wrote to the adjutant-general in Washington, on
-the 15th, that he was within 25 miles of Charleston; considered
-Edisto island "the great key" to that city, and
-with a reinforcement of 10,000 men could "in less than
-three days be in Charleston."</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>It will be noted in this connection that early in March,
-General Lee was called to Richmond and placed in command
-of the armies of the Confederacy, and General
-Pemberton, promoted to major-general, was assigned to
-the department of South Carolina and Georgia. Major-General
-Hunter, of the Federal army, had assumed command
-instead of General Sherman, the last of March, and
-reported to his government, "about 17,000 troops scattered
-along the coast from St. Augustine, Fla., to North
-Edisto inlet." Of these troops, 12,230 were on the
-South Carolina coast&mdash;4,500 on Hilton Head island;
-3,600 at Beaufort; 1,400 on Edisto, and the rest at other
-points. The force on Edisto was advanced to the northern
-part of the island, with a strong guard on Little
-Edisto, which touches the mainland and is cut off from
-the large island by Watts' cut and a creek running across
-its northern neck. Communication with the large island
-from Little Edisto is by a bridge and causeway, about
-the middle of the creek's course.</p>
-
-<p>This being the situation, General Evans, commanding
-the Third district, with headquarters at Adams' run,
-determined to capture the guard on Little Edisto and
-make an armed reconnoissance on the main island. The
-project was intrusted to Col. P. F. Stevens, commanding
-the Holcombe legion, and was quite successfully
-executed. On the morning of March 29th, before day,
-Colonel Stevens, with his legion, Nelson's battalion,
-and a company of cavalry, attacked and dispersed the
-picket at Watts cut, crossed and landed on the main island
-west of the bridge, which communicated with Little
-Edisto. Moving south into the island, he detached
-Maj. F. G. Palmer, with seven companies, 260 men, to
-attack the picket at the bridge, cross over to Little Edisto,
-burn the bridge behind him, and capture the force thus cut
-off on Little Edisto, which was believed to be at least two
-companies. Palmer carried the bridge by a charge, and
-crossing over, left two of his staff, Rev. John D. McCul<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>lough,
-chaplain of the legion, and Mr. Irwin, with Lieutenant
-Bishop's company of the legion, to burn the
-bridge, and pushed on after the retreating force. Day
-had broken, but a heavy fog obscured every object, and
-the attack on the Federals was made at great disadvantage.
-Palmer captured a lieutenant and 20 men and non-commissioned
-officers, the remainder of the force escaping
-in the fog. Colonel Stevens marched within sound of
-the long roll beating in the camps in the interior, and
-taking a few prisoners, returned to the mainland by
-Watts' cut, and Palmer crossed his command and prisoners
-over at the north end of Little Edisto in a small boat,
-which could only carry five men at a time, flats which
-were on the way to him having failed to arrive. Several
-of the Federal soldiers were killed and wounded in
-this affair, the Confederates having two slightly wounded.
-But for the dense fog the entire force on Little Edisto
-would have been captured.</p>
-
-<p>General Pemberton, on assuming command, executed
-General Lee's purpose and ordered the removal of the
-guns from Fort Palmetto on Cole's island, at the mouth
-of the Stono, and from the works at the mouth of
-Georgetown harbor. Georgetown was then at the mercy
-of the fleet, but there was no help for it, for Port Royal
-had shown that the guns which the Confederates could
-command were practically inefficient against the batteries
-of the fleet. For the rear defense of Charleston, James
-island must be the battleground, and the forces on the
-mainland, along the line of the Charleston &amp; Savannah
-railroad, must depend upon rapid concentration to resist
-an advance from any one of the numerous landings in
-front of that line. The regiment of regular South Carolina
-infantry, and the regiment of regular artillery,
-splendidly drilled as gunners, and officered by accomplished
-soldiers, garrisoned the harbor defenses, and Ripley's
-energy and high capacity were constantly exerted to
-secure a perfect defense of the city of Charleston.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>The troops on James island and on the line of railroad,
-as reported April 30, 1862, present for duty, numbered
-22,275, rank and file, stationed as follows: In the
-First district, Col. R. F. Graham, 1,254; Second district,
-Brigadier-General Ripley, 8,672; Third district, Brigadier-General
-Evans, 5,400; Fourth district, Col. P. H.
-Colquitt, 1,582; Fifth district, Col. P. H. Colquitt, 2,222;
-Sixth district, Brigadier-General Drayton, 3,145; total,
-22,275.</p>
-
-<p>The above statement includes infantry, artillery and
-cavalry. They were all South Carolina troops except
-Phillips' Georgia legion (infantry), Thornton's Virginia
-battery, and a company of Georgia cavalry, under Capt.
-T. H. Johnson. Manigault's Tenth volunteers and
-Moragné's Nineteenth, with the two Tennessee regiments
-under Brigadier-General Donelson, had been sent to Corinth
-to reinforce Beauregard in the west, and Dunovant's
-Twelfth, Edwards' Thirteenth, McGowan's Fourteenth
-(Col. James Jones having resigned), and Orr's rifles had
-gone to the aid of General Johnston in Virginia. Such
-was the situation in South Carolina at the close of April,
-1862.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>SOUTH CAROLINIANS IN VIRGINIA&mdash;BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG&mdash;ELTHAM'S
-LANDING&mdash;SEVEN PINES
-AND FAIR OAKS&mdash;NINE-MILE ROAD&mdash;GAINES' MILL&mdash;SAVAGE
-STATION&mdash;FRAYSER'S FARM&mdash;MALVERN
-HILL.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">In</span> Virginia, Gen. George B. McClellan had been placed
-in command of the great army which he had fully
-organized, and his headquarters had been established
-at Fort Monroe early in April, preparatory to his advance
-upon Richmond by way of the James river and the peninsula.
-Gen. Joseph E. Johnston commanded the Confederate
-army for the defense of Richmond, with headquarters
-at Yorktown, April 17th. Holding Yorktown
-and the line which ran across the peninsula to the Warwick,
-until the 4th of May, Johnston retired from Williamsburg.
-His army, about 53,000 strong, was opposed
-by McClellan's splendidly equipped and organized army,
-estimated by General Johnston at 133,000. It was Johnston's
-intention to fall back slowly on the defenses of
-Richmond, and then, being joined by the division of
-Huger from Norfolk, and other reinforcements which he
-expected the Confederate government would order to his
-army, to give McClellan battle in front of those defenses
-on more equal terms.</p>
-
-<p>Johnston's army at that time was composed of the
-divisions of Magruder (commanded by D. R. Jones),
-Longstreet, D. H. Hill and G. W. Smith. Magruder
-and Smith had passed beyond Williamsburg on the
-march to Richmond, and Hill, encumbered with the
-trains and baggage, was also moving beyond that point,
-on the afternoon of the 4th, when Longstreet's rear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>
-guard was attacked, in front of Williamsburg, by the
-Federal advance. This attack was met and checked
-by two brigades under Brigadier-General McLaws
-(Semmes' and Kershaw's), with Manly's battery. In
-this brief history, the writer is confined, by the plan of
-the work, to the part taken in each action by the troops
-of South Carolina. The grateful task of speaking of
-troops from other States is resigned with the understanding
-that ample justice will be done them by writers who
-have been selected to record the history of their courage,
-skill and devotion as soldiers of the Confederacy.</p>
-
-<p>In this affair of the afternoon of the 4th of May, Kershaw's
-brigade, the Second, Third, Seventh and Eighth
-South Carolina, bore a part, and though but little blood
-was spilled, the gallant conduct of the brigade received the
-notice and commendation of General McLaws, who, in
-reporting the action, said: "I call attention to the
-promptness with which General Kershaw placed his men
-in the various positions assigned him, and the readiness
-with which he seized on the advantage offered by the
-ground as he advanced to the front.... His command
-obeyed his orders with an alacrity and skill creditable to
-the gallant and obedient soldiers composing it." The
-result of the combat was, that McLaws checked the Federal
-advance, captured several prisoners, one piece of
-artillery, three caissons, and disabled a battery, and lost
-not exceeding 15 men killed, wounded and missing. A
-part of Stuart's cavalry was also engaged, and that officer
-complimented the conduct of the Hampton legion cavalry
-in high terms, for "a brilliant dash upon the enemy's
-cavalry in front of Fort Magruder.... Disinterested
-officers, spectators, speak in the most glowing terms of
-that portion of my brigade."</p>
-
-<p>It was evident to General Johnston that the safety of
-his trains required that a more decided opposition be
-offered to the Federal advance, and Longstreet's division
-was put in position to meet it on the following morn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>ing.
-The battle which followed, accordingly, on the 5th,
-fulfilled the general's expectations, and was a bloody
-engagement, continuing at intervals from early morning
-until near dark, the two divisions (Longstreet's under
-Anderson and D. H. Hill's) repelling the assaults of
-thirty-three regiments of infantry, six batteries of artillery,
-and three regiments of cavalry.</p>
-
-<p>The battle in front of Williamsburg was fought in terrible
-weather, the whole country flooded by the rains,
-the roads almost impassable for artillery, and the troops
-"wading in mud and slush," as General Hill expressed
-it. On the morning of the 5th, Longstreet held the forts
-and line in front of Williamsburg. Anderson's South
-Carolina brigade, commanded by Col. Micah Jenkins,
-was stationed in Fort Magruder, and in the redoubts and
-breastworks to the right and left of the fort. This brigade
-was composed of the Palmetto sharpshooters,
-Lieut.-Col. Joseph Walker; Fourth battalion, Maj.
-C. S. Mattison; Fifth, Col. John R. Giles, and Sixth,
-Col. John Bratton, Lieut.-Col. J. M. Steedman.</p>
-
-<p>The position at Fort Magruder was the center of Longstreet's
-line and was the point at which the battle opened
-at 6 o'clock in the morning. Major Mattison, commanding
-the pickets in front of Fort Magruder, was
-sharply engaged, and being reinforced by a battalion of
-the sharpshooters, had quite a picket battle before retiring
-to the fort. The attack on Fort Magruder and on
-the redoubts and breastworks to the right and left of it,
-was at once opened with artillery and infantry, and the
-superiority of the Federal artillery and small-arms put
-Jenkins' command at great disadvantage. But the artillery
-in the fort and the redoubts was so well directed,
-the gallant gunners stood so heroically to their guns,
-and were so firmly supported by the Carolina infantry,
-that the Federal columns could not assault the line, and
-were driven back and compelled by noon to change the
-point of attack further to the Confederate left. Mean<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>while,
-Longstreet was assailing the Federal left, and
-gaining ground with the remainder of his division, supported
-by reinforcements from Hill's, called back from
-their march beyond Williamsburg. In the afternoon,
-General Hill brought his whole division on the field, and
-reinforcing the center, commanded by Anderson, and
-leading the left in person, a final advance was made
-which ended the fighting by sunset, the Confederates
-occupying the field, the Federals being repulsed from
-right to left.</p>
-
-<p>In the defense of the center and left, Anderson's brigade,
-under Jenkins, bore a conspicuous part. In Fort
-Magruder, the Richmond howitzers and the Fayette
-artillery lost so many men by the fire of the enemy, that
-details were made by Colonel Jenkins from the infantry
-to relieve the men at the guns. By concentrating the
-artillery fire on particular batteries in succession, and
-by volley firing at the gunners, Jenkins compelled his
-assailants to shift their positions, while the regiments of
-Bratton, Giles, Walker and Mattison poured their well-directed
-fire into the threatening columns of Federal
-infantry.</p>
-
-<p>At an important period of the battle on the right, when
-the Federal left had been driven back and was exposed
-to the full fire of Fort Magruder, every gun was turned
-upon it. In the afternoon, and just before D. H. Hill's
-attack on his right, the Federal commander had gained
-a position almost turning the Confederate left. At this
-critical juncture, the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth South
-Carolina regiments, with the Fourteenth Alabama, Major
-Royston, splendidly supported by Dearing's and Stribling's
-batteries, and three guns under Lieutenant Fortier,
-met the movement with firmness, and, aided by the
-fire from Fort Magruder, checked and repulsed the Federal
-right, and held the Confederate left intact.</p>
-
-<p>General McClellan claimed a great victory at Williamsburg,
-basing his claim upon the occupation of the town the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>
-next day, the capture of 300 prisoners and 1,000 wounded,
-and five guns. But the fact is, that the battle was fought
-by General Johnston with two divisions of his army, for
-no other purpose than to secure his trains and make good
-his retreat upon Richmond, and this he accomplished.
-The divisions that fought the battle slept on the field, and
-left their positions without molestation on the morning
-of the 6th. Johnston marched only 12 miles on the 6th,
-and was not pursued. Four hundred wounded were left
-at Williamsburg because he had no ambulances, and the
-wagons were out of reach on the march toward Richmond.
-Four hundred prisoners, several stand of colors,
-and cannon were taken, and the Confederate loss, 1,560
-killed and wounded, was only two-thirds that of the Federals.<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a>
-With these facts before us, Williamsburg cannot
-be considered a victory for General McClellan.</p>
-
-<p>Regarding the morale of the Confederate army at this
-period, a distinguished commander of one of its divisions
-wrote: "Our revolutionary sires did not suffer more at
-Valley Forge than did our army at Yorktown, and in the
-retreat from it. Notwithstanding the rain, cold, mud,
-hunger, watching and fatigue, I never heard a murmur,
-nor witnessed a single act of insubordination. The want
-of discipline manifested itself only in straggling, which
-is the curse of our army."</p>
-
-<p>The security of General Johnston's march toward
-Richmond was seriously threatened on the second day
-after the battle at Williamsburg, May 7th. The menace
-came from the direction of Eltham's landing, at the
-head of the York, where General McClellan was disembarking
-several of the divisions of his army. Franklin's
-division had landed, and was in line of battle well in
-front and covering the disembarkation of the other divisions.
-In this position, Franklin's advance was within 3
-miles of Johnston's line of march, and his trains and artil<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>lery
-were in danger. Gen. G. W. Smith's division, under
-Whiting, was halted at Barhamsville (West Point) until
-the rest of the army had passed, and had been kept fully
-apprised of the Federal position between Barhamsville
-and the river. To keep the enemy back until the army
-had passed this point, General Smith ordered Whiting's
-division to move out toward the river and attack and drive
-back the Federal line. The attack was made by Hood's
-Texas brigade and two commands of Hampton's brigade,
-with S. D. Lee's artillery. The troops engaged on
-the Federal side composed the division of Franklin.</p>
-
-<p>It was a spirited affair, the Hampton legion infantry,
-commanded by Lieut.-Col. J. B. Griffin and Maj. James
-Conner, and the Nineteenth Georgia, Lieutenant-Colonel
-Johnson, vying with Hood's gallant Texans in the steady
-advance. The Federals were driven back to the river
-line and held their position firmly, and the guns of the
-fleet being opened on the Confederates, Hood and Hampton
-withdrew their supports and resumed the march that
-night toward New Kent Court House. Hood lost 8
-killed and 28 wounded, and Hampton, 12 wounded.
-Forty-six prisoners were taken. The reported loss of
-General Franklin was, killed 48, wounded 110, captured
-28; total 186.</p>
-
-<p>After the affair, General Franklin reported it a success
-for his division, and concluded by congratulating
-himself that he had maintained his position. Hampton,
-in his report, complimented the officers and men of the
-legion, and of the Nineteenth Georgia, and mentioned
-particularly Lieutenant-Colonel Griffin, commanding his
-infantry battalion, Major Conner, in command of skirmishers,
-and Maj. Stephen D. Lee, commanding his
-artillery. In this affair the Confederates had five regiments
-and a battery actually engaged, and a brigade in
-support (but not engaged) on each flank. The return of
-casualties by the Federal record shows losses in six regiments,
-and a battery. The affair occurred for the most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>
-part in the woods east and west of the road leading from
-Barhamsville to Eltham's landing, and within range of
-the guns of the vessels in York river.</p>
-
-<p>Arriving before the defenses of Richmond, General
-Johnston encamped his army north and east of the city,
-with grand guards well out on the roads leading from
-Richmond to the crossing of the Chickahominy, and in
-the direction of the landings on the James. His cavalry,
-under Stuart, was immediately in observation of the
-troops of Franklin at Eltham, and of General McClellan's
-main advance from Williamsburg. The Federal army
-moved up the peninsula by the roads leading to White
-House, on the Pamunkey, and thence, on the north side
-of the Chickahominy, as far as Mechanicsville. All the
-bridges, including the York river railroad bridge crossing
-the Chickahominy, had been destroyed, and Johnston's
-army was south of that stream. By the 20th of May,
-McClellan had seized the crossings of the Chickahominy
-from Bottom's bridge up to Meadow bridge, the latter
-point being immediately north of Richmond, and within
-5 miles of the defenses of the city. His left, at Bottom's
-bridge, was about 12 miles in a direct line from the city's
-limits. The general direction of the Chickahominy is
-from northwest to southeast, between these points. By
-the 26th of May, the Third and Fourth corps of the Federal
-army, under Generals Heintzelman and Keyes, had
-crossed at Bottom's bridge, and by the 30th, the latter
-corps had intrenched itself on the Richmond side of
-Seven Pines and Fair Oaks station, with its right refused
-toward the Chickahominy swamp. The other corps of
-the Federal army were north of the Chickahominy, opposite
-bridges which had been constructed for their convenience
-in crossing. Heintzelman's corps was in the vicinity
-of Bottom's bridge. There had been incessant rains,
-and the whole country was flooded with water and the
-roads almost impassable for artillery.</p>
-
-<p>On the 30th of May, General Johnston determined to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>
-attack Keyes on the 31st at Seven Pines, and crush
-his corps before it could be reinforced from the north of
-the Chickahominy or to any extent by Heintzelman from
-Bottom's bridge. To understand his plan of attack, it
-will be necessary to explain the situation more minutely.
-Seven Pines and Fair Oaks are about a mile apart, and
-distant from Richmond about 7½ and 7 miles. Fair
-Oaks is on the railroad, and Seven Pines on the Williamsburg
-road. Two roads which figure in this account,
-and the railroad, run east from Richmond practically
-parallel for 5 miles, the Nine-mile road to the north,
-below it the railroad, and further south the Williamsburg
-road. At Old Tavern, 5 miles from Richmond, the
-Nine-mile road turns southeast, crosses the railroad at
-Fair Oaks, and joins the Williamsburg road at Seven
-Pines. About 2 miles from Richmond, on the Williamsburg
-road, the Charles City road turns off to the southeast.
-White Oak swamp lies between Seven Pines and the
-Charles City road. To strike the corps at Seven Pines,
-the direct road would be the Williamsburg road, with
-the Charles City road running to the Federal left. To
-strike him at Fair Oaks, the direct road would be the
-railroad, with the Nine-mile road coming to the same
-point (Fair Oaks) from Old Tavern, and affording good
-points from which to turn the Federal right.</p>
-
-<p>Johnston's plan of attack was admirably considered.
-D. H. Hill's division was to attack at Seven Pines by the
-Williamsburg road; Brig.-Gen. Benjamin Huger's division
-was to attack the left flank by the Charles City road;
-Longstreet's division was to attack at Fair Oaks by the
-Nine-mile road, and W. H. C. Whiting's division was to
-support the whole by guarding the Confederate left and
-watching against reinforcements coming from the north
-side of the Chickahominy. The plan was perfect, but it
-was not executed, except in one particular; the attack
-assigned to D. H. Hill was a splendid achievement, and
-won the main success of the day, May 31st. In securing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>
-that success, the brigade of R. H. Anderson bore a most
-conspicuous part, and to describe its operations is now
-the writer's duty.</p>
-
-<p>The battle, which had been ordered to begin at an
-early hour in the morning, was not opened until Hill led
-his splendid division to the attack at 1 p. m. The four
-brigades of the division, Rodes and Rains on the south of
-the road, and Garland and G. B. Anderson on the north
-side, with Bondurant's and Carter's batteries, had beaten
-Casey's Federal divisions with its supports, driven them
-back on the Federal second line, at Seven Pines, captured
-eight guns, and was now attacking the Federal line
-intrenched right and left across the Williamsburg road,
-at Seven Pines, running toward Fair Oaks. Pressing
-his attack on this position in front, and on the Federal
-left, Hill sent back for another brigade to co-operate in
-the attack, by moving along the railroad on his left and
-striking at the Federal right and rear. "In a few
-moments," says General Hill, "the magnificent brigade
-of R. H. Anderson came to my support," and being
-ordered by Hill immediately on his extreme left, it
-began its effective operations. General Hill ordered
-Colonel Jenkins, with the Palmetto sharpshooters and
-the Sixth South Carolina, Colonel Bratton, to march
-through the woods beyond his extreme left to the railroad,
-move down it toward the Federal right flank at
-Seven Pines, and strike at the rear of that position,
-while the rest of Anderson's brigade attacked on the
-immediate left of Hill, between Casey's captured line
-and the railroad, Anderson directing his own and Jenkins'
-movements. The sequel will show how remarkably
-well these battlefield orders were carried out. Jenkins,
-with his own and Bratton's regiment, and the Twenty-seventh
-Georgia, from one of Hill's left brigades, formed
-line of attack in the woods, facing northeast, and gallantly
-moved against a portion of General Couch's division
-posted there. General Anderson, with the Fourth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>
-and Fifth South Carolina, under Major Mattison and Colonel
-Giles, on the right of Jenkins and on the immediate
-left of Hill's attacking troops, formed his line in the same
-wood facing with Jenkins' line, but some distance from it,
-and, supported by artillery fire from Hill's line, attacked
-in his front a portion of General Naglee's troops. Both
-attacks were successful and Couch's and Naglee's troops
-were beaten. Reaching the railroad, Jenkins halted
-and dressed his line, the Twenty-seventh Georgia being
-now recalled. Meeting General Anderson at the railroad,
-Colonel Jenkins was directed by him to move
-on. The sharpshooters and the Sixth marched ahead,
-fighting, and penetrated the Federal line, cutting off a
-part of those troops from Seven Pines. Changing front
-forward on his right, Colonel Jenkins, with his two regiments,
-now facing southwest, attacked the right of the
-position at Seven Pines on Hill's extreme left. "At this
-point," he reports, "the enemy, heavily reinforced,
-made a desperate stand and the fighting was within 75
-yards." Pushing on, the Federals slowly gave ground,
-and the two regiments kept in close support and perfect
-order. Fighting forward and to his right, Jenkins
-reached the Williamsburg road, the Federal forces in his
-front falling back and taking position in the woods south
-of it, while the two South Carolina regiments formed in
-line in the road, facing south. The little brigade was
-now in a most critical position, in advance of Hill's line,
-with the foe in front, and troops coming up the Williamsburg
-road to attack his left.</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Jenkins determined, as he says in his report,
-"to break the enemy in front before I could be reached
-by this new advance [coming up the Williamsburg road
-on his left], and then by a change of front to meet them."
-This was handsomely done, and sending two companies
-of the Sharpshooters, Kilpatrick's and Martin's,
-under Maj. William Anderson, to attack and check the
-Federal advance, the two regiments were formed across<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
-the road, facing south, while Jenkins' adjutant, Captain
-Seabrook, hurried back for reinforcements. General
-Anderson, who had led the Fourth and Fifth forward on
-Hill's left in the general attack, sent the Fifth to Jenkins,
-under Lieut.-Col. A. Jackson, the gallant Colonel
-Giles having been killed; and the Twenty-seventh
-Georgia was also sent forward to him by General Hill.
-Before his reinforcements reached him, the Federal
-advance was so near that their commands and cheers
-could be heard, and the two regiments had been
-advanced to within 100 yards of them. The Twenty-seventh
-Georgia was the first to come up, and being placed
-on the right, the Sharpshooters in the center and the
-Sixth (Lieutenant-Colonel Steedman commanding, Colonel
-Bratton being wounded) on the left, Jenkins boldly
-advanced to meet his foe. "The two commands neared
-each other, to 30 or 40 yards," says Colonel Jenkins, describing
-this struggle. "Losing heavily, I pressed on, and
-the enemy sullenly and slowly gave way, leaving the
-ground carpeted with dead and dying." By this time the
-Fifth South Carolina volunteers came up at the double-quick.
-The Twenty-seventh Georgia (which had been
-repulsed) rallied and came forward on the right. Jackson
-came up on the right of the Georgians, "sweeping
-before him the rallied fragments who had collected and
-resumed fire from the woods to the right, and thus, at
-7:40 p. m., we closed our busy day." A day of
-splendid achievement!</p>
-
-<p>In his fighting and maneuvering, Colonel Jenkins had
-advanced on the arc of a circle for more than 2 miles,
-fighting first northeast, then east, then southeast, then
-due south, and lastly east. "We passed," he said,
-"through two abatis of fallen timber, over four camps,
-and over artillery twice, driving the enemy from three
-pieces. We never fought twice in the same place, nor
-five minutes in one place, and, steadily on the advance,
-were under fire from 3 p. m. to 7:40 p. m." Gen. G. W.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>
-Smith, in his exhaustive and able book on the battles of
-Seven Pines and Fair Oaks, makes the following comment
-on this remarkable achievement: "It is believed
-that the annals of war show few, if any, instances of
-more persistent, skillful and effective 'battlefield fighting,'
-than was done by the South Carolina regiments,
-under Colonel Jenkins, on the afternoon of May 31st."
-The losses were heavy, as might be expected, but unhappily
-there is no official report of them. Colonel Bratton,
-after the war, reported to General Smith that the Sixth
-lost 269 killed and wounded, out of 521 taken into the
-action. The loss of the Sharpshooters must have been
-fully as large. Speaking generally of his losses, Colonel
-Jenkins says: "In my two color companies, out of 80
-men who entered, 40 were killed and wounded, and out of
-11 in the color guard, 10 were shot down. My colors,
-pierced by nine balls, passed through four hands without
-touching the ground." Capt. J. Q. Carpenter, commanding
-the color company, lost 16 out of 28, "and ever
-in their front, the fatal ball pierced his heart, when he
-turned to his company and said, 'Boys, I am killed, but
-you press on.'"</p>
-
-<p>While the battle of Seven Pines was in progress, General
-McClellan at 2 p. m. had ordered General Sumner's
-corps to cross the Chickahominy and go to the assistance
-of the Federal forces now being driven by Hill's division
-and R. H. Anderson's brigade. In the first advance of
-Jenkins, it will be recalled that he cut through General
-Couch's forces, dividing them and leaving a part in rear
-of his left flank. This force was composed of four regiments
-and a battery of artillery, which retreated beyond
-(north of) Fair Oaks, and with the brigade of Abercrombie,
-stationed at Fair Oaks, took up a defensive line at
-the Adams house, facing Fair Oaks. This line was commanded
-by General Couch in person. In this position,
-Couch was on the left flank and rear of Hill's battle and
-in place to be reinforced by Sumner, who came to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>
-support in time to save him from destruction by the
-attack of that portion of General Johnston's army, under
-General Johnston's immediate direction, whose headquarters
-were at Old Tavern, about 2 miles from Fair
-Oaks. Anxious for the safety of the Confederate left,
-and fearing that it might be attacked by forces from the
-north of the Chickahominy, General Johnston had ordered
-the brigades of Whiting, Hood, Pettigrew, Hatton and
-Hampton, under Whiting, at about 4 p. m., to march by
-Fair Oaks to attack the Federal right and rear. The
-head of these troops (Whiting's brigade), reaching Fair
-Oaks, were fired upon by Couch's battery at the Adams
-house, and by his advanced pickets. A halt was made
-to take the battery, and to drive the Federal infantry
-out of reach of the road, when followed the battle of
-Fair Oaks, the effort of which was to keep Sumner and
-Couch from the field at Seven Pines, and leave Hill's
-division and Anderson's brigade masters of the battle in
-that quarter. But this was the main effect of the Confederate
-attack at Fair Oaks, for the battery was not
-taken, and Couch, reinforced by at least a strong division
-from Sumner's advance, with artillery, held his position
-against the assaults of Whiting, Pettigrew, Hatton and
-Hampton. The latter commanded the only South Carolinians
-who were in the engagement at Fair Oaks, the
-infantry of his legion.</p>
-
-<p>There is no report from General Hampton, but the
-reports of Generals Johnston and G. W. Smith define his
-position in the affair on the left of the Confederate
-attack. General Smith says, that as the musketry fire
-of Whiting, Pettigrew and Hampton rapidly increased,
-opening the attack on Couch, he rode into the woods
-where the troops were engaged, and learned from
-Col. S. D. Lee, of the artillery, that "General Hampton
-had driven the enemy some distance through the woods,
-but that they were being rapidly reinforced [by Sumner],
-held a strong position, and extended beyond Hampton's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>
-left. The firing indicated that Whiting and Pettigrew
-were being fully occupied by the enemy in their immediate
-front." Hatton coming up, he was put in immediately
-between Hampton and Pettigrew, and Gen. G. W.
-Smith ordered the line forward to carry the Federal position.
-The woods were dense, the undergrowth thick,
-and the smoke so great that officers leading their troops
-could not see "more than a limited number of their men
-at any one time." General Smith continues: "Various
-attempts were made to charge the enemy, but without
-that concert of action necessary to success.... On no
-part of the line where I was, did the enemy at any time
-leave their cover or advance one single foot. Our troops
-held their position close to the enemy's line until it was
-too dark to distinguish friend from foe." The attack
-had been in progress for nearly two hours when darkness
-put an end to it. The gallant Hatton was killed,
-and that noble and accomplished soldier, Pettigrew, had
-fallen, badly wounded, so near the Federal line that he
-was made prisoner. Brig.-Gen. Wade Hampton was
-seriously wounded, but kept his horse, had the ball
-extracted by Surg. E. S. Gaillard on the field, and refused
-to leave his troops. In this affair, Whiting's brigade
-(commanded by Col. E. M. Law) lost in killed, wounded
-and missing, 356; Pettigrew's, 341; Hampton's, 329; and
-Hatton's, 244; total, 1,270. The Hampton legion
-infantry, General Smith reported, suffered a greater loss
-by far in proportion to its numbers than any other regiment
-of the division, being 21 killed and 120 wounded
-out of 350. These numbers were furnished by Surg.
-John T. Darby, acting chief surgeon of Whiting's
-division.</p>
-
-<p>Near the close of the action, General Johnston was
-unhorsed and seriously wounded by a fragment of shell,
-and the command of the Confederate army devolved
-upon Maj.-Gen. G. W. Smith, next in rank, who was
-succeeded by Gen. R. E. Lee on the following day.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>On June 18th a reconnoissance was made on the Nine-mile
-road by Gen. J. B. Kershaw, with two regiments of
-his South Carolina brigade, the Second, Col. J. D. Kennedy,
-and the Third, Col. J. D. Nance. With the Second
-on the left and the Third on the right of the road, the front
-covered by four companies deployed as skirmishers,
-under Captain Cuthbert, and two companies under Maj.
-W. D. Rutherford, Kershaw advanced. The skirmishers
-were soon engaged, and those of the Federal force were
-driven back on the supports. The two regiments advanced
-to within 70 yards of the Federal line, developed his
-position, forces, etc., and then Kershaw withdrew to
-camp. In this affair, Kershaw lost 1 killed and 11
-wounded, among the latter Capt. G. B. Cuthbert, of the
-Second, and Capt. F. N. Walker, of the Third. Private
-W. H. Thompson, Company E, was killed, and "the gallant
-Sergt. H. D. Hanahan," of the Second, lost a leg.</p>
-
-<p>The situation of the Federal army at this time (toward
-the close of June) determined General Lee to take the
-aggressive. The center and left of General McClellan
-were south of the Chickahominy, strongly intrenched and
-covered by the cutting of trees in the dense forests. The
-extreme left rested on White Oak swamp, and the right
-of the center on the Chickahominy at New bridge. The
-Federal right, under Fitz John Porter, was well and
-strongly posted behind Beaver Dam creek, north of the
-Chickahominy, with a grand guard at Mechanicsville in
-front, and outposts still beyond, guarding the crossing.
-General Lee's determination was to attack this right
-and separated wing with three of his divisions, calling
-Jackson's corps to co-operate. Jackson's march, from
-his victorious campaign in the valley, was so directed that
-he was expected to be at Ashland, 15 miles north of
-Richmond, on the 24th of June. From Ashland a march
-of 15 miles, toward Cold Harbor, would place his corps
-on the right flank and rear of the Federal position at
-Beaver Dam, while A. P. Hill, D. H. Hill and Long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>street,
-with their divisions, crossing the river at Mechanicsville,
-should carry that place and the strong position
-at Beaver Dam.</p>
-
-<p>The morning of the 26th (Thursday) was fixed by Lee
-for this concerted movement against McClellan's right
-wing. But Jackson did not reach Ashland until the
-night of the 25th, his march having been delayed by
-obstructions put in his way by the Federal outposts, many
-bridges being burned over streams crossing his march.
-It was after sunrise on the 26th before Jackson left Ashland.
-He marched past the right flank of the Federal
-position, at Beaver Dam, and went into camp 3 miles in
-the rear of that flank, at Hundley's corner, in the evening.
-In consequence, the bloody battle fought on the 26th,
-along Beaver Dam, by the gallant division of A. P. Hill
-and Ripley's brigade of D. H. Hill's division, was fought
-without Jackson's assistance. The Federal position
-behind Beaver Dam was heroically assailed; but it was
-too strong to be carried by Hill and Ripley, who suffered
-heavy losses. With Ripley was Capt. A. Burnet Rhett's
-South Carolina battery, who built a bridge, crossed the
-creek and, pushing up close to the enemy, were in action
-until 10 o'clock at night, losing 11 wounded. They
-were particularly complimented by A. P. Hill. With
-A. P. Hill were the South Carolina batteries of Capts.
-W. K. Bachman and D. G. McIntosh, the latter of which
-(Pee Dee artillery) probably fired the first gun at Mechanicsville,
-and fired 160 rounds from each gun before night
-stopped the fight. The brigade of General Gregg did not
-become actively engaged on the 26th.</p>
-
-<p>The position of Jackson, on the right and rear, and the
-divisions of D. H. Hill and Longstreet in front, all fresh
-and ready for attack in the early morning of the 27th, made
-the position of General Porter behind Beaver Dam untenable,
-and he promptly retreated and took up a strong
-position 3 miles further down the river.</p>
-
-<p>On Friday morning (27th), A. P. Hill was ordered for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>ward
-toward Gaines' mill, the South Carolinians in
-advance. Gregg formed a line of battle with the First
-volunteers, Col. D. H. Hamilton, and the Twelfth, Col.
-Dixon Barnes, with skirmishers thrown out under Captains
-Cordero and Miller; and the Thirteenth, Col. O. E.
-Edwards, and First Rifles, Col. J. Foster Marshall, and
-Crenshaw's battery in support. They moved forward
-across the creek, and through the discarded accouterments
-and burning stores of the enemy, until coming out in an
-open, Cordero's company was fired upon by artillery in
-front and Lieutenant Heise was wounded. This apparently
-hostile force, according to the report of General
-Gregg, proved to be Stonewall Jackson's command,
-with which communication was at once opened. After a
-conference between Hill and Jackson, Gregg marched on,
-and presently was stopped by General Lee, who gave him
-further instructions. Longstreet, soon afterward, informed
-Gregg that he was moving on a parallel road to
-the right. The skirmishers became briskly engaged at
-Gaines' mill, but Gregg soon ordered them forward at
-double-quick, and they gallantly drove the Federal skirmishers
-before them. The brigade followed and bridged
-Powhite creek. Hill reported of the crossing of the
-Powhite: "His whole brigade being over, he made the
-handsomest charge in line I have seen during the war."
-Gregg continued his advance, part of the time at double-quick
-and with continual skirmish firing, descended the
-hollow beyond Cold Harbor, driving out the enemy, and
-formed in line of battle on the hillside beyond. He found
-the enemy above him and desired to attack, but being
-refused, lay in position until 4 p. m., the artillery firing
-going on overhead.</p>
-
-<p>General Lee thus describes Porter's position, at which
-the battle of Gaines' Mill, or Cold Harbor, was fought on
-the afternoon and evening of the 27th of June:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>He occupied a range of hills resting in the vicinity of
-the McGehee house and his left near that of Dr. Gaines,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>
-on a wooded bluff, which rose abruptly from a deep
-ravine. The ravine was filled with sharpshooters, to
-whom its banks gave great protection. A second line of
-infantry was stationed on the side of the hill behind a
-breastwork of trees above the first; a third occupied the
-crest, strengthened with rifle trenches and crowned with
-artillery. The approach to this position was over an open
-plain, about a quarter of a mile wide, commanded by
-this triple line of fire and swept by the heavy batteries
-south of the Chickahominy. In front of his center and
-right the ground was generally open, bounded on the side
-of our approach by a wood, with dense and tangled undergrowth
-and traversed by a sluggish stream which converted
-the soil into a deep morass.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Old Cold Harbor was in front of the Federal right, and
-Gaines' mill in front of his right center, the length of his
-line being about 2 miles and running in a curve from the
-"wooded bluff" on his left to a swamp on his right. The
-attack on this position was made by two roads running
-parallel with the Chickahominy, one going to the Federal
-left, and the other by Gaines' mill, opposite his right
-center. Longstreet attacked on the former, and A. P.
-Hill on the latter, D. H. Hill and Jackson attacking from
-the direction of the Federal front and right. At 4 p. m.
-A. P. Hill ordered his whole division forward, and the
-desperate struggle began, in which every inch of
-ground was to be won by a great sacrifice of life, and to
-be disputed with heroic firmness. Gregg, who was first
-engaged, fought his way through the tangled wood and
-the boggy morass to the foot of the main position,
-when, confronted by a determined and unfaltering resistance,
-and his lines torn by artillery from the crest in front
-and by a battery on his right flank, he could make no further
-progress. Marshall was ordered to take the battery on
-the right, and advanced gallantly, Perrin's, Joseph Norton's,
-Miller's and Miles Norton's companies in front,
-under Lieutenant-Colonel Ledbetter. The battery was
-withdrawn, but its support in the woods, composed of a
-strong body of troops, among them the New York Zouaves,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>
-held the ground in a fierce combat. The Zouaves attacking
-on the left flank, Lieutenant Higgins promptly assembled
-30 riflemen, and held them in check. The attack being
-pressed anew, the regiment, having lost 81 killed and 234
-wounded out of 537, and being unsupported, was forced
-to retire to its former position. But Marshall's gallant
-charge and contest had driven off the battery, and Gregg
-ordered the First, Twelfth and Thirteenth forward again.
-The struggle for the crest was renewed with heroic zeal
-and courage, and met with splendid firmness, driving
-Gregg back a second time. A third advance was ordered,
-and now the Fourteenth, Col. Samuel McGowan, being
-by Gregg's request relieved from outpost duty, was conducted
-by his aide, Capt. Harry Hammond, to his right
-flank. Passing through Crenshaw's guns, McGowan's
-men moved right forward, supported by the other shattered
-regiments of Gregg's brigade. "Tired as they
-were," says Gregg, "by two days and nights of outpost
-duty, and by a rapid march under a burning sun, they
-advanced with a cheer and at a double-quick. Leading
-his regiment to the right of the Thirteenth and across
-the hollow, Colonel McGowan arrived just in time to
-repulse the advance of the enemy and prevent them from
-establishing a battery on the brow of the hill." With
-varying success, backward and forward, Gregg struggled
-to gain and pierce the Federal line, but not until the final
-and united charge of Lee's whole line was made at
-7 o'clock, and when Hood had gained the "wooded bluff"
-and turned the Federal left, did the Confederate commands
-mount the whole line of defense and drive its
-heroic defenders from the field.</p>
-
-<p>Gregg lost 829 (estimated) killed and wounded. The
-severest losses in the brigade fell on the Rifles, the
-Fourteenth and the Twelfth. The Rifles lost 319,
-the Fourteenth, 291, and the Twelfth, 155. At one
-time every one of the color-guards of the First
-volunteers was shot down around Colonel Hamilton,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>
-who took the colors. The color-bearer, Sergeant Taylor,
-fell with the colors in his grasp, as he was planting
-them forward of the line, and Corporal Hayne,
-seeing Colonel Hamilton take the flag, seized it,
-and gallantly going forward, fell mortally wounded.
-Private Spillman, of Company K, then took the flag and
-carried it to the final charge in triumph to victory. He
-was promoted color-bearer on the field for gallant conduct.
-Among the lamented dead of the First was the
-gallant and accomplished Lieut.-Col. A. M. Smith, who
-left a sick bed to take his place in his country's service.
-In the Twelfth, Colonel Barnes was wounded, but did not
-leave the field. Lieut. J. W. Delaney, commanding
-Company B, was killed in the first assault; Captain Vallandingham
-lost a leg, and Captains Miller, McMeekin
-and Bookter were wounded. In the Thirteenth, which
-was mainly in support, the loss was not so heavy, 8 killed
-and 40 wounded. In the Fourteenth, Colonel McGowan
-and Maj. W. J. Carter were wounded, as were also Captains
-Brown, Taggart and Edward Croft, and Lieutenants
-Brunson, O. W. Allen, Stevens, McCarley, Dorrah and
-Carter; and the gallant Lieut. O. C. Plunkett, Company
-H, was killed on the field. The First Rifles (known as
-Orr's Rifles) suffered terribly. Its gallant adjutant, J. B.
-Sloan, Captains Hawthorne and Hennegan, Lieutenants
-Brown and McFall, and Sergeant-Major McGee died
-heroically leading in Marshall's charge. In Gregg's
-battle, a section of Capt. D. G. Mcintosh's battery was
-called into action late in the afternoon, too late to take
-an active part in the battle, as the enemy's artillery in
-front had been silenced, or had retired. He lost 1 man
-killed and 2 wounded, and 5 horses killed.</p>
-
-<p>The other South Carolina troops at the battle of Gaines'
-Mill were with Hood and Longstreet. The brigades of
-Hood and Law composed Whiting's gallant division,
-which had marched from Ashland as the advance of Jackson's
-corps. They went into battle in the late afternoon,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>
-after A. P. Hill had been fighting for two hours.<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> With
-Hood was the Hampton legion infantry, under Lieut.-Col.
-M. W. Gary, and with Longstreet was R. H. Anderson's
-South Carolina brigade. These troops had the
-honor of taking part in Longstreet's and Whiting's final
-charge along the front and flank of the Federal left, and
-were among the first to gain the coveted crest and pierce
-and turn his flank, capture his artillery and decide the
-day.</p>
-
-<p>Hood moved to the final assault with Hampton's legion
-on his left. On the left of the legion was Law's splendid
-brigade. Immediately on Hood's right was Pickett's
-brigade, and in support of Pickett the brigades of Wilcox,
-Pryor and Featherston. Thus, in the decisive charge,
-ordered by General Lee all along the battle line,
-they were hurled against and around the "wooded bluff"
-on the Federal left. In this grand assault, R. H. Anderson's
-brigade was divided, part of it supporting Pickett
-and part Wilcox. The writer regrets that neither General
-Anderson nor any one of his regimental commanders has
-a report of the battle on file. The same is true of the
-Hampton legion, Colonel Gary.</p>
-
-<p>General Hood reports that he ordered the legion "to
-gain the crest of the hill in the woods and hold it, which
-they did." General Longstreet, reporting the action of
-his brigade, refers specially to the gallantry of General
-Anderson and Colonel Jenkins, these officers commanding
-the separated parts of the brigade of Anderson. In the
-official returns, the loss of Anderson at Gaines' Mill and
-Glendale (Frayser's Farm) is given in total at 787. The
-losses of the Fourth, Fifth and Palmetto sharpshooters at
-Gaines' Mill are reported as 173. The losses of the Second
-Rifles and Sixth South Carolina at this battle are not
-given separately from Glendale. Hood reports the legion's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
-loss at only 20. Anderson's and Gary's losses at Gaines'
-Mill could not have been more than 350, which was less
-than a half of Gregg's loss. Anderson and Gary were
-only engaged in the last attack, and Gregg was fighting
-from the opening of the battle to its close, with a short
-rest in the afternoon.</p>
-
-<p>Referring to the gallant conduct of officers as well as
-soldiers, General Longstreet remarks in his report upon the
-battle of Gaines' Mill, that "there was more individual
-gallantry displayed on this field than any I have seen."
-General Whiting, in closing his report, pays the same
-tribute to a number of soldiers, and especially remarks
-upon the conduct of Maj. John Haskell, of D. R. Jones'
-staff, who had volunteered to carry information of the
-Federal movements to General Lee, as they were observed
-from the south side of the Chickahominy, and acted on
-General Longstreet's staff, as a volunteer aide. General
-Whiting says:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Though not on my staff, I should not do right were
-I not to mention here the chivalrous daring of young
-Major Haskell, of South Carolina. His personal bearing
-in a most deadly fire, his example and directions contributed
-not a little to the enthusiasm of the charge of the
-Third brigade. I regret to say that the brave young
-officer received a terrible wound from a shell (losing his
-right arm), but walked from the field as heroically as he
-had gone into the fire.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The South Carolina batteries were more fortunate in
-their losses than the infantry commands. Rhett, whose
-horse was shot under him, lost 2 wounded at Gaines'
-Mill; Bachman's battery (German Artillery) and McIntosh's,
-only a few men each. The nature upon the
-ground was not favorable to the Confederate artillery,
-and the batteries engaged under great disadvantage.</p>
-
-<p>Under cover of night, following the 27th, General
-Porter made good his retreat by the bridges he had built
-across the Chickahominy, passing in rear of McClellan's
-fortified line on the south side, and destroying his bridges<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>
-behind him. His defense was beyond criticism. Reinforced
-from the south side by Slocum's division, he saved
-the army of McClellan by inflicting a heavy blow on the
-victorious columns of Lee, and by his able retreat at
-night. The timely arrival of two brigades, coming up
-just as Porter's line was carried, covered his retreat and
-successfully checked the disordered pursuit of the victorious
-Confederates.</p>
-
-<p>General McClellan does not estimate his loss in this
-battle separately from those which immediately followed,
-but acknowledges the loss of twenty-two pieces
-of artillery. Over 5,000 prisoners were taken by the
-Confederates, and thousands of arms gathered from the
-fields and the short line of Porter's retreat to the river.</p>
-
-<p>McClellan's rear guard, Sumner's corps, and Smith's
-division of Franklin's corps, made a stand on the 29th at
-Savage Station, covering the crossing of White Oak
-swamp against Magruder's corps. The South Carolina
-troops with Magruder were the brigade of General Kershaw
-and Capt. James F. Hart's Washington artillery.
-Hart's battery was with D. R. Jones' division. The
-Second, Col. John D. Kennedy; Third, Col. James D.
-Nance; Seventh, Col. D. Wyatt Aiken, and the Eighth,
-Col. John W. Henagan, with Kemper's battery, composed
-Kershaw's brigade of McLaws' division.</p>
-
-<p>Early in the morning of the 29th (Sunday), Kershaw
-was ordered to advance on the Nine-mile road and develop
-the Federal position. Kennedy, covered by a line of
-skirmishers under Maj. F. Gaillard, made the advance
-and found the enemy beyond Fair Oaks, at Allen's farm.
-The skirmishing became general and the enemy opened
-an artillery fire. Having been repeatedly cautioned to
-avoid a collision with General Jackson's forces, Kershaw
-restrained the fire of his men, and sent a battle-flag to be
-waved on the railroad. He was then ordered back till
-Magruder's other troops should take position.</p>
-
-<p>At 3 p. m. Kershaw advanced along the railroad to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>ward
-Savage Station. The enemy had retreated, and
-when found again were in position on the Williamsburg
-road, occupying the rifle-pits and intrenchments made,
-doubtless, in McClellan's advance prior to the battle of
-Seven Pines. The Second and Third were thrown forward
-toward the left and formed to charge the position,
-while Kemper's battery opened a rapid fire that drove
-back the enemy without the aid of the infantry,<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> and Kershaw
-moved on to fight his battle at Savage's farm.</p>
-
-<p>His line ran from the railroad to near the Williamsburg
-road. The battle began in earnest at 5:30 p. m. by the
-opening of Sumner's artillery on Kershaw's skirmishers
-under Gaillard and Rutherford, and lasted into the night.
-Kemper took position in the Williamsburg road, the
-Eighth on his right, in support, and the Second, Third,
-and Seventh on his left. Kershaw ordered his left regiments
-to charge, and they dashed into the wood, driving
-through to the open beyond. In this charge a heavy loss
-was inflicted upon the opposing force, which was thrown
-into much disorder, and many prisoners taken. But Kershaw
-could not maintain his position. Kemper and the
-Eighth were attacked and his right flank turned. To meet
-this emergency, he ordered his line back to the original
-position from which he had charged the wood, and at the
-critical moment Semmes' brigade attacked the force that
-had turned his right. Semmes, supported by Kemper's
-fire and the Eighth, drove back the flanking column, and
-Kershaw repelled the assault on his front. Night had
-come and Kershaw's battle was over. Major-General
-McLaws says: "The South Carolina brigade carried into
-action 1,496 men and lost in killed 47, wounded 234,
-missing 9; total 290." Semmes had only two regiments
-engaged and lost 64, and the loss in other commands of
-Magruder's force was only 36 in killed and wounded,
-which shows that Magruder's battle to beat McClellan's
-rear was fought by the brigades of Kershaw and Semmes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>
-and only two regiments of the latter at that. The brunt
-fell on the gallant command of Kershaw and his splendid
-battery. Hart's battery, which operated with Jones'
-division on Kershaw's left, lost 5 men wounded, 2 mortally.
-Hart engaged the enemy from D. R. Jones' right,
-"compelling the retreat out of view of the enemy's
-infantry."</p>
-
-<p>Jones put his division in admirable position on Kershaw's
-left for attack, but he reports: "Scarcely had
-this disposition been made when I received orders from
-General Magruder to fall back to the railroad bridge with
-my whole command to support the right of his line."
-This unfortunate order was inspired by Magruder's overrating
-the movement which turned Kershaw's right, and
-which Semmes checked, at little cost. But for Jones'
-withdrawal at the moment he was about to attack, Savage
-Station might have been a harder blow to General McClellan.
-McLaws compliments his brigade commanders
-in high terms. Of Kershaw he says: "I beg leave to call
-attention to the gallantry, cool, yet daring courage and
-skill in the management of his gallant command exhibited
-by Brigadier-General Kershaw." Kershaw praises the
-gallantry, self-possession and efficiency of his regimental
-commanders, and the conduct of the men and officers.
-Lieut.-Col. B. C. Garlington, of the Third, was killed,
-sword in hand, at the head of his regiment. Lieut.-Col.
-A. D. Goodwyn, of the Second, and Lieut.-Col. Elbert
-Bland, of the Seventh, were severely wounded and honorably
-mentioned by Kershaw. Gaillard was distinguished
-in command of the skirmishers. Kemper added to the
-laurels he won at Vienna, Bull Run and Manassas. Captain
-Holmes and Lieutenants Doby and W. M. Dwight, of the
-staff, were active and gallant in dispatching the orders
-of their chief. The Second lost Captain Bartlett, "one
-of the most gallant and conscientious officers belonging
-to it;" and Lieutenant Perry, Company H, was severely
-wounded. The Third, besides its gallant lieutenant-col<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>onel,
-lost Capt. S. M. Lanford and Lieut. J. T. Ray.
-Colonel Nance mentioned especially Capt. D. M. H.
-Langston and Maj. W. D. Rutherford. The Seventh did
-not suffer as severely as the Third, losing 82 killed and
-wounded. The Eighth, which was mainly in support of
-Kemper's battery, lost but 2 killed and 8 wounded.</p>
-
-<p>It appears from General Sumner's report, that three
-corps, his own, Franklin's and Heintzelman's, were
-under his command and put in line of battle at Savage
-Station. Heintzelman (15,000) was ordered to hold the
-Williamsburg road, but before the attack by Kershaw,
-General Heintzelman left the field, and crossed White
-Oak swamp. Sumner speaks of the assault by Kershaw
-and Semmes as being met by Burns' brigade, "supported
-and reinforced by two lines in reserve, and finally by the
-Sixty-ninth New York (Irish) regiment." He also speaks
-of Brooks' brigade "holding a wood on the left," "doing
-excellent service," and though wounded, "keeping his
-command until the close of the battle." He says the
-action was "continued with great obstinacy until some
-time after dark, when we drove the enemy from the
-field." It is evident that Kershaw attacked Generals
-Burns and Brooks, the Sixty-ninth New York, and
-"two lines in reserve." The reader may determine
-whether Kershaw and Semmes were "driven from the
-field" of Savage Station.</p>
-
-<p>Sumner, having successfully guarded the passage of
-White Oak swamp by his unequal battle with Kershaw's
-and Semmes' brigades and Kemper's battery, followed
-Heintzelman's retreat at night, and crossing White Oak
-marched to Glendale, near the junction of the Charles
-City and Long Bridge roads. The passage across White
-Oak was skillfully broken up and the roads approaching
-it obstructed. Franklin, with two divisions and a brigade,
-stood on the south side, with batteries well posted, to
-dispute the crossing. This he did throughout the whole
-of the 30th, keeping Jackson's corps on the north side<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>
-and effectually preventing his taking any part in the battle
-of that day. While Jackson was thundering at Franklin
-with his artillery, and Franklin was preventing his passage
-of White Oak, McClellan was posting the divisions
-of Hooker, McCall, Sedgwick, Kearny and Slocum in
-line of battle across the Long Bridge road, confronting
-the expected advance of Lee down the Charles City and
-Darbytown roads.</p>
-
-<p>The troops of Lee that had won the bloody battle of
-the 27th, north of the Chickahominy, did not cross that
-river in pursuit of McClellan until the morning of the
-29th, at which time General Lee became assured that his
-able antagonist was retreating upon the James. His
-orders, as in the case of the first assault on the 26th, were
-faultless. Jackson was to cross at Grapevine bridge and
-press the rear of the retreat; Magruder was to attack
-the flank on the Williamsburg road; Huger to move down
-the Charles City road, and Longstreet and A. P. Hill
-down the Darbytown to the Long Bridge road; and
-Holmes to cross from the south side of the James and
-march down the New Market road. A glance at a good
-map will show that this plan was perfect in its conception.
-But McClellan was fully equal to this great emergency,
-and put White Oak swamp on his right, guarded
-by Franklin, and his five divisions in his center to meet
-the advance upon him down the Charles City and Darbytown
-roads, and selected a veritable Gibraltar for his left,
-crowned by artillery and defended by a fleet of gunboats
-and Porter's and Keyes' corps.</p>
-
-<p>In carrying out Lee's plan, everything miscarried but
-the movements of Longstreet and A. P. Hill. We have
-seen how Kershaw and Semmes and Kemper alone carried
-out Magruder's flank attack on the Williamsburg road.
-On the 30th he was ordered to the Darbytown road and
-reached it in time to come into effective battle on Longstreet's
-right, but Holmes, moving on Malvern hill, saw
-that he had not force sufficient to attack, sent for aid,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>
-and Magruder was sent to him. Neither of these divisions
-was engaged on the 30th. Huger reported his
-march obstructed by trees thrown across the road, had
-an affair with outposts in his front, and was so badly
-balked in his march that he did not reach the field of
-battle on the 30th. Jackson, whom Franklin stopped at
-White Oak, served no other purpose on the 30th than to
-keep Franklin's division and his artillery too busily engaged
-to join the five divisions at Frayser's farm. All
-this reflects the highest credit upon the military genius of
-McClellan, who directed the details of his masterly retreat.</p>
-
-<p>Longstreet, in advance, came up with the Federal
-battle line, as above described, on the morning of the
-30th. A. P. Hill was closed up on his march. Finding
-the enemy drawn up across his road, in front of the point
-where the Charles City road falls into it (Long Bridge
-road), he put his division in line of battle, with A. P.
-Hill in reserve, and waited anxiously to hear from Huger
-on his left, and Magruder and Holmes on his right. He
-felt sure that Jackson, crossing White Oak, would be in
-time to fall on the Federal right and rear. General Lee
-and the President were both at his headquarters when a
-Federal battery opened in his immediate front. A shell
-from this battery exploded so near the group as to wound
-one of the couriers and kill several horses. At this
-moment (4 p. m.) artillery fire was heard back on the
-Charles City road, and Longstreet, taking it for the signal
-of Huger that he was near at hand, ordered one of his
-batteries to reply, and the battle of Frayser's Farm was
-opened. The artillery on the Charles City road was
-Huger's affair with one of Franklin's outposts. R. H.
-Anderson, the senior brigadier, was assigned by Longstreet
-to the immediate direction of his front, and Colonel
-Jenkins commanded the South Carolina brigade, the
-first engaged in battle. He was ordered to silence the
-battery in front with his sharpshooters, but he preferred
-to capture it, and led his brigade forward, charged, drove<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>
-back McCall's division, and seized Randol's battery.
-Longstreet's whole division now engaged, the troops in
-his front being those of McCall's and Kearny's divisions.
-The battle was forward for a time and McCall and Kearny
-gave ground, but Slocum reinforced Kearny against the
-Confederate left, and Sedgwick and Hooker against the
-right, so that Longstreet's right was pushed back and his
-left checked and pressed. He was compelled to assume
-the defensive, and ordered up A. P. Hill to his immediate
-support. Gregg's South Carolina brigade was thrown into
-the battle on the extreme left. Hill restored the battle to
-its first aggressive stage, and McCall's division was forced
-to retire, and that general fell into Longstreet's hands.
-Longstreet and Hill, with their twelve brigades, drove
-one of the Federal divisions from the field, and successfully
-resisted the attacks of the other four, gaining ground
-forward and holding in the end of the struggle all that
-they gained. Gregg, on the left, and Jenkins, in the
-center, bore their full share of the great contest, the latter
-capturing the battery of Randol, which, being retaken,
-was again captured by Hill's advance.</p>
-
-<p>The battle lasted well into the night, the Federal divisions
-leaving the field under the cover of darkness, followed
-by Franklin from White Oak, to take their places
-in McClellan's last line on the James river. There is no
-report from either R. H. Anderson, Gregg or Jenkins.
-Longstreet specially mentions Anderson, Jenkins and
-Captain Kilpatrick of the Palmetto sharpshooters in his
-report, for distinguished conduct. A. P. Hill reports
-that Gregg was sent by General Longstreet's request to
-support the brigades of Pryor and Featherston, and
-pushed their battle forward. Featherston being wounded
-and for a time in the enemy's hands, his brigade was
-driven back and scattered, "when," says Hill, "Colonel
-McGowan, with the Fourteenth South Carolina, retrieved
-our ground." Special mention is made by General Hill
-in his report of Colonels McGowan, Edwards and Hamil<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>ton,
-and Lieutenant-Colonel Simpson, of the Fourteenth.
-Gregg lost 12 killed and 105 wounded, the heaviest loss
-falling on the Fourteenth. Jenkins lost over 450, 234
-of these from the Sharpshooters, the remainder being
-nearly equally divided among the other regiments. Longstreet
-and Hill took fourteen pieces of artillery, thousands
-of arms, several stand of colors and hundreds of prisoners.
-The battle that General Lee had planned to be fought
-by all the divisions of his army was actually fought by
-two.</p>
-
-<p>The Federal commanders greatly exaggerate the Confederate
-strength in the battle. Before Gaines' Mill,
-A. P. Hill had 14,000 troops. He could not have had
-more than 10,000 in his division at Frayser's Farm. Nor
-could Longstreet's division have been larger. Kershaw
-carried only 1,496 into the battle of Savage Station, and
-his was one of Longstreet's best brigades. In McClellan's
-five divisions there were fifteen brigades, which, at
-1,500 each, would make his force at Frayser's Farm greater
-than Longstreet's and Hill's by at least 2,500. It must
-be remembered, too, that A. P. Hill was not put into the
-fight until very late, when Longstreet had been engaged
-alone with the five divisions. It was a stubborn battle,
-and well contested on both sides, but the advantage was
-clearly with the Confederates.</p>
-
-<p>In the battle of Malvern Hill, which followed the day
-after Frayser's Farm, but one of Lee's South Carolina
-brigades was seriously engaged, that of Kershaw. McClellan
-rapidly and skillfully concentrated his army on
-the night of the 30th of June and the morning of July
-1st. He thus describes his position and concentration:
-"The left and center of our lines rested on Malvern hill,
-while the right curved backward through a wooded
-country toward a point below Haxall's, on James river.
-Malvern hill is an elevated plateau about a mile and a
-half by three-fourths of a mile in area, well cleared of
-timber, with several converging roads running over it."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>
-In front of this position there was a good range for artillery,
-and on its left (west) the plateau falls off abruptly
-into a ravine. Expecting attack from the front and left
-of his position, McClellan made those points strongest
-and massed his artillery there, sixty pieces of artillery
-and ten siege guns being "so disposed on the high
-ground that a concentrated fire could be brought to bear
-on any point in his front or left." Commodore Rodgers
-placed his flotilla to command both flanks. The general
-line faced north and was nearly at right angles to the
-line of McClellan's retreat from Frayser's farm and distant
-about 3½ miles from that battlefield.</p>
-
-<p>Before this unassailable position General Lee brought
-up his whole army. He resolved to attack with Magruder,
-Holmes and Huger, holding A. P. Hill and Longstreet
-in reserve. To Magruder was assigned the attack
-on Porter's position&mdash;the strongest on Malvern hill&mdash;supported
-by Holmes, whose small division was in line
-on Magruder's right, facing east. The attack was
-planned by Lee to be general along his whole line;
-Holmes, then Magruder, then Huger, then Jackson. In
-spite of McClellan's artillery, if this attack could have
-been made by noon, and made by the whole line in a
-grand charge for the batteries, the Federal army, already
-so terribly shaken, would have been unable to resist it,
-and Lee's antagonist would have been literally driven to
-his gunboats. Instead of all this, no attack was made
-until late in the evening. Holmes did not attack at all,
-deeming it "perfect madness;" Magruder and Huger,
-from the difficulty of communication with their commands,
-and the wooded character of the country, put in
-their brigades one after another, to charge across the
-open and up Malvern hill against nearly one hundred
-guns, supported by the Federal army, in full view, with
-the field and the woods swept by the gunboat batteries.
-Jackson sent D. H. Hill and Whiting forward, in order,
-and supported them with brigades from his own and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>
-Ewell's division, and they met a bloody repulse; but
-they did not make the attack until after Magruder's and
-Huger's brigades had been successively repulsed, some
-of them from the very crown of the hill.</p>
-
-<p>It was 6 o'clock before Kershaw was ordered forward.
-His description of his advance will indicate what doubtless
-happened to other gallant brigades. Being in McLaws'
-line, on the farm adjoining Crew's farm, he was
-ordered by one of Magruder's staff to "advance and
-attack the enemy's battery." Having no other instructions,
-in total ignorance of the country, or the position of
-the foe, Kershaw marched half a mile forward in a wood,
-nearing the sound of battle and moving really immediately
-against Porter's front, his artillery sweeping the
-open and the woods through which Kershaw was marching.
-Reaching at last the open, passing "three lines of
-troops" who had preceded him in the attack, he moved
-up a ravine to the slopes of Malvern hill. The artillery
-and infantry fire in front and flank was thinning his
-ranks, when his friends in rear (Twenty-sixth Georgia)
-by mistake opened fire upon him. At this crisis he
-ordered the whole brigade to retire and reform further to
-the right. While reforming on the Second South Carolina,
-General Ewell called him to support immediately a
-brigade he was about to lead against "the enemy's battery,"
-and was so urgent, that without waiting for the
-rest of his brigade, he led the Second in support of Ewell's
-gallant and useless charge, and with this affair, night
-having fully come, Kershaw's brigade had done the part
-assigned to it at Malvern hill. The long march to this
-point, after the battle of Savage Station, with its losses,
-had reduced the strength of the brigade. Kershaw took
-into the advance on Malvern hill 956 men and lost 164.
-The attack on Malvern hill failed of its purpose, but one
-thing it did accomplish; the repeated assaults were so
-gallant and determined, and pressed so near the enemy's
-guns, and inflicted so great a loss upon him, and so many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>
-brigades rested at night so close up to his defense, that
-he lost confidence in his ability to continue his successful
-defense on Malvern hill, and gave up the position during
-the night, leaving his dead unburied, his wounded in
-Confederate hands, and property and stores of great value
-on the field. His retreat was to a strong camp at
-Harrison's landing, immediately under the protection of
-Commodore Rodgers' flotilla.</p>
-
-<p>With Malvern Hill, Lee's battles with McClellan in
-front of Richmond practically ended. McClellan reported
-his total losses, from June 26th to July 1st, inclusive, at
-15,249. Lee, for the same time, reported his total loss
-at 18,351. In McClellan's report he acknowledges the
-capture of 5,958 of his army, under the head of missing;
-but clearly he is wide of the mark according to the actual
-count in Richmond. As General Lee reported: "More
-than 10,000 prisoners, including officers of rank, 52
-pieces of artillery, and upward of 35,000 stand of small-arms
-were captured. The stores and supplies of every
-description which fell into our hands were great in
-amount and value, but small in comparison with those
-destroyed by the enemy."</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> The loss of Jenkins' brigade was 10 killed and
-75 wounded (including Lieut. W. J. Campbell, mortally).</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> While waiting for Jackson, Lee ordered Longstreet to make a
-feint on the right, which became an assault, Whiting coming up in
-time to join on Longstreet's left.</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> Called by Sumner the battle of Allen's Farm.</p></div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>THE COAST OF SOUTH CAROLINA, SUMMER OF 1862&mdash;OPERATIONS
-UNDER GENERAL PEMBERTON&mdash;ENGAGEMENT
-AT OLD POCOTALIGO&mdash;CAMPAIGN ON
-JAMES ISLAND&mdash;BATTLE OF SECESSIONVILLE.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">At</span> the close of the spring of 1862, the Federal army
-in South Carolina, under General Hunter, had not
-made lodgment on the mainland. The enemy's
-gunboats, commanding the waters surrounding the
-islands, made ineffectual attacks on several of the batteries
-on shore.</p>
-
-<p>On May 29th, a small force under Colonel Christ, of the
-Fiftieth Pennsylvania regiment, a company of cavalry
-and one company of the Eighth Michigan regiment,
-crossing at Port Royal ferry, made an attack at Old Pocotaligo
-with a view of reaching and cutting the Charleston
-&amp; Savannah railroad. This force was met by the Rutledge
-mounted riflemen, Capt. W. L. Trenholm, and two
-companies, A and D, of the First battalion of South
-Carolina cavalry, the whole under Maj. J. H. Morgan.
-A spirited engagement followed along the banks of Screven's
-canal, but the Confederates, numbering only seventy-six
-men, were forced back to a point three-quarters of
-a mile beyond Old Pocotaligo, where they took up a
-strong position.</p>
-
-<p>Col. W. S. Walker, commanding the Third military
-district, having arrived on the field, directed this movement
-and awaited the second attack. The first attack
-had been made at 10:30 a. m., and the Confederates
-were not dislodged until 1 o'clock. At 4 o'clock Captain
-Elliott brought up three pieces of his Beaufort battery,
-and Captains Izard and Wyman, with their companies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>
-(I and F) of the Eleventh South Carolina, also reinforced
-Walker. Later Col. J. H. Means, with his regiment,
-400 strong, came up to Colonel Walker's aid. But his
-dispositions were not to be tried by the Federals. Colonel
-Christ, though he had now with him a reinforcement
-of Connecticut artillery, determined not to
-attack, and being covered by the woods in his retreat,
-was far on his way to Garden's corners before Walker
-got information of it and began the pursuit. He succeeded
-in crossing Port Royal ferry at night in flats
-which were in readiness, before he could be engaged by
-the Confederates.</p>
-
-<p>Elliott put his guns in position at the ferry next morning
-and battered the ferry-house which sheltered the
-Federal picket, and destroyed the flats. In this affair
-Christ reported a loss of 2 killed and 9 wounded, and
-Walker, 2 killed, 6 wounded and 1 missing. The Federal
-commander estimated the Confederate force at from 600
-to 800, but in the actual engagement along Screven's
-canal, Walker had only 76 men, rank and file; 110 men,
-armed for the most part only with sabers, being held a
-mile in rear with the horses, under orders to charge in
-case of a disaster in front.</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Walker, in his official report, mentions in special
-praise the conduct of Capt. W. L. Trenholm and his
-riflemen; Lieut. R. M. Skinner and his small command
-of the First battalion cavalry; Captain Elliott, of the
-Beaufort artillery; Capt. W. W. Elliott, acting ordnance
-officer; Lieut. L. J. Walker, of the Rutledge riflemen;
-Lieut. E. H. Barnwell, acting assistant adjutant-general;
-Corp. W. H. Jeffers, and Privates J. D. Taylor and
-W. K. Steadman of the riflemen.</p>
-
-<p>This attempt, like all others, failed to reach the railroad,
-and served only to inspire Walker and other commanders
-along its line to increased watchfulness. Thus
-closed the spring campaign on the coast of South Carolina.</p>
-
-<p>An event occurred in Charleston harbor on the morn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>ing
-of May 13th which, no doubt, determined the movement
-of a large force against the Confederate position on
-James island. This was the abduction of the steamer
-Planter by a portion of the crew, who took the steamer
-out of the harbor and turned her over to the Federal
-fleet. The Planter was a swift, light-draught vessel,
-employed in transporting ordnance and stores to the
-forts and batteries of the harbor and the vicinity. She
-had a white captain, mate and engineer, and a crew of eight
-intelligent negroes. The day before her abduction she
-had been loaded at Southern wharf with heavy ordnance for
-the Middle Ground battery in the harbor, consisting of
-a banded rifle 42, an 8-inch columbiad, an 8-inch howitzer,
-and a 32-pounder. She carried for her own defense
-a 32-pounder and a 24-pounder howitzer. The captain,
-mate and engineer, contrary to written orders, were in
-the city, when four of the crew, under the leadership of
-one of their number, Jacob Small, fired up and boldly ran
-out of the harbor before daylight, the Planter being taken
-for a guard boat by the forts and allowed to pass. The
-crew were well-informed men and thoroughly acquainted
-with the situation around Charleston, and especially with
-the recent removal of the guns from the Georgetown
-defenses and from Cole's island, at the mouth of Stono
-river.</p>
-
-<p>All this information was, of course, carried to the Federal
-commanders. Great excitement followed in the
-city, and all the troops and posts were ordered to be
-ready for attack, especially by way of the land. The
-abandonment of Fort Palmetto at the mouth of the Stono
-left the way open to the Federal fleet to enter that river,
-and to General Hunter to land a large force on James
-island. Following the plan which he had adopted after
-the fall of Port Royal harbor, General Pemberton gave
-up the defense of the sea islands and the harbor of
-Georgetown, and made the Charleston &amp; Savannah railroad
-his main line south of Charleston, drawing in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>
-defenses on James island to a line running across the
-island from Secessionville on its left to Fort Pemberton,
-on the Stono, on its right.</p>
-
-<p>This policy was unpopular with the governor, the military
-generally and the people, and made General Pemberton,
-an honest and patriotic soldier, both unpopular
-and mistrusted. The idea was abroad that he did not
-mean to defend the city to the last; that he was not confident
-of success, and that he was not equal to the emergency.
-These sentiments were freely communicated to
-General Lee and to President Davis by the governor and
-by prominent citizens of the State. General Ripley,
-who commanded the harbor defenses and the forces on
-James island, regarded the abandonment of Fort Palmetto
-as a fatal mistake, and at his request, he was
-ordered to join General Lee in front of Richmond. General
-Ripley had shown great energy and unusual ability
-as an artillery officer, and possessed the full confidence of
-the military and the people. He had made the Palmetto
-a strong battery and had put in command an accomplished
-officer, Maj. J. J. Lucas, with his artillery battalion supported
-by infantry. Cole's island, on which Fort Palmetto
-was situated, was surrounded by creeks and
-marshes, and the causeway in its rear ran along the river
-to Battery island, and thence by causeway to James island.
-Battery island was immediately on the river and was also
-strongly fortified. General Pemberton was satisfied that
-the Federal boats could run by both forts, and with their
-superior guns command the approach from James island so
-effectually as to make it impossible to send relief to
-either point. In this view of the situation he was fortified
-by the judgment of General Lee. Possessing the
-courage of his military convictions, the heavy guns from
-both positions were removed early in May, and by General
-Ripley's order were put in position at Elliott's cut
-and on the lines east of James Island creek. Cole's
-island was occupied by a battalion of the Twenty-fourth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>
-South Carolina volunteer infantry, in observation, under
-Lieut.-Col. Ellison Capers, with instructions to prevent
-barges or small boats entering the Stono, or landing
-detachments on either Cole's or Battery island.</p>
-
-<p>How far Major-General Pemberton communicated his
-views respecting the immediate defense of Charleston to
-his subordinates or to Governor Pickens, is not known,
-but to General Lee he wrote, on May 21st, after the gunboats
-had entered the Stono and anchored off Battery
-island, that he favored the abandonment of Forts Sumter
-and Moultrie and the defense of Charleston from the
-city itself. This remarkable judgment was expressed to
-General Lee in an official letter dated at Charleston, May
-21, 1862, addressed to Col. A. L. Long, military secretary.
-The following are extracts:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>I don't suppose there is any immediate intention of
-attacking Charleston.... Our land defenses on James
-island, however, are very strong. The battery constructed
-at Elliott's cut, on Stono river (not yet entirely
-completed), mounts only eight guns. I desire to make
-it twenty, but under present arrangements cannot effect
-it. [This battery, gradually strengthened, became a
-splendid fort, and as its history will show, did gallant
-service against repeated attacks. It was named Fort
-Pemberton, in honor of the major-general commanding.]
-I do not regard Charleston as strong. What under the
-old system of warfare was our strength, is now our great
-weakness. The many approaches by water and the
-recent proof of the practicability of their gunboats passing
-our batteries [Port Royal] have made the defense of this
-city a very difficult problem to solve. To obstruct 2,000
-yards of channel (and this with relation to the forts,
-Sumter and Moultrie, is decided upon as the most feasible)
-looks almost like an impossibility. Every effort,
-however, is being made to accomplish it. I am decidedly
-of the opinion that the most effectual defense of the city
-of Charleston can and should be made from and around
-the city itself. I believe that when the enemy is prepared
-to assault the forts at the entrance of the harbor,
-he will do so with such force and with such appliances
-as will reduce it to a question of time only. Our great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>
-reliance being in these works, when they fall our means
-of defense will be inadequate to hold the city; but with
-the guns now within their walls, I am satisfied that however
-great might be the injury to the city itself from
-bombardment, his fleet could be kept from polluting its
-streets. This has been for some time my opinion, and I
-am glad to find many gentlemen of eminence and intelligence
-who entirely concur with me.... The forts
-should not only be dismounted, but destroyed. They will
-be of no use after the termination of this war in their
-present condition, for I take it, impregnable ironclad
-batteries must take the place of stone and mortar. I
-propose this subject for the serious consideration of the
-department.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>These views of General Pemberton were certainly
-known to the "eminent gentlemen" who agreed in them,
-but they were not shared by Governor Pickens and his
-able council, nor by the military, nor by the citizens generally.
-Forts Sumter and Moultrie, garrisoned by well
-drilled and disciplined soldiers, commanded by accomplished
-and gallant officers, were the pride and hope of
-old Charleston, as they stood on either side of her great
-sea gate equipped and eager for her defense. Their history
-was destined to prove how well this confidence was
-placed.</p>
-
-<p>Members of the governor's council addressed a communication
-to General Pemberton, which expressed the
-apprehensions as well as the fixed purpose of the State
-authorities. The members of the council proposed to
-the general specific interrogatories, to which they asked,
-in the most respectful terms, his immediate reply. He
-was asked: (1) If in the event of his determining, for
-military considerations, to retire the Confederate troops
-from Charleston, would he consider it an interference
-with his authority for the governor and council to undertake
-its defense? (2) Would he be willing to advise the
-governor and council in such an emergency? (3) Would
-he be willing to give any assistance in his power?</p>
-
-<p>General Pemberton replied promptly, assuring the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>
-gentlemen who had addressed him the interrogations
-of his appreciation of the situation and of his hearty willingness
-to promote in any way the defense of the city,
-and asking that any plans for defensive works undertaken
-by the governor and council be submitted to him.
-Meanwhile he was doing all in his power to strengthen
-the defenses on James island and to hold his forces well
-in hand to be concentrated at the point of attack. General
-Pemberton had under his command for the defense
-of Charleston and on the line of the Charleston &amp; Savannah
-railroad, about 20,000 effectives, and in the department
-of Georgia about 10,000 from which he could draw
-reinforcements in the event of an attack on Charleston.</p>
-
-<p>General Hunter, commanding the Federal forces in
-South Carolina, reported an aggregate of 16,989 effectives,
-stationed along the coast from Tybee, Ga., to Edisto
-island. These troops were commanded by Brigadier-Generals
-Benham, Viele, Stevens, Wright and Gilmore,
-and were mainly concentrated on Daufuskie island, at
-Hilton Head and Beaufort, and on Edisto island. The
-Federal force was greatly overestimated by the Confederates,
-and it was believed that an army of at least 25,000
-or 30,000 could be thrown upon James or John's island
-in an advance upon Charleston from that direction, while
-a powerful fleet of armored vessels might be expected to
-attack by the harbor. The Federal commander, with a
-similar overestimate of the Confederate forces, wrote to
-Washington in the latter part of April, 1862, rating General
-Pemberton's forces as follows: At Savannah, 30,000;
-at Charleston, 25,000; at Augusta, 10,000; a total of
-65,000! He was doubtless better informed by the intelligent
-crew of the Planter, and then determined upon the
-occupation of James island.</p>
-
-<p>The Planter was stolen by her negro crew on the 13th
-of May, and two gunboats entered the Stono on the 20th
-following. The channel was open, the guns were all gone
-from the forts on Cole's and Battery islands, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>
-gunboats threw their 11-inch shells with perfect impunity
-on the right and left as they ran up the river. They
-anchored beyond Battery island, which would have
-effectually cut off the retreat of the battalion under Colonel
-Capers, if no other means of escape had been provided.
-By the energy and forethought of Col. C. H.
-Stevens, commanding the Twenty-fourth volunteers, an
-interior causeway had been thrown up, and bridges built,
-running from Cole's island to James island, right through
-the marsh and over the creeks, and by this causeway
-Colonel Capers retreated without the loss of a man, having
-burned the military barracks at Fort Palmetto and
-removed the small supply of stores. It was now evident
-that the Federals planned a lodgment on James island,
-for the number of their boats increased gradually in the
-river, and on the 2d of June, General Benham landed a
-part of his command at Battery island, under Brig.-Gen.
-I. I. Stevens. Here they were secure under the guns of
-the fleet in the Stono. By June 5th another division
-under Gen. H. G. Wright, having marched across Seabrook
-and John's island from North Edisto, had crossed
-the Stono from Legaréville to Grimball's on James
-island. These two divisions constituted the force of General
-Benham, that of Wright covering his left on the
-Stono, and that of Stevens his right, immediately in front
-of Secessionville. The gunboats in the Stono, firing by
-signals from the Federal camps and advance pickets,
-enfiladed their front and afforded effective support.</p>
-
-<p>On the early morning of June 3d, the day after General
-Stevens had landed, the first affair of the James island
-campaign took place. The One Hundredth Pennsylvania
-regiment had been advanced as far as the causeway
-crossing the marsh at Rivers' place, where the Charleston
-Riflemen and the Beauregard light infantry, Lieutenant
-Lynch and Captain White commanding, were on
-outpost duty. On the causeway in their front, three
-seacoast 24-pounder howitzers, of Captain Chichester's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>
-battery, were bogged so badly in an attempt to take
-them across, the evening before, that they had been left
-in this position, and were now covered by the rifles of
-the Pennsylvanians.</p>
-
-<p>Lieut.-Col. Ellison Capers, with four companies of the
-Twenty-fourth volunteers, was sent before day, on the
-3d, to extricate the guns. He found Captain White and
-Lieutenant Lynch holding the Federal regiment in
-check, and, ordering them to join his command, at once
-made his dispositions for attack. A sharp conflict in the
-pines beyond the causeway drove the enemy back to the
-cover of a ditch and bank beyond, and this position being
-assaulted and carried, the Federals fell back across an old
-field and took shelter in a row of negro houses at
-Legaré's place. At this point of the engagement, Lieut.-Col.
-P. C. Gaillard, commanding the Charleston battalion,
-came up to the support of Colonel Capers. The following
-is his report to Colonel Capers of the affair which
-followed his arrival:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Learning on Tuesday morning, the 3d instant, that you
-were engaged with the enemy at Legaré's, and that they
-were in larger force than yourself, I assembled the five
-companies of my battalion (one, the Charleston Riflemen,
-being already with you) to reinforce you.... Soon
-after joining, you called upon me for three companies
-to join in a charge upon the buildings occupied by the
-enemy. The Irish Volunteers, Sumter Guards and Calhoun
-Guards were designated for that duty, and well did
-they respond.... I joined in the charge also, but seeing
-you up with them, I fell back (by your order) to take
-charge of the line in rear.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The three companies named above, with the Evans
-Guard of the Twenty-fourth volunteers, the Charleston
-Riflemen and Beauregard light infantry, were led in the
-charge on the houses by their gallant officers, Captain
-Gooding, Lieutenant Lynch, Captain Ryan, Captain
-White, Lieut. Ward Hopkins and Captain Miles, and
-stormed and silenced the Federals at the houses. Some of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>
-them surrendered, but most retreated to their supports in
-the direction of Battery island. The gunboats, in full view
-in the Stono, opened a fire on the Confederates, and the
-enemy's supports, Twenty-eighth Massachusetts and
-Eighth Michigan, coming rapidly up, a retreat was
-ordered, and with a Federal captain and 20 other prisoners,
-Colonel Capers fell back to the position held by Colonel
-Gaillard. The enemy did not advance further than
-Legaré's, and the affair was over. The adjutant of the
-Charleston battalion, Lieut. Henry Walker, was wounded
-at the houses and fell into the enemy's hands. In this
-affair 9 men of the Twenty-fourth and 8 of the Charleston
-battalion were wounded.</p>
-
-<p>The engagement just described, and a reconnoissance
-in front of Grimball's on the 10th of June, gallantly
-made by the Forty-seventh Georgia regiment, fully
-developed the positions and force of the Federal army
-on James island. General Pemberton was active and
-efficient in strengthening the lines of defense and in concentrating
-troops on the island. By June 15th a force fully
-equal to that of the Federal army was encamped behind
-the batteries, and on the lines of defense from Fort Pemberton
-on the Stono, at Elliott's, cut, to Secessionville on
-the extreme east, under Brig.-Gens. N. G. Evans, W. D.
-Smith and S. R. Gist, the former in chief command.
-Col. Johnson Hagood, First volunteers, commanded the
-advance guard, composed of his own regiment, the
-Twenty-fourth, Col. C. H. Stevens; the Eutaw battalion,
-Lieut.-Col. C. H. Simonton, and the Fourth Louisiana
-battalion, Lieut.-Col. J. McEnery. This force was
-encamped outside the line of defense, and was charged
-with guarding the front of the Confederate line, except
-the immediate front of Secessionville, which was protected
-by its own outposts.</p>
-
-<p>Secessionville is situated on a peninsula cut from the
-east side of the island by an arm of Lighthouse creek, a
-bold tidewater stream which empties into the harbor of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>
-Charleston, east of Fort Johnson. At the point of the
-peninsula of Secessionville where the battery was erected,
-the peninsula is narrowest, probably not more than half
-regimental front, and on either side of it run the tidewaters
-of Lighthouse creek and Big Folly creek, bordered
-by impracticable marshes. The banks of the peninsula
-in front and in rear of the battery were fringed by a
-thick growth of myrtle bushes. Col. T. G. Lamar was
-in command of the fort at Secessionville (afterward
-called Fort Lamar, in his honor) and its infantry supports.
-The garrison consisted of Companies I and B of
-Lamar's regiment of South Carolina artillery, Capts.
-G. D. Keitt and Samuel J. Reid; and the infantry support
-was composed of two battalions of infantry, the
-Charleston battalion, Lieut.-Col. P. C. Gaillard, and the
-Pee Dee battalion, Lieut.-Col. A. D. Smith. The battery
-mounted an 8-inch columbiad, two 24-pounder
-rifles, several 18-pounders, and a mortar. A gunboat
-battery on the east bank, anchored in Big Folly creek,
-and commanded by Capt. F. N. Bonneau, would have
-been an effective ally, had not its guns just been moved
-on shore to be added to those of the fort.</p>
-
-<p>In the early morning of June 16th, the Secessionville
-picket was on duty at Rivers' place, a mile in front of
-the fort, and the Twenty-fourth, with six companies of
-the First South Carolina and one of the Forty-seventh
-Georgia, was covering the front of the east lines, under
-command of Col. C. H. Stevens. In the fort a gun
-detachment was awake and on the watch, but the
-remainder of the garrison was fast asleep.</p>
-
-<p>At 1 o'clock a. m., Gen. N. G. Evans had started 100
-picked men from Colonel Goodlett's Twenty-second regiment,
-under Capt. Joshua Jamison, as a fatigue party, to
-go over the bridge to Fort Lamar and assist in mounting
-Captain Bonneau's guns in the fort. These men reached
-the fort about daylight. Just at dawn the Secessionville
-picket was surprised and several of them captured.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>
-The main picket force ran in and gave the first notice to
-Lamar of the enemy's rapid advance on his position.
-The garrison was aroused and at the guns and on the
-flanks just in time to meet the gallant assault of the
-Eighth Michigan, Seventh Connecticut, Seventy-ninth
-New York, Twenty-eighth Massachusetts, One Hundredth
-Pennsylvania and Forty-sixth New York, with
-Rockwell's and Strahan's light batteries and a company
-of engineers. The six regiments were moved forward in
-two lines, both under the immediate direction of Gen.
-I. I. Stevens, and each commanded by its senior colonel.
-As they advanced the peninsula narrowed, and when
-within short range of the works, the left regiment of the
-front line, the Seventh Connecticut, was crowded into
-the marsh. Just at this juncture Lamar fired the 8-inch
-columbiad charged with canister, and in rapid succession
-the 24's and 18's, and the mortar opened. The whole
-line wavered and was broken in some confusion. Urged
-on by their officers, the Connecticut, Michigan and New
-York regiments pressed forward, the latter two in larger
-numbers gaining ground. Groups of men and officers of
-these two regiments gained the ditch and both flanks of
-the work, and some of them mounted the work. They
-were met by the galling fire of the infantry of Gaillard
-and Smith, and were either killed or captured. Meanwhile
-the 100 men under Jamison, sent to mount Bonneau's
-guns, arrived and promptly took their places on
-the parapet, adding their rifles to the fire of the Charleston
-and Pee Dee battalions.</p>
-
-<p>A number of the assaulting force, moving along the
-marsh under cover of the myrtle bushes, gained a lodgment
-on the right flank and in rear of the work, and were
-doing serious execution by their fire, hid as they were,
-and shielded by the bank of the peninsula. But they
-were soon dislodged by the rifles of the Fourth Louisiana
-battalion, sent by Colonel Hagood to reinforce the garrison
-as soon as he learned that the fort was being attacked.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>
-The Louisianians coming up at a run were promptly put
-into position by their gallant commander, Colonel McEnery,
-and drove the Federals from the myrtles into the
-marsh or out into the field. Two 24-pounders, in battery
-on the west flank of the fort and west of the creek
-and marsh, had been silent up to this moment. Colonel
-Hagood, who had moved promptly down the Battery
-Island road to check any advance by that way, and protect
-the right front of the fort, noting the silence of the
-flank battery, dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel Capers to
-open the fire of these guns. Finding a small detachment
-of Lamar's artillery at the guns, under Lieutenant Kitching,
-a prompt and gallant response to the order to open
-fire was made, and under the direction of Colonel Capers
-solid shot and shell were delivered along the line of the
-myrtles, and into the regiments vainly endeavoring to
-form on the field in front of the work. The sun was now
-fully up and Lamar's victory was achieved, though both
-sides continued to fire until the Federal regiments had
-withdrawn from range.</p>
-
-<p>During the assault upon the fort, a column of forty
-companies of infantry, two batteries of artillery and a
-squadron of cavalry, about 2,500 strong, under Brigadier-General
-Wright, advanced along the Battery Island road
-and up the west side of Lighthouse creek, as a covering
-force for the protection of the left and rear of the troops
-assaulting Secessionville. This force was made up of
-the Third New Hampshire, and companies of the Third
-Rhode Island, Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania, Sixth Connecticut,
-Forty-seventh New York, Forty-fifth Pennsylvania,
-and First New York engineers. The advance of
-Hagood down the Battery Island road, with a portion of
-the First and Twenty-fourth South Carolina and the
-Eutaw battalion, brought him in contact with General
-Wright's advance, which he checked and repelled. The
-Eutaw battalion was placed behind an obstruction of
-felled timber on the east of the road, and four companies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>
-of the Twenty-fourth still further to the left and immediately
-in front of the enemy's advance. One piece of
-Boyce's battery, under Lieutenant Jeter, was put in
-position immediately on the right of the Twenty-fourth
-and the four companies of the First south of the road.
-Jeter opened fire on the enemy, in full view at Hill's
-place, and immediately Wright's artillery replied, shelling
-the whole front of Hagood's force and throwing solid shot
-at Jeter's gun. The Third Rhode Island advanced to
-charge the position, but was handsomely repulsed by
-Colonels Stevens and Simonton and the effective fire of
-Jeter. By this time the contest in front of Secessionville
-having been determined, General Wright retired his
-troops to their intrenched positions, and the battle of
-Secessionville was ended.</p>
-
-<p>After the first repulse, the fort was again in danger
-from the fire of infantry and artillery in its rear and
-right flank by a portion of Wright's column, which had
-marched up the west bank of Lighthouse creek and were
-in position south and east of Hill's negro houses. It was
-this force that McEnery attacked as he came up, firing at
-short range across the creek. They were ultimately
-driven off by the fire of the 24-pounders in front of
-Clark's house, above alluded to, and by Hagood's troops.
-The latter were well posted, and when assaulted easily
-repulsed the attack. Lieutenant Jeter with his guns did
-good service in this affair; indeed, the position of General
-Wright's column at Hill's houses, though for a short
-time it took the work at Secessionville in flank and rear,
-was between the infantry fire of McEnery at the fort and
-Hagood's force and the 24-pounder battery at Clark's
-house. If Colonel Hagood had had his whole advance
-guard under his command, with Boyce's entire battery, he
-could have moved immediately against General Wright's
-column, striking him in flank and rear. On the contrary,
-if Wright had known that Hagood had with him only the
-total strength of a good regiment, with one piece of artil<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>lery,
-he would doubtless have attacked with his entire
-force instead of with a portion of the Rhode Island regiment
-only.</p>
-
-<p>The force assaulting the fort numbered, of all arms,
-3,562. It was defended by two companies of artillery,
-three battalions of infantry, and 100 picked men under
-Captain Jamison, a total of less than 1,000 men.
-Wright's column could not have been less than 2,500 to
-3,000 of all arms. Hagood's force did not exceed 700
-men, with one piece of artillery. The Confederate troops
-actually engaged did not exceed 1,800.</p>
-
-<p>General Stevens reported a loss of 529 men and officers
-in his assaulting column; General Wright, 129; making
-an aggregate of 658. Colonel Hagood took 12 prisoners
-and counted 12 dead in front of Colonel Stevens' four
-companies, and 8 in front of the Eutaw battalion. More
-than the number reported by General Stevens were
-buried on the field, and while that general reports 1
-officer and 30 men made prisoners, by actual count the
-Confederates took 65 wounded and 42 unwounded prisoners.
-The total Federal loss could not have been less
-than 750 to 800.</p>
-
-<p>The Confederates lost in killed, wounded and missing,
-204 officers and men, as follows: Forty-seventh Georgia,
-1 killed; Fourth Louisiana, 6 killed, 22 wounded;
-Lamar's artillery, 15 killed, 39 wounded, 1 missing;
-Charleston battalion, 10 killed, 40 wounded, 2 missing;
-Pee Dee battalion, 3 killed, 23 wounded, 3 missing;
-First volunteers, 1 wounded; Twenty-second volunteers,
-10 killed, 8 wounded; Twenty-fourth volunteers, 3
-killed, 7 wounded, 2 missing; Eutaw battalion, 4 killed,
-14 wounded; total, 5 officers and 47 men killed, 12
-officers and 132 men wounded, 8 missing; aggregate 204.</p>
-
-<p>Among the gallant dead were Capt. Henry C. King and
-Lieut. John J. Edwards, of the Charleston battalion;
-Capt. Samuel J. Reed, of Lamar's artillery; Lieut.
-Richard W. Greer, of the Eutaw battalion, and Lieut.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>
-B. A. Graham, of the Forty-seventh Georgia. Colonel
-Lamar and Lieutenant-Colonel Gaillard were both
-wounded severely. Also among the wounded were
-Captain Walker, of the Fourth Louisiana; Capts. J. A.
-Blake, F. T. Miles and R. P. Smith, and Lieuts. J. W.
-Axson, George Brown, John Burke and F. R. Lynch of
-the Charleston battalion; Lieut. J. G. Beatty of the Pee
-Dee battalion; Lieut. F. W. Andrews of the Twenty-fourth,
-and Lieut. Samuel J. Berger of the Eutaw battalion.</p>
-
-<p>It was a gallant assault on the part of the Federals and
-came near being a complete surprise. But for the heroic
-conduct of the garrison in standing to their guns, and the
-persistent and gallant support of the Charleston and Pee
-Dee battalions and Jamison's men, who fought on the
-parapet and on the flanks, the Michigan and New York
-regiments and the Seventh Connecticut would have
-swarmed over the work at the first assault, closely followed
-by their supports.</p>
-
-<p>The news of the victory at Secessionville was heralded
-to every quarter of the State and the Confederacy, and
-filled the hearts of soldiers and people with joy and
-thanksgiving. General Pemberton congratulated the
-troops engaged in orders, and especially acknowledged
-the heroism and ability of Lamar and his garrison. In
-published orders, the following officers and soldiers were
-specially mentioned for good conduct: Col. T. G. Lamar,
-Lieut.-Cols. P. C. Gaillard, A. D. Smith, John McEnery
-and Ellison Capers; Majs. David Ramsay and J. H.
-Hudson; Capts. Samuel J. Reed, Henry C. King, F. T.
-Miles, G. D. Keitt, W. W. McCreery, F. N. Bonneau,
-R. E. Elliott, S. J. Corrie, H. W. Carr, Joshua Jamison,
-Samuel S. Tompkins and W. H. Ryan; Asst. Surg.
-James Evans; Lieutenants Hall and Matthews, C. S.
-N.; Adjt. E. J. Frederick; Lieuts. W. H. Rodgers, J. B.
-Kitching, J. B. Humbert, W. S. Barton, J. W. Moseley,
-T. P. Oliver, John A. Bellinger, W. M. Johnson, J. W.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>
-Lancaster, L. S. Hill, H. H. Sally, J. B. Cobb, William
-Beckham, George Brown, A. A. Allemand, James Campbell
-and R. A. Blum; Sergt. W. H. Hendricks, and Privates
-Joseph Tennent, J. Campbell Martin, and T.
-Grange Simons, Jr.</p>
-
-<p>Maj. David Ramsay, who succeeded to the command of
-the Charleston battalion on the wounding of Lieutenant-Colonel
-Gaillard, closes his brief report with this appropriate
-and just tribute, applicable to each of the commands
-engaged in the battle of Secessionville. "I have
-mentioned those especially noticeable, but can only
-repeat that I refrain from enumerating others because it
-would be to furnish a roll of those engaged."</p>
-
-<p>Signally repulsed at Secessionville, and convinced of
-the strength of the line of defense across the island, the
-Federal commander-in-chief abandoned the campaign,
-evacuated James island the last of June, and aggregated
-the main portion of his troops at Hilton Head, Beaufort
-and North Edisto. There were left only the gunboats
-in the lower Stono, and the blockading fleet off the bar
-to menace Charleston. The troops which had reinforced
-the command of General Gist on James island were
-returned to their former stations on the coast and at
-Savannah, and the heroes of Secessionville were toasted
-on every hand.</p>
-
-<p>During the remainder of the summer, several affairs
-occurred along the coast which illustrated the watchfulness
-and gallantry of the South Carolina soldiers. An
-expedition to Fenwick's island was organized and successfully
-conducted by Maj. R. J. Jeffords, commanding
-the Sixth battalion South Carolina cavalry, and the
-enemy's positions in the surrounding waters and on the
-adjacent islands fully reported to Col. W. S. Walker,
-commanding the Third district. On the 14th of August,
-the Federal gunboats, having entered Winyaw bay,
-steamed up Black river as far as Mrs. Sparkman's plantation,
-20 miles above Georgetown. Maj. W. P. Emanuel,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>
-commanding in that quarter, with a section of Wood's
-battery and all his troops south of the river, marched at
-once to Mrs. Sparkman's and boldly attacked the boats
-with rifles and battery. The enemy's force that had
-landed was compelled to re-embark, and the boats soon
-steamed down the river, shelling the banks on their way.
-Major Emanuel threw his mounted infantry forward at
-every available bluff, and gave the boats a spirited fight
-on their return to Georgetown. A picket force on Pinckney
-island was surprised and captured at dawn of the 21st
-of August, by Captains Elliott and Mickler. This was an
-incursion far into the enemy's lines, and at the risk of
-being cut off by his gunboats, which were in the immediate
-vicinity. The lieutenant commanding the Federal
-picket was killed, with 14 of his men, and 36 were captured,
-4 of whom were wounded. The expedition left
-Bear island in nine boats, 120 strong, detachments from
-the Eleventh volunteers, Captains Mickler, Leadbetter
-and Wescoat commanding, and from the Beaufort artillery,
-Lieutenant Stuart commanding, the whole directed
-by Capts. Stephen Elliott and John H. Mickler. The
-affair was well planned and gallantly executed, with the
-loss of only 8 men wounded on the part of the Confederates.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>GENERAL BEAUREGARD IN COMMAND&mdash;THE DEFENSES
-OF CHARLESTON&mdash;DISPOSITION OF TROOPS&mdash;BATTLE
-OF POCOTALIGO&mdash;REPULSE OF ENEMY
-AT COOSAWHATCHIE BRIDGE&mdash;OPERATIONS IN
-NORTH CAROLINA&mdash;BATTLE OF KINSTON&mdash;DEFENSE
-OF GOLDSBORO.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">On</span> the 29th of August, General Beauregard, who
-had been in command of the army in Mississippi,
-was ordered to take charge in South Carolina.
-General Pemberton was directed to report for duty at
-Richmond. His policy of abandoning the attempt to
-defend the mouth of Broad river and the harbor of
-Georgetown, and especially his removal of the guns from
-the mouth of the Stono, had made him unpopular; but
-his energy, ability and patriotism commanded the respect
-of the military, and the government at Richmond reposed
-in him the highest confidence. Upon taking the command
-at Charleston in September, General Beauregard
-made a careful inspection of the department, and writing
-to Richmond, expressed his admiration for the amount
-and character of defensive work which General Pemberton
-had done, especially in the defense of Charleston.</p>
-
-<p>Having requested General Pemberton to give his
-views upon the situation, and particularly as to the
-forces, guns, etc., necessary to the proper defense of the
-cities of Charleston and Savannah and their dependencies,
-General Beauregard received the following reply
-from Pemberton, dated September 24, 1862:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>I have the honor to state in answer to your inquiry,
-that in my opinion this department can be successfully
-defended against any reasonable force which it is prob<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>able
-the enemy may bring against it [by the following
-forces], to wit:</p>
-
-<p>James island: 10,000 infantry, 1,000 heavy artillery,
-500 cavalry, 6 field batteries. Morris island: 1,000
-infantry, 250 heavy artillery, 50 cavalry. Sullivan's
-island: 1,500 infantry, 800 heavy artillery, 50 cavalry,
-1 field battery. Christ Church: 1,000 infantry, 100 heavy
-artillery, 200 cavalry, 1 field battery. St. Andrew's: 2,000
-infantry (movable column), 200 heavy artillery, 200 cavalry,
-2 field batteries. Second military district: 5,000
-infantry, 800 cavalry, 200 heavy artillery, 2 field batteries.
-Third military district: 5,000 troops of all arms. Savannah:
-10,000 infantry, 1,200 heavy artillery, 2,000 cavalry,
-8 field batteries. Fort Sumter: 500 heavy artillery, 100
-riflemen. Georgetown (merely for preventing marauding,
-the defense of Winyaw bay requiring obstructions
-and a numerous heavy artillery, both of which are entirely
-out of the question): 7 companies of cavalry, 3 batteries
-of artillery, 3 companies of infantry. The above
-estimate is based upon the supposition that attacks may
-be made simultaneously upon different points.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Upon this communication, General Beauregard endorsed:
-"Approved as the minimum force required, as
-above stated, to guard with security the department of
-South Carolina and Georgia."</p>
-
-<p>General Beauregard was warmly received by the governor
-and council of South Carolina, by the military and
-by the citizens. Governor Pickens addressed him the
-following letter a few days after his taking command:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Dear General: I enclose the within to you, being a
-letter from myself to General Lee, dated May 23d, and
-one from him in reply, dated May 29th, containing an
-order to General Pemberton relating to the defense of
-Charleston. It strikes me that the defense of Charleston
-is now of the last importance to the Confederacy, and in
-my very full interview yesterday, I took the liberty of
-urging that Fort Sumter was the key to the harbor and
-in fact was almost absolutely essential to enable the
-South to hold communication with the foreign world....
-I am rejoiced to see you here again, as there is no
-general who could have been selected to whom South Carolina
-would look with more confidence for her defense than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>
-yourself. Our whole coast involves the most complicated
-difficulties in defense, and all the highest range of
-science in war is required to make that defense successful.
-Feeling the greatest confidence in your abilities,
-and well knowing that this position is well suited to your
-peculiar talents and scientific knowledge, it affords me
-the greatest pleasure to co-operate with you in anything
-that you may suggest, and to offer you all the resources
-of the State that I may be able to command.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>After an inspection of the harbor defenses, and the
-lines and work on James island, General Beauregard
-reported the result of his examination in the following
-letter, of date October 3, 1862, addressed to Adjutant-General
-Cooper at Richmond:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Accompanied by Major-General Pemberton, Brigadier-General
-Jordan, my chief of staff, Colonel Gonzales, chief
-of artillery, and Lieut.-Col. George Lay, on a tour of
-inspection, under orders of the war department, on September
-16th I proceeded to inspect the harbor defenses,
-beginning with four new sand batteries, in barbette,
-near the west end of Sullivan's island, bearing on and
-commanding the floating boom under construction across
-the channel thence to Fort Sumter. Those batteries are
-not finished, but two guns, 10-inch columbiads, were in
-position, one only being ready for service and the magazines
-not yet built. The boom is composed of railroad iron,
-strongly linked together with heavy iron links and bands,
-protected and buoyed by spars of timber of the same
-length with the bars of iron, and banded closely together
-with iron. The bars are suspended four feet under water,
-and the whole structure is anchored every sixth section
-with an anchor. About one-fourth of this boom is laid.
-I am informed that it has been tested by running against
-it a heavily-loaded vessel towed by a steamboat. This
-test it resisted, parting the towline, a 10-inch hawser.
-It was also proposed to lay another line about 100 yards
-in rear of that now under construction, if sufficient time
-is allowed and enough chains and anchors can be procured.
-In addition, a rope obstruction has been prepared
-to place in advance of the wooden and iron boom for
-the purpose of entangling the enemy's propellers while
-under fire of our heavy guns in the adjacent forts and
-batteries.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>It is proper for me to notice that since my inspection
-the plan of the boom was found to be defective, at least
-in one particular; the great length of it made it unable
-to bear the pressure of the tide, and the boom parted in
-several places. This, it is hoped by the projector, may
-be remedied by breaking the continuous character of the
-barrier and laying it in sections, and on that plan it is
-now being carried on....</p>
-
-<p>The armament of the four new sand batteries is to consist,
-as planned, of seven 10 and one 8 inch columbiad,
-and two 42-pounder rifle guns. Fort Sumter has thirty-eight
-heavy guns above the caliber of 32-pounders, and
-Fort Moultrie nine, bearing at once on the obstructions.
-There will be also two strong ironclad gunboats, each
-armed with four guns, to give important, indeed vital,
-assistance. These, I am advised, will be completed
-before the 15th instant, and could even now yield some
-aid in an emergency. I regard them as absolutely
-indispensable to the successful defense of the harbor.
-The Neck battery on Morris island [afterward Battery
-Wagner] was next visited, which was found incomplete,
-wanting at least two weeks' work to finish it according
-to plan, and needing a closed gorge to secure against surprise.
-It was erected to defend that approach to Fort
-Sumter. In addition, a few rifled guns ought to be
-placed to bear on the main channel.</p>
-
-<p>Subsequently I visited a small work, Fort Ripley, now
-under construction in cribs in the bay, about midway
-between Fort Johnson and Castle Pinckney. It is nearly
-ready for its armament of five heavy guns in barbette,
-but must be protected outside to the high-water mark by
-rubbish before it can be relied on. A series of similar
-smaller works erected in the shallow water nearer to the
-mouth of the harbor would materially add to the strength
-of our defenses. I did not visit Castle Pinckney, the
-armament of which is nine 24-pounders and one 24-pounder
-rifled gun. I am well acquainted with this
-work, and regard it as nearly worthless at this juncture.</p>
-
-<p>On the 17th of September, accompanied by Major-General
-Pemberton, I inspected the defensive lines on James
-island from the Wappoo to Mellichamp's, a distance of
-about 3 miles. These lines consist of a system of forts,
-redoubts, redans, <i>cremailleres</i>, not very properly arranged
-and located, with the exception of Fort Pemberton, on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>
-the Stono and some of the redoubts; and in my opinion
-a simpler system, one requiring a smaller force to hold
-and defend, might have been originally devised with
-advantage. However, this line ought to serve our purpose
-with a proper force of about 3 men for every 2 yards
-of development. Each redoubt and redan has at least
-one heavy gun in position. That part of the lines between
-Dill's creek and the Wappoo will be completed in two
-weeks. Fort Pemberton is a strong work, and has an
-armament of twenty guns of various calibers. There are
-two batteries on the Ashley river and the entrances of
-Dill's and Wappoo creeks, but for want of guns the works
-are without armaments, except the battery at Lawton's,
-which has four 32-pounders in position, which, however,
-are of little use against any probable attack.</p>
-
-<p>On the 18th, accompanied as on the previous days, I
-inspected Forts Sumter and Moultrie, which were found
-in fine order and condition, considering the repairs in
-progress at the latter work. The armament of Moultrie
-consists of thirty-eight guns of various calibers, from
-24-pounders to 8-inch columbiads, with a garrison of
-some 300 effective men. The armament of Sumter consists
-of seventy-nine guns of all calibers, from 32-pounders
-to 10-inch columbiads, and seven 10-inch mortars. It
-has a garrison of about 350 effective men. The barracks
-are being cut down to protect them from the fire of the
-enemy.... Battery Beauregard, across Sullivan's island,
-in advance of Fort Moultrie, to defend the approach from
-the east, is armed with five guns. The work at the eastern
-extremity of the island, placed to defend the interior
-approach by water to the rear and west of Long island,
-is a redoubt armed with eight guns (two 32-pounders and
-six small guns). I am informed by General Pemberton
-that all these works are sufficiently garrisoned.</p>
-
-<p>My conclusions are as follows: That when the works
-contemplated and in progress for the defense of the harbor,
-especially when the obstructions and ironclad gunboats
-shall have been completed and are properly armed
-with guns of the heaviest caliber, the enemy's fleet will
-find it extremely difficult to penetrate sufficiently within
-the harbor to injure or reduce the city; but until these
-works are finished, armed as indicated, and properly
-garrisoned, the city cannot be regarded as protected.</p>
-
-<p>Accompanied as on previous days, on the 19th of Sep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>tember
-I examined the works at Secessionville, which
-are irregular and of poor construction. A force of some
-200 men was still at work increasing and strengthening
-them. The position is naturally strong, being surrounded
-by two marshes and a wide creek, except on
-one side [the front], where there is a very narrow strip of
-level ground, along which the abolitionists made their
-attack, which was a surprise, when they were defeated
-by one-fifth of their numbers. I do not see the necessity
-or advantage of holding in force this advanced position.
-A strong picket would be sufficient. The armament of
-this work consists of two 8-inch naval guns, one 18-pounder
-howitzer, six 32-pounders, one 32-pounder and two
-24-pounder rifled guns, and two 10-inch mortars. All of
-which is respectfully submitted, etc.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>This communication gives a clear view of the character
-of the defenses of Charleston in October, 1862, and
-shows also the activity and engineering skill of General
-Pemberton, under whose direction the works, for the
-most part, were prosecuted after the abandonment of
-Cole's island early in May. The position for the fort at
-Secessionville was originally selected by Col. Lewis M.
-Hatch of Charleston, whose practical knowledge of the
-waters and islands surrounding Charleston and patriotic
-zeal in planning for their defense made his services
-most valuable, especially at the beginning of the
-defensive work, when so very few military men in
-Charleston had made a study of the approaches by land
-and water to the city. The victory of the 16th of June
-bore ample testimony to the value of the exact spot on
-which Fort Lamar stood.</p>
-
-<p>In July, Col. Johnson Hagood was promoted to brigadier-general,
-and the First regiment came under the
-command of Col. Thomas Glover. Early in August,
-Generals Drayton and Evans were sent from South Carolina
-to reinforce General Lee, in Virginia. These generals
-took with them the First regiment, Colonel Glover;
-the Fifteenth, Col. W. D. De Saussure; the Seventeenth,
-Col. (Governor) J. H. Means; the Eighteenth, Col. J. M.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>
-Gadberry; the Twenty-second, Col. Joseph Abney; the
-Twenty-third, Col. H. L. Benbow; Holcombe legion,
-Col. P. F. Stevens; Third battalion, Lieut.-Col. G. S.
-James, and Capt. R. Boyce's battery, all South Carolina
-organizations. Upon taking command, General Beauregard
-assigned Gen. S. R. Gist to command the First district,
-with headquarters at Charleston. This district
-embraced the coast from the North Carolina line to Rantowles
-creek, and included the islands touching the
-harbor. Col. R. F. Graham commanded on Morris island,
-Col. L. M. Keitt on Sullivan's island, Col. C. H.
-Stevens on James island, and Major Emanuel at Georgetown.
-Lieut.-Col. William Butler, First regular infantry,
-commanded at Fort Moultrie, and Maj. Alfred Rhett,
-of the First regular artillery, at Fort Sumter. Fort
-Pemberton on the Stono was commanded by Maj. J. J.
-Lucas, and the post of Secessionville by Lieutenant-Colonel
-Capers. General Gist had under his command 133
-companies of all arms. In this enumeration by companies
-were included the following South Carolina regiments:
-First regular artillery, First regular infantry, First
-volunteer artillery, Twentieth, Twenty-first, Twenty-fourth
-and Twenty-fifth volunteers, ten companies each.</p>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Hagood, in charge of the Second
-military district, with headquarters at Adams' run, had
-in his command one regiment (the Sixteenth), Smith's
-and Nelson's battalions of infantry, two companies of
-cavalry, the Stono scouts, and two batteries (the Washington
-and Morrison artillery)&mdash;twenty-nine companies
-of all arms, all South Carolinians.</p>
-
-<p>Col. W. S. Walker, commanding the Third military
-district, with headquarters at McPhersonville, had under
-his orders an aggregate of forty companies of all arms, as
-follows: Eleventh volunteers, First and Second battalions
-of sharpshooters, Third regiment of cavalry, First,
-Second and Sixth battalions of cavalry, Rutledge mounted
-riflemen, Charleston dragoons, Kirk's partisan rangers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>
-Elliott's Beaufort artillery, Kavanaugh's Lafayette battery,
-all South Carolina commands, and Nelson's Virginia
-battery. The whole Confederate force in South Carolina
-upon General Beauregard's assuming command, September
-24, 1862, amounted to 202 companies of all arms, and
-aggregated 12,544 officers and soldiers present for duty.</p>
-
-<p>On October 22d, the battle of Old Pocotaligo was fought
-by Col. W. S. Walker, with a small force of infantry,
-dismounted cavalry, and sections from two batteries of
-artillery, amounting in all to 675 men and officers. On
-the same day the railroad and turnpike bridges crossing
-the Coosawhatchie were successfully defended by the
-Lafayette artillery, Lieut. L. F. Le Bleux commanding;
-a section of Elliott's Beaufort battery, Lieut. H. M.
-Stuart commanding, and Capt. B. F. Wyman's company
-of the Eleventh South Carolina infantry. These engagements
-will be described separately.</p>
-
-<p>A Federal force of 4,448 of all arms, under the command
-of Brigadier-General Brannan, sailed from Hilton
-Head on the evening of October 21st in transports supported
-by gunboats, destined for Mackay's point, on
-Broad river, with orders from the Federal commanding
-general "to destroy the railroad and railroad bridges on
-the Charleston and Savannah line." Landing his forces
-at Mackay's point during the night of the 21st and on the
-early morning of the 22d, General Brannan marched with
-all of his troops except the Forty-eighth New York and
-two companies of engineers, immediately up the road
-leading to Old Pocotaligo. The force detached was sent
-by boat up the Broad, and thence up the Coosawhatchie
-to destroy the railroad bridge over the latter river, where
-the main column, in case of victory at Pocotaligo, should
-unite with it in tearing up the railroad on either hand,
-including the bridge over the Pocotaligo and Tulifinny
-rivers.</p>
-
-<p>If General Brannan had succeeded, he would have cut
-very effectually the communication between Savannah<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>
-and Charleston, captured the military stores at Coosawhatchie
-and Pocotaligo, and inflicted a serious blow to
-General Beauregard's line of defense. But his expedition
-signally failed, and he was defeated with brilliant
-success by Colonel Walker's troops at Old Pocotaligo and
-at Coosawhatchie bridge. Learning of his landing at
-Mackay's point and of his advance, Colonel Walker
-ordered by wire the artillery and infantry named above
-to repair to the bridge, and himself marched down the
-Mackay's point road, with all the force he could command,
-to meet General Brannan. Meanwhile, Col. C. J. Colcock,
-at Grahamville, commanding the Third South Carolina
-cavalry, dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson with five
-companies of his regiment, and Major Abney, with two
-companies of his battalion of sharpshooters, to march
-rapidly to Coosawhatchie and intercept the force which
-he had learned was moving up the river. These dispositions
-were effective, as the result showed.</p>
-
-<p>Walker's force consisted of Nelson's Virginia battery,
-two sections of Elliott's battery, and the following commands:
-Maj. J. H. Morgan's battalion of cavalry, the
-Charleston light dragoons, Captain Kirk's partisan
-rangers, Captain Allston's company of sharpshooters,
-Capt. D. B. Heyward's company of cavalry, and Capt.
-A. C. Izard's company of the Eleventh South Carolina,
-Lieut. W. L. Campbell commanding. The aggregate of
-these troops was 475, one-fourth of whom were horse-holders
-and not in the engagement now to be described.
-Walker took position near Dr. Hutson's residence, on a
-salt marsh, crossed by a causeway and skirted by woods
-on both sides. A section of Elliott's guns, Allston's
-sharpshooters, and two companies of cavalry, under Maj.
-J. H. Morgan, had gone in advance of Walker's position
-and were skirmishing with the head of Brannan's advance
-and holding him in check. In this affair Major Morgan
-was severely wounded, but his command held the advance
-of the Federal troops sufficiently long to allow Walker to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>
-post his gallant little force at Hutson's. Elliott's guns
-were posted in and near the road, and Nelson's in the
-field in rear of the skirmishers, and screened by woods in
-front. The rest of the command was put in line to the
-right and left of the road, covered by the trees which
-fringed the marsh.</p>
-
-<p>General Brannan, encouraged by his success in driving
-in Major Morgan, pushed up with his infantry and attacked
-at once. Walker replied with the guns of Elliott
-and Nelson (Lieutenant Massie commanding) and with his
-rifle fire. The marsh was impracticable, but Brannan
-pushed his troops to its edge and opened an infantry fire
-from a force so much superior to Walker's as to inflict
-serious damage to his batteries by killing horses and
-wounding the gunners. The Federal artillery fired so
-incessantly that their ammunition fell short and their fire
-slackened.</p>
-
-<p>Meanwhile Elliott and Massie raked the woods opposite
-with shell and canister. General Brannan reports that
-this fire twice drove his infantry out of the woods "with
-great slaughter;" "the overwhelming fire of the enemy
-tore through the woods like hail." But the position was
-not strong enough to be held against so superior a force,
-and as the Federal regiments pushed out into the edge
-of the marsh, enveloping both flanks of the Confederate
-position, and delivering a damaging fire from their superior
-rifles, Walker ordered a retreat upon Old Pocotaligo,
-some 2½ miles in his rear.</p>
-
-<p>This was well executed and without confusion, Capt.
-J. B. Allston's sharpshooters and part of Company I,
-Eleventh volunteers, covering the movement. On the
-retreat, Capt. W. L. Trenholm, with his splendid company,
-the Rutledge mounted riflemen, joined Walker from
-outpost duty, and took command of all the cavalry.</p>
-
-<p>Arriving at Old Pocotaligo, Walker took position in
-the old houses and behind the scattered trees of the hamlet,
-the Pocotaligo creek with its impracticable marsh<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>
-being in his front, and the ground higher and better
-adapted for defense than the position at Dr. Hutson's.</p>
-
-<p>Capt. John H. Screven, just as the enemy appeared,
-opened fire, and after the last man of the rear guard had
-crossed, took a party of men and effectually tore up the
-long bridge on the causeway, and the fight began in
-earnest. Brannan brought up all his troops and artillery
-and poured in a galling fire, to which Walker's men
-replied from trees and houses and every bush on the edge
-of the marsh. Two of Elliott's guns and all of Morris'
-but one were disabled by the loss of the gunners, killed
-or wounded, and after the battle had been in progress
-some two hours, Walker had only three guns left. One of
-these he withdrew from the position commanding the
-causeway and put it in position under Sergeant Fuller,
-about 300 yards to his right, where it opened on the Federal
-left. Nelson's battalion (Seventh), 200 strong,
-under Capt. W. H. Sligh, came up at this juncture on
-Walker's right, and swelled his gallant little band to
-about 800 men. Half of Sligh's command, under Capt.
-J. H. Brooks, took position beyond Fuller's place, and
-opened fire from the woods fringing the Pocotaligo 700
-or 800 yards beyond the hamlet of Pocotaligo. This fire
-created the impression of a strong reinforcement on
-Walker's right, and threatened the Federal left, which
-was in full view "in air."</p>
-
-<p>General Brannan had sufficient force to hold Walker at
-Old Pocotaligo, and move at least 2,500 men around his
-right flank, crossing the Pocotaligo a mile or so above,
-where it becomes very narrow. But he cautiously held
-on to his position and kept up his fire on Walker's force,
-relieving his regiments as they became slack of ammunition.
-He could not get to Walker without forcing the
-causeway and relaying the bridge, and this he could not
-do as the fire of the artillery and every musket would be
-turned on the least advance. The creek was deep and
-the banks boggy and made an impassable ditch in Walk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>er's
-front. Finally the Federal artillery ceased firing,
-and the entire force opened on Walker's left an incessant
-discharge from their rifles. Captain Sligh and the
-Charleston light dragoons on Walker's left replied with
-so much spirit and effect that Brannan gave up the fight,
-and at 6 p. m. withdrew from range and began his retreat
-to his boats at Mackay's point.</p>
-
-<p>The bridge being destroyed and Walker's men thoroughly
-exhausted, it was some time before Colonel Walker
-could organize and direct the pursuit. Lieut. L. J.
-Walker, commanding the Rutledge mounted riflemen
-and Kirk's rangers, passing around the head of the Pocotaligo,
-pushed on down the Mackay's point road in the
-rear of Brannan's force; but the bridges were torn up
-and Walker could not reach the flying foe until the night
-made it impracticable to proceed. Brannan reached his
-gunboats in safety and re-embarked for his base at Hilton
-Head.</p>
-
-<p>The force which attacked the bridge over the Coosawhatchie
-was met by Le Bleux's and Stuart's artillery and
-the fire of Captain Wyman's company, and was promptly
-repelled. A detachment, however, while the main force
-attacked the bridge, marched to the railroad, cut down a
-telegraph pole, cut the wire, and tore up two or three
-rails. A train carrying a portion of the Eleventh regiment
-and one company of Abney's battalion, under the
-command of Maj. J. J. Harrison, unhappily ran up just
-in time to receive a volley from the party on the railroad,
-by which the engineer was killed and Major Harrison
-lost his life.</p>
-
-<p>Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson, with his cavalry, arriving
-at this juncture, the Federal force retreated and joined
-the force retiring from the bridge. The destruction of
-several bridges over marshes and creeks, which are
-numerous in the tidewater section, so impeded Colonel
-Johnson that he dismounted his men, and thus moved
-three companies in line to within 130 yards of the boats<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>
-and fired on the troops as they embarked. The gunboats
-returned the fire, and a gallant soldier, Private Thomas
-B. Fripp, was killed, and Lieut. T. G. Buckner and Corp.
-Thomas Farr wounded. When the train was fired upon
-and the engineer killed, the conductor, Mr. Buckhalter,
-with coolness and courage, ran his train on in the face of
-the ambuscading party. Thus ended the expedition to
-destroy the railroad and bridges on the Charleston line.</p>
-
-<p>Walker lost 21 killed, 124 wounded, 18 missing; total,
-163. Brannan's loss reported was 43 killed, 294 wounded,
-3 missing; total, 340. Colonel Walker closed his report
-of the battle of Pocotaligo by commending in highest
-terms the conduct of the whole command, mentioning
-particularly Capt. H. J. Hartstene, naval aid; Capt.
-W. W. Elliott, ordnance officer; Capts. John H.
-Screven and George P. Elliott; Corp. D. L. Walker,
-and Privates Fripp and Martin and E. B. Bell, all of
-whom served on his staff. R. M. Fuller and the Messrs.
-Cuthbert, father and son, serving on the staff, rendered
-efficient service to the colonel commanding. The battle
-over, and the enemy safe on his gunboats, ample reinforcements
-arrived from Hagood and Gist, and from
-Savannah, but too late to do more than congratulate
-Colonel Walker and his heroic and victorious troops.</p>
-
-<p>With the battle of Pocotaligo and the repulse of the
-New York regiment at Coosawhatchie bridge, the aggressive
-movements of the land forces of the enemy on
-the coast of South Carolina closed for the year 1862.</p>
-
-<p>The Federal position at New Bern, N. C., protected by
-the heavy batteries of the fleet and held by a strong
-force under Major-General Foster, in 1862, afforded a safe
-and easy base of operations against the railroad line connecting
-Wilmington with Petersburg and Richmond.
-Goldsboro, on this railroad, was connected directly with
-New Bern by a railroad which ran through Kinston, the
-latter place being about halfway between New Bern and
-Goldsboro.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>At Kinston, Gen. N. G. Evans was in command, with
-his South Carolina brigade and some North Carolina
-troops, including Lieutenant-Colonel Pool's heavy battery
-on the river. The Neuse, open to gunboats, runs
-by both Goldsboro and Kinston, crossing the railroad line
-within four miles of the former place. General Foster
-planned an attack, first on Kinston and then on the railroad
-at the bridge near Goldsboro. For this purpose he
-marched from New Bern on December 11, 1862, with
-10,000 infantry, eight light batteries, forty guns, and a
-regiment of cavalry 640 strong. Foster's force was composed
-of twelve Massachusetts, one Connecticut, one
-New Jersey, four New York, two Pennsylvania, and one
-Rhode Island regiments, light batteries from Rhode
-Island and New York, and cavalry from New York.</p>
-
-<p>Evans' brigade was composed of the Holcombe legion,
-Col. P. F. Stevens; the Seventeenth South Carolina, Col.
-F. W. McMaster; the Twenty-second South Carolina,
-Col. S. D. Goodlett; the Twenty-third South Carolina,
-Col. H. L. Benbow, and Boyce's light battery. With
-this brigade and Radcliffe's regiment, Mallett's battalion
-and Bunting's and Starr's light batteries, North Carolina
-troops, he fought the battle of Kinston. Lieutenant-Colonel
-Pool, commanding the work on the river just
-below Kinston, successfully repelled the attack of the
-gunboats. Taking post on Southwest creek, about 4
-miles due west of Kinston, Evans was attacked by Foster
-on the morning of the 13th. The Federal general
-marched up the west bank of the Neuse. With his overwhelming
-force, he turned both flanks of General Evans
-and compelled his retreat to a position about a mile from
-the town, covering the bridge over the Neuse. Foster
-moved on this position at once and attacked again with
-his infantry and artillery. The conduct of Evans' little
-command was heroic, and their firmness enabled him to
-hold Foster in check throughout the day.</p>
-
-<p>Early the next morning the battle was renewed, Gen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>eral
-Evans taking the offensive; but the superior force of
-the Federal army enveloped the small command of General
-Evans, and after three hours of gallant battle, he
-ordered a retreat across the river and through the town.
-At the bridge Evans lost between 400 and 500 of his command,
-taken prisoners, but succeeded in taking over his
-artillery and most of his troops. He took up a strong
-position, toward Goldsboro, about 2 miles from Kinston,
-and was awaiting General Foster's advance when he
-received a summons from that general to surrender!
-This he promptly declined and prepared for battle, but
-night coming on, Foster gave up the further pursuit of
-General Evans on the east bank of the Neuse, and crossed
-to the west side of the river, encamping in that position
-for the night. On the 15th he resumed his march up the
-west bank toward the railroad bridge near Goldsboro,
-and followed with his attack upon the bridge and its
-destruction on the 17th. In this affair an attack was
-also made upon the county bridge crossing the Neuse,
-which was successfully defended by General Clingman
-and his gallant command of North Carolinians, strongly
-supported by Evans.</p>
-
-<p>On the 18th of December, General Foster began his
-movement back to his base at New Bern. Almost without
-cavalry, the Confederate forces, now under the chief
-command of Maj.-Gen. G. W. Smith, could not follow
-him effectively, and he reached New Bern after suffering
-a total loss of 591, killed, wounded and captured.
-There is no record of the losses of the South Carolina
-brigade at Kinston, or at the railroad bridge in front of
-Goldsboro. General Clingman reported a loss of 20
-killed, 107 wounded, and 18 missing; total, 145. Evans
-lost over 400 taken prisoners at the bridge at Kinston, and
-must have met heavier losses than Clingman in his battles
-on the 13th and 14th. His total loss could not have
-been less than 600 in killed, wounded and captured, out
-of a total in front of Kinston of 2,014. General Foster's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>
-rapid retreat from the railroad can only be accounted for
-upon the supposition that he exaggerated the forces sent
-from Wilmington, Petersburg and Richmond to reinforce
-Goldsboro. The aggregate of all arms at Goldsboro on
-the 18th could not have reached 7,000 effectives, and
-General Foster's army, after its losses on the 13th, 14th
-and 17th, was fully 10,500 of all arms.</p>
-
-<p>General Evans in his official report mentioned especially
-the gallant conduct of Adjt. W. P. Du Bose and
-Capt. M. G. Zeigler, of the Holcombe legion; Capt. S. A.
-Durham, Twenty-third South Carolina; his personal staff,
-and Lieutenant-Colonels Mallett and Pool, and Colonels
-Radcliffe and Baker of the North Carolina troops.</p>
-
-<p>The expedition of General Foster with so large a force,
-and the reported presence of a large fleet of transports,
-carrying an army under General Banks, in the waters of
-Beaufort, made General Whiting, commanding at Wilmington,
-apprehensive of an attack on that city. Pending
-the movement of Foster, General Whiting telegraphed
-to General Beauregard urgently to send troops to his
-assistance, as Wilmington was protected only by its forts
-and a small garrison. General Beauregard promptly sent
-a division of two brigades under Brig.-Gen. S. R. Gist.
-The first brigade was made up of troops from the First
-and Second military districts of South Carolina, under
-command of Col. C. H. Stevens, Twenty-fourth regiment,
-and the second from the military district of Georgia,
-commanded by the senior colonel. Three South
-Carolina light batteries accompanied the division, W. C.
-Preston's, Waities' and Culpeper's. The South Carolina
-infantry included the Sixteenth, Colonel McCullough; the
-Twenty-fourth, Lieutenant-Colonel Capers; Twenty-fifth,
-Colonel Simonton, and Nelson's battalion. By
-December 17th, the day of the attack in front of Goldsboro,
-General Gist's division had arrived in Wilmington,
-and went into camp. The Twenty-fourth, with Preston's
-battery, was stationed at the railroad crossing of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>
-the Northeast river, 9 miles east of Wilmington, and fortified
-the position and the roads approaching it.</p>
-
-<p>The month of December passed, and the expected
-attack upon Wilmington was not made. The expedition
-under General Banks did not move inland and the fleet
-did not appear off Cape Fear. General Whiting wrote
-General Beauregard that a storm at sea, which had lost
-the fleet three of its monitors, had saved Wilmington from
-the threatened attack. About January 1, 1863, the division
-under Gist was returned to General Beauregard,
-except Harrison's Georgia regiment, Nelson's battalion,
-the Twenty-fourth South Carolina, and the three batteries,
-Preston's, Waities' and Culpeper's. These, with Clingman's
-brigade, sent from Goldsboro, and three North
-Carolina light batteries, made up the whole of General
-Whiting's disposable force for the defense of Wilmington,
-after Gist's division was returned to Beauregard.</p>
-
-<p>Returning these troops, Whiting wrote to General
-Beauregard: "I send you this note by your able Brigadier-General
-Gist, of South Carolina.... I beg you will
-receive my true and real thanks for the promptness with
-which you sent your magnificent troops to my assistance at
-a time when it was thought they were needed." He made a
-special request that he might have General Gist's personal
-services, and accordingly that general was ordered to
-return and report to General Whiting for special duty, for
-which favor Whiting expressed his thanks, referring to
-Gist as always "cool, sensible and brave," characteristics
-which that officer manifested throughout his career.</p>
-
-<p>During January, 1863, the Twenty-fourth South Carolina,
-with Preston's battery, under Col. C. H. Stevens,
-occupied the vicinity of Island creek, on the Holly Shelter
-road, as an outpost in advance of the Northeast
-bridge, fortifying the position and obstructing the roads.
-The expected attack not being made, the South Carolina
-troops were returned, to resume their positions on the
-coast of their own State early in February.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>SOUTH CAROLINIANS IN THE WEST&mdash;MANIGAULT'S
-AND LYTHGOE'S REGIMENTS AT CORINTH&mdash;THE
-KENTUCKY CAMPAIGN&mdash;BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">In</span> April, 1862, following the battle of Shiloh, in response
-to the urgent call of General Beauregard, at
-Corinth, Miss., for troops to reinforce the army he
-then commanded, the Tenth South Carolina, Col. A. M.
-Manigault, and the Nineteenth, Col. A. J. Lythgoe, were
-ordered from the coast of South Carolina to report to that
-general. Arrived at Corinth, the two regiments were brigaded
-with the Twenty-fourth, Twenty-eighth and Thirty-fourth
-Alabama regiments, under the command of
-Brigadier-General Trapier, in the division of Major-General
-Withers. From December, 1862, the brigade
-was commanded by Colonel Manigault, and known as
-"Manigault's brigade." Lieut.-Col. James F. Pressley
-took command of the Tenth.</p>
-
-<p>Covering the front of Beauregard's army, on May 2d,
-Manigault's brigade was brought into prominent notice
-by the firm stand it made against the enemy's advance.
-The supports on its right and left having retired, Colonel
-Manigault held his position and repelled the attack. No
-report of the details of this affair is at hand. It reflected
-much credit on the brigade, and gave the South Carolina
-regiments their first battle before Corinth. At Corinth
-and at Tupelo, the army suffered from exposure and bad
-water, and 17,000 sick were sent to the rear, and in these
-hardships the South Carolina regiments had their full
-share. The faithful chaplain of the Tenth, Rev. W. T.
-Capers, and many of the officers and men of both regiments
-were ill, and many died.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>In July the army was moved to a healthier camp, and
-early in August it was concentrated near Chattanooga
-for an aggressive campaign in Tennessee and Kentucky.
-General Bragg was now in command, General Beauregard
-having been called to Charleston.</p>
-
-<p>Bragg crossed the Tennessee, moved over the Cumberland
-mountains and entered Kentucky. When the army
-moved against Munfordville, Manigault was in advance
-and met and drove in the pickets. The garrison capitulated
-September 18th, and Bragg moved on toward Frankfort.
-Buell, who had left Tennessee and marched to
-Louisville, where he reorganized his army, struck at
-Bragg's exposed rear, attacking Polk at Perryville. Polk
-held his own with greatly inferior numbers, repulsed
-Buell, captured much artillery and many prisoners, but
-lost in killed and wounded over 3,000 of his little army.
-General Bragg retired toward the mountains, and crossing
-into east Tennessee, occupied Knoxville, Buell moving
-to Nashville. During the rapid retreat on Knoxville, the
-army suffered greatly from want of proper food, rapid
-marches and the exposure of the men in bivouac. After
-resting his army at Knoxville, General Bragg recrossed
-the mountains and ultimately took post at Murfreesboro,
-where he was attacked by Rosecrans (who had displaced
-General Buell), and the battle of Stone's River, or Murfreesboro,
-followed on December 31st.</p>
-
-<p>Manigault's brigade bore a conspicuous part at Murfreesboro,
-and its operations in connection with that battle
-will now be described. General Bragg's line of battle
-was formed in front of Murfreesboro, running a little east
-of north and west of south. Stone's river ran southeast,
-in his front, cut off his right, and bending south ran along
-his rear. As the divisions stood from right to left they
-were placed in the following order: Breckinridge east of
-the river, then Withers, Cheatham, McCown and Cleburne,
-the formation in two lines, the cavalry well out
-on the flanks. Near the river, on the west side of it, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>
-Nashville railroad and the turnpike, running near each
-other, passed through Bragg's line nearly at right angles.
-The Wilkinson pike passed through the line on the left
-of Withers, running northwest.</p>
-
-<p>Lieutenant-General Polk commanded the right wing,
-and Lieutenant-General Hardee the left; Breckinridge,
-Withers and Cheatham made the right, and McCown and
-Cleburne, with Wharton's cavalry, the left.</p>
-
-<p>Rosecrans stood before Bragg with three army corps,
-commanded by Major-Generals McCook, Thomas and
-Crittenden, all west of the river. Crittenden faced
-Breckinridge with three divisions; Thomas, with five divisions,
-faced Withers and Cheatham; McCook, with three
-divisions, faced Cleburne and McCown. Wharton, with
-his splendid brigade of cavalry, stood forward of Hardee's
-left, ready to make his brilliant attack on Rosecrans'
-right and rear.</p>
-
-<p>The signal for battle was given, and at 7 o'clock on
-the morning of December 31st, Hardee ordered Wharton
-with his troopers to find the rear of McCook's right flank
-and fall upon his supports, and directed his infantry and
-artillery forward. McCown, supported by Cleburne,
-advanced and engaged in severe battle, taking the enemy
-by surprise and forcing him back toward the Wilkinson
-pike. Bragg's plan was to drive back the right wing of
-Rosecrans, and when beaten to attack his center and right
-simultaneously. Hardee's battle pushed McCook beyond
-the Wilkinson pike, when Withers moved out against
-Thomas, supported by Cheatham. Bragg's battle was a
-grand right wheel, pivoting on the river, the wheel
-obliquing toward the wheeling flank, and the pivot gaining
-forward. By 10 o'clock, both of Hardee's divisions
-were in full battle, as were those of Withers and Cheatham,
-and later on Breckinridge sent over four of his brigades
-to reinforce the battle of the pivot.</p>
-
-<p>When evening came the full right wheel had been completed
-and the army stood against its enemy in a line at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>
-an exact right angle to its first position. The pivot had
-gained forward a half mile, but Rosecrans had held fast
-with his left on the river. In the wheeling fight, on
-Hardee's right, and in the struggle to move the pivot
-forward as it turned, Withers' division made its battle.
-That general reported the operations of his division with
-great accuracy and distinctness, and we shall follow his
-report for an account of Manigault's brigade.</p>
-
-<p>As Withers placed his brigades from right to left, Chalmers'
-brigade was on the right touching the river, and
-formed the pivot of the great wheel; then came Patton
-Anderson's brigade, then Manigault's, and lastly Deas'.
-Manigault moved out in due time, and his left swinging
-around met the enemy on a wooded ridge, and stormed
-and carried it. In his wheel through an open field, and
-before the brigade could touch Anderson's, on its right,
-it was taken in flank by artillery and the fire of the force
-it had driven. Here fell the gallant Col. A. J. Lythgoe,
-of the Nineteenth South Carolina, at the head of his regiment.
-His major-general well said of him: "He dies
-well who dies nobly." The flank fire on Manigault
-broke his line and repelled his advance in some confusion.
-Rallying, the brigade continued its battle, now with
-more success charging and gaining ground. But it had
-gone beyond its right and left supports, and was again
-fired upon by artillery on the right flank; the brigade on
-his immediate left was repulsed and again Manigault had
-to retire. Maney's brigade, from Cheatham's division,
-was ordered to support Manigault's left, and again he
-advanced and with Maney's gallant aid the brigade swung
-forward and round in victorious advance.</p>
-
-<p>This third advance brought the two South Carolina
-regiments directly on the battery that had done their brigade
-so much harm, and the Tenth and Nineteenth were
-ordered to charge and take it. The Tenth, led by Lieut.-Col.
-J. F. Pressley, and the Nineteenth, by Lieut.-Col.
-T. P. Shaw, moved as one man to take the guns. A Fed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>eral
-brigade in support delivered its volleys so rapidly as
-to check the assault, when Anderson, who was on Manigault's
-right, moved up his brigade and attacked the supporting
-brigade, while the Tenth and Nineteenth dashed
-forward and took the guns. General Bragg allowed these
-regiments to have the battery, and they sent it to South
-Carolina to have the names of the gallant men who fell
-in its capture inscribed upon the pieces. General Withers
-closed this part of his report with high praise of Manigault's
-brigade. The brigade, says the major-general,
-had been subjected to a most trying ordeal, and had
-lost heavily. The calm determination and persistent
-energy and gallantry which rendered Colonel Manigault
-proof against discouragements, had a marked influence
-on and was admirably responded to by his command.</p>
-
-<p>Lieutenant-General Polk, in his report, thus refers to
-the brigade:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>The brigade of Colonel Manigault, which was immediately
-on the right of that of Colonel Coltart [Deas'], followed
-the movement of the latter according to instructions;
-but as Coltart failed in the first onset to drive
-Sheridan's right, Manigault, after dashing forward and
-pressing the enemy back on his second line, was brought
-under a heavy fire of artillery from two batteries on his
-right, supported by infantry, and was compelled to fall
-back.... But the gallant South Carolinian returned to
-the charge a second, and a third time, and being aided
-by the brigade of General Maney, of the second line,
-which came to his relief with its Napoleon guns and a
-deadly fire of musketry, the enemy gave way and joined
-his comrades on his right in precipitate retreat across the
-Wilkinson pike. This movement dislodged and drove
-the residue of Sheridan's division, and completed the
-forcing of the whole of McCook's corps out of line of
-battle, and placed it in full retreat.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>With these operations, thus described, the honorable
-part borne by the South Carolina regiments in the battle
-was practically ended. Manigault was in line with
-Hardee and touching the troops on the pivot, and night
-ended the great contest.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>The brigade of Colonel Manigault lost a total of 517.
-The Tenth South Carolina had 109 killed and wounded
-and 2 taken prisoners; the Nineteenth had 80 killed and
-wounded, among the killed its gallant colonel. Maj.
-John A. Crowder and Lieut. J. T. Norris, of the Nineteenth,
-faithful and true men and officers, were among
-those mortally wounded. It is to be regretted that Colonel
-Manigault's report of Murfreesboro is not at the
-writer's command, and there is no official report from
-either regiment of record.</p>
-
-<p>On the roll of those "conspicuous for courage and good
-conduct on the field of battle" at Murfreesboro, published
-by order of the Confederate Congress, are the following:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Tenth South Carolina: First Lieut. C. C. White, Sergts.
-C. W. Cockfield (killed) and S. B. Rhuarck; Privates
-A. J. McCants, J. S. Beaty, W. D. Hewitt, G. S. Flowers,
-G. W. Curry, J. Cannon, N. Gray, W. H. Posten, J. W.
-H. Bunch (killed) and J. A. Boatwright.</p>
-
-<p>Nineteenth South Carolina: Col. A. J. Lythgoe, Maj.
-John A. Crowder; Sergts. W. H. Burkhalter and Martin
-Youce; Privates Benjamin W. Boothe, Samuel S. Horn,
-W. A. Black, S. D. McCoy, Samuel Bloodsworth, Seth
-A. Jordan, James McClain and James Jones.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>It is a grateful task to copy, in this connection, a paragraph
-from the report of Lieutenant-General Polk, in
-which he perpetuates an act of self-sacrificing heroism
-which is worthy of lasting remembrance, and gives an
-example of patient courage and devotion which the writer
-has never known surpassed by any of his Confederate
-comrades. It occurred just before the last charge of
-Manigault and Maney. Says General Polk:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>I think it proper to bring to the notice of the general
-commanding an instance of self-sacrificing devotion to
-the safety of their immediate commands, and to our cause,
-which for heroic courage and magnanimity is without a
-parallel. A battery was pouring a murderous fire into
-the brigade of General Maney from a point which made it
-doubtful whether it was ours or the enemy's. Two unsuccessful
-efforts had been made by staff officers (one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>
-whom was killed in the attempt) to determine its character.
-The doubt caused the brigade to hesitate in returning
-the fire of the battery, when Sergeant Oakley, color-bearer
-of the Fourth Tennessee, and Sergt. C. M. Hooks,
-color-bearer of the Ninth Tennessee, gallantly advanced
-eight or ten paces to the front, displaying their
-colors and holding themselves and the flag of their country
-erect, remained ten minutes in a place so conspicuous
-as to be plainly seen, and fully to test from whom their
-brigade was suffering so severely. The murderous fire
-was increased and intensified, and demonstrated that the
-battery and its support were not friends, but enemies.
-The sergeants then returned deliberately to their proper
-places in line, unhurt, and the enemy's battery was
-silenced and his column put to flight.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>With this act of devotion we leave the battle of Murfreesboro,
-making the following general remarks about it:</p>
-
-<p>General Bragg's army, infantry and artillery, numbered
-33,475. His cavalry, under Wharton, Wheeler and
-Pegram, aggregated 4,237, making his army, of all arms,
-37,712. Wheeler's brigade reported on December 31st,
-1,169, and was not in the battle, but was operating on Rosecrans'
-immediate communications. Pegram and Buford,
-with five regiments, 1,118 strong, were on the extreme
-right and scarcely engaged. Hanson's brigade, of Breckinridge's
-division, 1,893 strong, was east of the river.
-Deducting Wheeler's and Hanson's brigades from Bragg's
-total, that general fought in actual battle against Rosecrans'
-columns a force of 34,650, of all arms. These
-figures are taken from the field returns of the army, as
-they are given from the originals in the War Records of
-the Union and Confederate armies.</p>
-
-<p>It is interesting to note General Rosecrans' estimates
-of General Bragg's forces and losses. He reported to
-Washington that he had encountered superior numbers,
-and gave Bragg's strength, 46,200 infantry, 1,200 sharpshooters,
-1,840 artillery, and 13,250 cavalry, "making a
-total of 62,490." In like manner the Union general estimated
-the Confederate loss at 14,560. In this estimate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>
-he missed it by over 4,000! General Bragg lost 10,266
-of all arms, killed, wounded and captured. General
-Rosecrans took the actual loss in General Breckinridge's
-division and multiplied by seven, instead of five, the
-number of divisions. The Federal loss in killed and
-wounded as reported by General Rosecrans was 8,778.
-He estimated his loss in prisoners at 2,800. The inspector-general
-of Bragg's army reported to his chief over 6,000
-prisoners! General Hardee reported 1,900 captured by
-Wharton's cavalry alone!</p>
-
-<p>The writer, from his experience in the field, knows it to
-be very difficult to report accurately, after a great battle,
-the losses in killed, wounded and prisoners, but he
-has often been impressed with the exaggeration of generals,
-Federal and Confederate, in giving estimates of
-the numbers opposing them, and the losses they inflict
-upon their adversaries. Here we have Rosecrans reporting
-Bragg's army opposed to him at 62,490, and General
-Bragg reporting Rosecrans' army at from 60,000 to
-70,000; Rosecrans estimating Bragg's loss at 14,560, and
-Bragg reporting an estimated loss for Rosecrans at 25,273.
-By the official statements of both generals, as shown in
-the army returns, now published by the government in
-its invaluable War Records of both armies, Rosecrans
-engaged Bragg's 34,650 of all arms, with a force of 43,400
-of all arms. "On the whole," said General Rosecrans in
-his report, written six weeks after the battle, "we fought
-superior numbers on unknown ground, inflicted much
-more injury than we suffered, were always superior on
-equal ground with equal numbers, and failed of a most
-crushing victory on Wednesday [December 31st] by the
-extension and direction of our right wing." The facts
-are that Bragg was victorious everywhere on the field,
-except on his extreme right, and after the withdrawal of
-Rosecrans' left on the river, at night, the whole battlefield
-was Bragg's, with all its spoils. He captured 31
-pieces of artillery; over 6,000 prisoners, two brigadier-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>generals
-among them; several stand of colors, 200 wagons
-with their contents, destroying over 800 others, loaded
-with ammunition and army stores, all of which he secured
-and appropriated.</p>
-
-<p>Both armies were non-aggressive on January 1st; on
-the 2d, Rosecrans crossed a force in front of Breckinridge,
-bringing on a bloody engagement in the afternoon with
-that division. On the 3d and 4th, no movement of importance
-was made, and Bragg, learning of reinforcements
-coming to his adversary, whose strength he estimated
-at 70,000, with the river in the rear rapidly rising
-from constant rains, and his army without tents and
-baggage and much worn by constant watching and battle,
-determined upon retreat, and fell back ultimately to
-Tullahoma, without firing a gun in his retirement. Here,
-as afterward at Chickamauga, General Bragg failed to
-take advantage of his success, and General Rosecrans
-claimed a great victory.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>WITH LEE IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA, 1862&mdash;THE MANEUVERS
-ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK&mdash;SECOND MANASSAS
-CAMPAIGN&mdash;BATTLE OF OX HILL.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">We</span> left the South Carolinians of the army of Northern
-Virginia in front of McClellan at Malvern
-hill, whence the Federal army retreated and took
-shelter under the guns of the fleet at Harrison's landing.
-The latter, naturally a strong defensive position, the
-genius and skill of McClellan and his able engineers
-made a fortified camp, protected by impracticable
-swamps and water-courses, and the batteries of the fleet
-on its flanks. Here the army of McClellan was safe from
-attack and too much shattered to take the immediate
-offensive. Meanwhile the corps of McDowell, Banks
-and Sigel, which had been operating against Jackson in
-the valley, and in immediate defense of Washington,
-had been united under Gen. John Pope, and called the
-"army of Virginia." This army of Pope was to be reinforced
-by General McClellan and march on Richmond
-from the north.</p>
-
-<p>Early in July, Pope was on the Rappahannock, with his
-outposts on the Rapidan. His army was over 45,000
-strong, and the only obstacle to his advance was the cavalry
-under General Stuart. General Lee determined to
-check Pope's further advance, until he could be satisfied
-of McClellan's movements, and accordingly ordered Jackson
-to Gordonsville, and early in August reinforced him
-with A. P. Hill's division. With characteristic energy
-Jackson crossed the Rapidan, and on August 9th, in the
-battle of Cedar Run, gave Pope's advance on Richmond
-a telling blow. Gen. Maxcy Gregg's brigade of South<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>
-Carolinians was in A. P. Hill's division, with McIntosh's
-battery, but was not engaged in the battle. Greatly to
-the disappointment of the Carolinians, they were left
-behind to guard the passages of the Rapidan.</p>
-
-<p>General Burnside, with a strong force, was at Fredericksburg,
-and McClellan (August 13th) was still in his
-fortified camp on the James, 30 miles from the city of
-Richmond. The battle on Cedar run had checked Pope,
-but he stood over 40,000 strong, in front of Jackson's
-corps, and was receiving reinforcements from Burnside.
-On the 14th of August, McClellan began the movement
-of his army by water to Aquia creek on the Potomac.
-Anticipating this, on the 13th, General Lee ordered
-Longstreet, with twelve brigades and their artillery, to
-move by railroad to Gordonsville, and on the 15th took
-command in person on the Rapidan. With Longstreet
-were Rhett's, Bachman's and Garden's South Carolina
-batteries; Anderson's old brigade, under Brig.-Gen.
-Micah Jenkins, with Corse's and Hunton's Virginia brigades,
-forming the division of General Kemper; and the
-South Carolina brigade of Brig.-Gen. N. G. Evans,
-which had joined the army in time to be slightly engaged
-at Malvern hill. This, an independent brigade, included
-the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-second and Twenty-third
-regiments, the Holcombe legion and the Macbeth
-artillery, Captain Boyce. Kershaw's brigade in McLaws'
-division was left in front of Richmond; Hampton's brigade
-of cavalry, including the legion and Hart's battery,
-was in McClellan's front.</p>
-
-<p>General Lee planned an attack on Pope immediately
-before his arrival on the Rapidan. R. H. Anderson's
-division was ordered up from Richmond, and the plan of
-campaign was to be carried out on the 18th by crossing
-the Rapidan and turning Pope's left. But a letter from
-General Lee detailing the movements of the cavalry fell
-into Pope's hands by the capture of Stuart's adjutant-general,
-and Pope, thus apprised of the plans of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>
-adversary, on the 17th fell back behind the Rappahannock
-to a much stronger position. The lost dispatch had
-broken up the plans for the expected battle, and Lee put
-his two corps in position on the south bank of the Rappahannock,
-Longstreet on the right and Jackson on the
-left.</p>
-
-<p>Now, sure that he could with safety collect all his army
-on the Rappahannock, General Lee wrote the President
-for the divisions of D. H. Hill and McLaws, and General
-Hampton's cavalry. On the 19th, the President, fearing
-that Richmond would be endangered, telegraphed
-General Lee that until movements of the enemy were
-more developed he would retain those commands before
-the capital. Finally, on the 24th, Lee wrote Mr. Davis
-that he had intercepted a letter from General Pope to
-General Halleck (commander-in-chief of the United
-States armies), dated August 20th, stating his whole
-force for duty at 45,000, independent of Burnside, and
-revealing his plan to hold Lee in check until McClellan
-could come up from the lower Rappahannock. Thus
-General Lee was put in possession of General Pope's
-plans and formed his own accordingly. He wrote the
-President that he wished his whole army immediately,
-and all available troops, and added: "Hampton's cavalry
-I particularly require." Richmond, he wrote, must rely
-upon her defenses and field batteries. On the 26th,
-McLaws and D. H. Hill and Hampton were ordered to
-Lee, and Mr. Davis wrote him: "Confidence in you overcomes
-the view that otherwise would be taken of the
-exposed condition of Richmond, and the troops retained
-for the defense of the capital are surrendered to you on
-a renewed request." Neither of these commands was
-able to reach Lee, however, until immediately after the
-conflicts on the Rappahannock and the great struggle at
-Manassas. The fords on the Rappahannock were too
-full for the crossing of the army, and too strongly
-defended by Pope's artillery.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Several affairs occurred during the five days Lee was
-detained on the right bank. In one of these Gregg's
-brigade was moved up to support a battery, and subjected
-to a severe shelling from a high hill on the left
-bank, losing several men killed and wounded. On
-August 23d a more serious affair occurred, in which the
-brigade of General Evans and Boyce's battery were
-engaged. The enemy had fortified a hill near the railroad
-bridge at Rappahannock Station, and on the right
-bank. Evans, supported by several batteries, was
-ordered to attack. The brigade moved up promptly
-against the fortified position, under a sharp counter fire,
-but before they reached charging distance the enemy
-retired, leaving his intrenching tools and other property,
-but taking guns and troops securely over the railroad
-bridge, which he fired and destroyed. Evans ordered
-Boyce to occupy the steep hill with his battery, and that
-gallant officer at once moved up but was immediately
-subjected to the fire of four batteries from commanding
-heights on the north bank. He was compelled immediately
-to withdraw, losing 8 killed and 14 wounded, and
-7 horses killed. Lieut. William Monro of the battery was
-severely wounded. The brigade lost in this affair 27
-killed and 84 wounded, a total of 111.</p>
-
-<p>Without waiting for the arrival of the reinforcements
-from Richmond, General Lee began his movement
-around the right of General Pope on the 25th of August.
-Jackson was to move up the right bank of the river
-beyond the extreme right of Pope, cross beyond Waterloo
-and move on his railroad communications. Longstreet,
-after demonstrating in Pope's front, was to follow
-Jackson. The genius of Lee, Jackson and Longstreet
-was to determine the precise field and the essential conditions
-of the battle.</p>
-
-<p>Jackson marched early on the 25th, crossed the upper
-branches of the Rappahannock, and camped at Salem,
-on the Manassas Gap railroad. On the 26th he turned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>
-due east, passed the Bull Run mountains through Thoroughfare
-gap, and by sunset was at Bristoe Station in
-Pope's immediate rear, and on his main railroad communication
-with Washington. The capture of Bristoe and
-Manassas Junction, with vast stores, followed.</p>
-
-<p>Gregg's brigade, which had been under fire at Rappahannock
-bridge on the 21st, and further up the river on
-the Rappahannock hills on the 24th, crossed on the 25th
-at Henson's mill, and made a forced march of 24 miles
-that day up the Salem valley, and continued the march
-on the 26th "without wagons or baggage of any kind,
-turning to the right at Salem, through Thoroughfare
-gap, and sleeping at night in rear of our artillery in the
-road near Bristoe Station." General McGowan, whose
-report is quoted, continues:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>The next morning we reached Manassas Junction,
-where the enemy, attempting to recapture it, were scattered
-with considerable loss. In the afternoon of that day
-the brigade returned from pursuit, to the junction,
-where three days' rations were issued from the vast supply
-of captured stores, and the men for a few hours
-rested and regaled themselves upon delicacies unknown
-to our commissariat, which they were in good condition
-to enjoy, having eaten nothing for several days except
-roasting ears taken from the fields near the road, and
-what was given by the generous citizens of the Salem
-valley to the soldiers as they hurried along in their rapid
-march.</p>
-
-<p>At dark on the evening of August 27th (Wednesday),
-the brigade, in conjunction with that of General Thomas,
-was thrown out on the south side of Manassas Junction
-as the rear guard, and formed in line of battle facing the
-enemy, who had during the evening been fighting General
-Ewell near Bristoe Station. Standing under arms
-here we had a fine view of the magnificent conflagration
-caused by the burning of the sutler's and commissary
-stores, together with about 100 cars freighted with every
-article necessary for the outfit of a great army, all of
-which was set on fire about midnight and consumed.</p>
-
-<p>About 2 o'clock in the morning of Thursday, the 28th,
-we silently retired from our picket lines in front of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>
-enemy, and by the light of the smoldering ruins followed
-the division across Bull run at Blackburn's ford to Centreville.
-Here we rested a short time, and thence turned
-back toward Bull run, and moving by the Warrenton
-pike crossed the run again near the stone bridge. At
-this critical moment the enemy, falling back from the
-Rappahannock, caused doubtless by our flank movement,
-were coming down the turnpike from Warrenton, meeting
-us. We turned to the right, leaving the turnpike,
-and after going up the run a short distance, changed
-front and were drawn up in battle array along the line of
-the unfinished Independent railroad track, facing the
-turnpike along which the enemy was moving.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>As Gregg's brigade took this position, brisk firing was
-heard upon the right, where the divisions of Taliaferro
-and Ewell were thrown by Jackson against the column
-of Pope's army coming up the Warrenton pike, expecting
-to find Jackson at Centreville. A severe engagement
-followed, the battle of Groveton, in which Ewell and
-Taliaferro were both wounded. About dark Gregg's brigade
-was hurried to the scene of action, but the firing
-soon after ceased.</p>
-
-<p>Jackson resumed his place behind the railroad and lay
-the night of the 28th in perfect silence, doubtless to create
-the impression that he had retreated. Capt. J. F. J.
-Caldwell, of the First South Carolina, Gregg's brigade,
-who has written an admirable history of his brigade, and
-was himself a gallant participant in all of its hardships
-and glories, thus describes the night of the 28th of
-August:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>We were placed in columns of regiments and lay during
-the night in the open field. The night before a battle
-is never a pleasant one, but this was peculiarly trying.
-Strict silence was enjoined on every man. We had three
-divisions, which, in all, would not sum up 20,000 men.
-Before us was Pope with at least the bulk of the Federal
-army, which, of course, was magnified by many thousands;
-behind us was no base, no subsistence, no reinforcement!
-Longstreet with three divisions was beyond
-Pope, and must be some time in reaching us. God,
-Jackson and our own hearts were our dependence.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>But Longstreet was not "beyond Pope," for he had
-that day forced the passage of Thoroughfare gap, after
-a sharp conflict in which Drayton's brigade (which
-included the Fifteenth South Carolina) took part, and
-that night his command camped in the gap and west of
-the mountain.</p>
-
-<p>Daybreak of August 29th, upon the great battle plains
-of Manassas, found Jackson in his well-chosen position
-behind the railroad cut, Longstreet descending the east
-slope of the gap he had won, and the forces of General
-Pope forming for battle in Jackson's front. The plan of
-the Federal commander was to attack and crush Jackson
-before Longstreet could reach him. The battle opened
-by an artillery attack in force on Jackson's right, which
-was promptly met. This failing to move Jackson, an
-equally galling fire of artillery was delivered against his
-left, and this also was replied to effectively. At 2 p. m.
-the infantry battle opened against A. P. Hill on Jackson's
-left, and raged until 9 o'clock at night. Hill
-repulsed six separate assaults, the forces against him
-being the commands, in whole or in part, of the Federal
-generals Hooker, Kearney, Sigel and Stearns.</p>
-
-<p>Gregg's brigade,<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> after sleeping on their arms on
-Ewell's battlefield, had returned to their first position on
-the left at early dawn of the 29th, and were put in line
-on the extreme left of the army, near Catharpin run,
-occupying a small, rocky, wooded knoll, having a railroad
-excavation bending around the east and north
-fronts, and a cleared field on the northwest. This position
-was slightly in advance of the general line, and
-besides being on the extreme left, was considered
-important because of its command of the Sudley Ford
-road. The brigade line made an obtuse angle toward
-the enemy, one side nearly parallel to the railroad cut
-and the other along the fence of the cleared field on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>
-northwest, and enclosed the knoll, which they were
-ordered to hold at all hazards. On this spot, barely
-large enough to hold the brigade, they stood and fought
-from 8 o'clock in the morning until dark.</p>
-
-<p>The regiments of the brigade were posted from right
-to left in the following order: The Thirteenth, Col. O. E.
-Edwards; the First, Maj. Edward McCrady; the Twelfth,
-Col. Dixon Barnes; the Fourteenth, Col. Samuel McGowan;
-Orr's Rifles, Col. J. Foster Marshall, in reserve.</p>
-
-<p>Early in the morning, the enemy's advance being
-reported, General Gregg sent forward McCrady to skirmish
-with it. The enemy lay in force in a wooded hollow
-in front, and McCrady's advance drew the fire of his
-line, front and flank. A sharp musketry contest followed
-and Gregg sent up the Twelfth on McCrady's left. The
-two regiments charged and gained ground forward, but
-on the right the enemy held his ground and fired on
-McCrady's flank. Barnes had passed on beyond, and
-McCrady's position was critical. Edwards, with the
-Thirteenth, came to his support, but met such
-resistance that he had to fight independently. Meanwhile
-Marshall, with the Rifles, had gone to Barnes' support,
-and those two regiments were driving victoriously
-forward. McCrady, fighting front and flank, was stubbornly
-holding his ground, and Edwards was stemming
-the tide against his regiment. At this juncture Gregg
-recalled the four regiments to the railroad position, as
-his orders were to act on the defensive and not to bring
-on a general engagement. Time was everything to
-Jackson, who knew his enemy was in his front with
-superior numbers, and he did not risk a battle until
-Longstreet was reported to be on his right.</p>
-
-<p>The affair of the four regiments had checked the
-arrangements for assault in Gregg's front, and he was in
-solid line awaiting the next move. It soon came. Pressing
-on through the thick growth of bushes along Gregg's
-front, the attack drove in his skirmishers, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>
-infantry of the enemy poured in volley after volley as
-they advanced to the railroad. It was a close fight of
-infantry, across the cut, and ended in a repulse of the
-attack. Reinforced, he came for a second battle with
-Gregg, and was repulsed. A third and a fourth assault
-were met, and a third and fourth battle fought with the
-same result. Gregg's brigade had now nearly exhausted
-its ammunition, and most of the field officers were killed
-or wounded, with many most active and gallant subordinates.
-Now came the critical hour of Jackson's battle.
-Coming up the railroad cut from the left and right,
-and screened by its high banks and the thick brush on
-both sides of it, the enemy massed on Gregg's right,
-opposite a thick wood. In this wood were Edwards and
-McCrady, forming the right of Gregg, McCrady supporting
-Edwards. Beyond Gregg's right was the left of
-Thomas' Georgia brigade, quite an interval being
-between the two brigades.</p>
-
-<p>The fifth grand assault fell on Thomas' and Gregg's
-right, and easily filled the wooded interval between
-them, flanking both Thomas and Gregg. The moment
-was most critical. Edwards and McCrady changed front
-to face the woods filled with Federal troops, and fought
-desperately. Barnes came up to their help, while Marshall's
-Rifles heroically held Gregg's left. But the right
-was about to be overpowered and crushed, when Gregg
-sent in McGowan, his only reserve. The Fourteenth
-rushed upon the crowded ranks of intruders in the
-wood, delivered their volleys at close range, and
-shouting, charged the mass. At the instant Thomas
-attacked from his side with the Forty-ninth Georgia, and
-the victory was gallantly won. The whole assaulting
-force was driven by Gregg's and Thomas' forces back
-across the railroad, and into the woods beyond.</p>
-
-<p>Almost exhausted by such terrible work, the cartridge
-boxes reduced to two or three rounds, Gregg held his
-railroad line with a fixed determination never to yield.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>
-In this resolve he was supported by every officer and
-man of his brigade. When General Hill sent to ask if he
-could hold out, says McGowan, "he replied modestly he
-thought he could, adding, as if casually, that his ammunition
-was about expended, but he still had the bayonet."
-And on the bayonet the brigade was now to rely, as the
-most desperate assault from fresh forces in its front was
-about to come. The rush and noise of the advance were
-heard, the volleys of musketry swept over and through
-the thinned ranks of Gregg, and in another moment the
-charging lines of the enemy were mounting the banks
-of the railroad cut and rushing upon him. Meeting this
-heaviest assault of the day, and fighting, first with their
-last cartridges, and then with the bayonet, the men of
-the brigade gave slowly back. They were not driven far
-from their battle line, when Gregg's call for help was
-answered by General Hill. Branch and Field were sent
-in, and with portions of their brigades met and turned the
-tide of assault. Gregg's men were rallied by their commanders,
-and the Virginians, North Carolinians and
-South Carolinians drove back the great assault across
-and beyond the railroad, and again Gregg's line was
-formed. But the brigade, after fighting for several
-hours, was worn out and its last round of ammunition
-expended.</p>
-
-<p>The gallant and heroic Marshall fell in this last conflict,
-as well as his able lieutenant-colonel, D. A. Ledbetter.
-Colonels McGowan and Barnes, Lieutenant-Colonel
-Farrow, and Majors Brockman and McCorkle
-were wounded and borne from the field. Captains and
-lieutenants and their brave men lay dead in every part
-of the field.</p>
-
-<p>It was evident that another grand assault must be met.
-"Casting about for help," says General Hill, "fortunately
-it was here reported to me that the brigades of
-Generals Lawton and Early were near by, and sending
-to them, they promptly moved to my front at the most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>
-opportune moment." Gregg was relieved, and Lawton
-and Early, now, late in the afternoon, advanced beyond
-the railroad, met the last assault of the day, and drove
-the Federals in confusion to the rear. Night had come,
-and with it rest for Gregg's heroic brigade. Jackson
-held his field, and the effort to crush him before Longstreet
-came up had disastrously failed.</p>
-
-<p>The losses in Gregg's brigade were as follows: Orr's
-Rifles, 19 killed, 97 wounded, total 116; First, 24 killed,
-119 wounded, total 143; Twelfth, 24 killed, 121 wounded,
-total 145; Thirteenth, 26 killed, 118 wounded, total 144;
-Fourteenth, 8 killed, 57 wounded, total 65; aggregate
-for the brigade, 613.</p>
-
-<p>On this bloody day McIntosh did not have an opportunity
-to use his guns. At Manassas Junction on the
-27th, he had done effective work and aided in silencing
-the enemy's battery and driving off his infantry. The
-brigade was not in action on the next day, the 30th, but
-took position under fire. While forming his command,
-Major McCrady received a severe wound in the head,
-after passing through the storm of battle on the 29th
-unhurt. McIntosh's battery, posted on Gregg's left, on
-the 30th, did splendid service in shelling the enemy's
-masses in front, and in breaking his advances against
-Gregg's position. The following officers are mentioned
-among the killed and wounded in the reports of McGowan
-and McCrady, the former reporting for the brigade:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Killed: Orr's Rifles&mdash;Col. J. Foster Marshall, Lieut.-Col.
-D. A. Ledbetter, Capt. M. M. Norton and Lieut.
-W. C. Davis. First&mdash;Capt. C. D. Barksdale, Lieuts.
-John Monro and John C. McLemore, Sergeants Lowrimore,
-Darby and Smith. Twelfth&mdash;Lieuts. J. A. May
-and J. R. Hunnicutt. Thirteenth&mdash;Capt. A. K. Smith
-and Adjt. W. D. Goggans.</p>
-
-<p>Wounded: Orr's Rifles&mdash;Lieut. J. S. Cothran. First&mdash;Major
-McCrady, Capts. T. P. Alston and M. P. Parker,
-Lieuts. T. H. Lyles, G. R. Congdon, John H. King,
-Z. B. Smith and Thomas McCrady. Twelfth&mdash;Maj.
-W. H. McCorkle, Capts. E. F. Bookter and L. M. Grist;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>
-Lieuts. W. S. Dunlop, M. K. Sharp, J. H. Bigham,
-M. V. Darwin, L. A. Garvin, T. A. White, H. P. Thode,
-J. M. Hencken and J. C. Rollings. Thirteenth&mdash;Col.
-O. E. Edwards, Lieut.-Col. T. S. Farrow, Maj. B. T.
-Brockman, Capts. R. L. Bowden, P. A. Eichelberger,
-G. W. Meetze; Lieuts. J. D. Copeland, R. M. Crocker,
-S. J. Greer, W. T. Thom and J. B. Fellers. Fourteenth&mdash;Col.
-Samuel McGowan, Capts. C. M. Stuckey and J. N.
-Brown; Lieuts. W. J. Robertson, W. J. Carter and J. H.
-Allen. A total of 12 commissioned officers killed and 37
-wounded in the brigade.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Major McCrady mentions in his report for distinguished
-conduct on the field, Color-bearer Spellman and Sergeant
-Matthews, Sergeants Lorrimore, Smith, Darby, Kelley,
-Gore and Miller, Color Corporal Owens, Corporals
-Wigg and Larkin, Privates Ruff, Holloran and Carroll,
-Sergeant Ragan, Corporal Brereton, Privates Lyles and
-Duff. Capts. W. T. Haskell, M. P. Parker, W. P. Shooter,
-Barksdale and T. P. Alston, and Lieuts. James Armstrong,
-John C. McLemore, Thomas McCrady, Hewetson,
-Brailsford, McIntire, Congdon, John Monro, Wiborn,
-Seabrook and Hamilton were distinguished on the field.</p>
-
-<p>The great issue of battle between Pope and Lee was to
-be determined on the 30th. Longstreet was in battle
-array on Jackson's right, with a front of seven brigades:
-First Hood, with his brigades, supported by Evans; then
-Kemper, with two brigades in his front line, Jenkins
-and Hunter, supported by Corse; then D. R. Jones,
-with three brigades in echelon, on the extreme right,
-reaching the Manassas Gap railroad. Wilcox, with three
-brigades, in column, was in close supporting distance, behind
-Hood and Evans. R. H. Anderson with three brigades
-was on the march for the field, moving from the direction
-of Warrenton. The brigades of Evans and Jenkins
-were composed of South Carolina troops; the Fifteenth
-South Carolina was in Drayton's brigade, with D. R.
-Jones on the right, and the Hampton legion infantry
-was in Wofford's brigade, with Hood on the left.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>
-Bachman's and Garden's batteries were in Major Frobel's
-battalion, and Rhett's was in S. D. Lee's battalion.</p>
-
-<p>Pope massed against Jackson, and after assailing him
-with a heavy fire of artillery, attacked his whole line with
-all the aggressive power he could command. Porter's
-corps assailed his right and center, and Heintzelman's
-and Reno's corps attacked his left and left flank. These
-three corps were supported by the divisions of King and
-Ricketts.</p>
-
-<p>Jackson stood against this combination with his three
-divisions, and made desperate resistance. For three
-hours, from 1 to 4 p. m., his battle was purely defensive
-and held back the surging columns of attack, but he saw
-that his limit of resistance had been reached and sent to
-General Lee for a division. At that moment General
-Longstreet, riding out to a commanding position oh Jackson's
-right, saw the whole field of attack and seized the
-opportunity to enfilade the line. Chapman's Virginia,
-Boyce's South Carolina and Reilly's North Carolina batteries
-were called up at a run, and fully appreciating the
-situation, went into telling action. The assaulting lines
-were broken in ten minutes, rallied, returned, and were
-again broken. Rallying a third time, they were a third
-time staggered by the fire of Boyce, Chapman and Reilly,
-and Jackson's line was given a breathing spell. S. D.
-Lee now put his battalion into action, and his guns swept
-the field and "tore the line to pieces," says General
-Longstreet. Rhett's South Carolina battery, commanded
-by Lieut. William Elliott, with Lee's battalion, shared
-the honors of this grand assault of artillery in aid of
-Jackson's heroic battle. The moment had come for
-Longstreet to move, and as the commanding general
-rode on the field and ordered the grand assault, he was
-sending the order to his division commanders to advance.</p>
-
-<p>It was now late in the afternoon, but before night had
-settled down on that great field of strife, Hood and Evans
-and Kemper and D. R. Jones and R. H. Anderson had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>
-carried the battle beyond the Chinn house and to the
-base of the great plateau at the Henry house, which
-commanded the enemy's line of retreat over Bull run.
-But night had come and saved the plateau to Pope's army
-and his retreat was secured to him.</p>
-
-<p>Lee's victory was complete. But it had been won by a
-mighty sacrifice of human life. South Carolina had laid
-down her noble sons in costly sacrifice. Her brigades
-and regiments in that great battle had given their very
-best. Among the gallant dead, and those who received
-mortal wounds, at Manassas, on the two days of heroic
-strife, were the following distinguished officers:</p>
-
-<p>Col. J. F. Marshall and Lieut.-Col. D. A. Ledbetter,
-of Orr's Rifles; Col. Thomas J. Glover, of the First
-South Carolina battalion; Col. John V. Moore, of the
-Second Rifles; Col. John H. Means, of the Seventeenth;
-Col. J. M. Gadberry, Eighteenth; Lieut.-Col. Francis G.
-Palmer, of the Holcombe legion, and many other gallant
-spirits. Brigadier-General Jenkins was wounded at the
-head of his brigade and over 400 of his officers and men
-killed and wounded. Col. H. L. Benbow, Twenty-third
-South Carolina; Maj. W. J. Crawley, of the Holcombe
-legion, and other field, staff and company officers of the
-South Carolina commands were wounded on the field.
-It is greatly to be regretted that there are no reports
-from General Jenkins of record, or any one of his regimental
-commanders, respecting the operations of the
-29th and 30th.</p>
-
-<p>As Hood's right swept on in its battle, Jenkins and Hunton
-kept abreast of it, and Evans, in supporting Hood,
-came into battle connection with Jenkins. This was
-particularly the case when the guns were captured at the
-Chinn house. Colonel Corse in his report gives the line
-of program which Jenkins observed, as passing beyond
-the Chinn house and south of it, while Evans, who supported
-Hood's two brigades, passed beyond and north of
-it. Wofford, who commanded Hood's right brigade,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>
-refers to his advance against a battery at or east of the
-Chinn house, when the Holcombe legion (of Evans' brigade)
-came up to his support and fought "with much
-spirit and gallantry." Colonel Gary, the commander of
-the Hampton legion infantry, in his report says: "We
-were then [Wofford's brigade] hotly engaged around the
-Chinn house, where the brigade captured several pieces
-of artillery. At this place the brigade of General Evans
-came up in gallant style and relieved us." Evidently
-the Chinn house, which stood about one mile southwest
-of Groveton, formed the center of the theater of battle
-for the brigades of Jenkins and Evans and the Hampton
-legion infantry, under Colonel Gary.</p>
-
-<p>These commands carried their battle for a half mile
-east of the Chinn house, when darkness checked and
-ended their advance. Over the space indicated the
-South Carolinians fought with steady courage, attesting
-their devotion by the sacrifices of the day. In this
-advance fell the noble-hearted Governor Means, at the
-head of the Seventeenth; the accomplished and gallant
-Glover, at the head of Hagood's First; the brave Gadberry,
-leading the Eighteenth; the dashing Moore, commanding
-the Second rifles; the heroic Palmer, urging the
-Holcombe legion to the charge, and Henry Stevens, aide
-to Col. P. F. Stevens, falling with five wounds.</p>
-
-<p>A single shell bursting in front of Company K, Palmetto
-sharpshooters, killed five young men&mdash;Theodotus
-L. Capers, James Palmer, Whiteford Smith, Bearden and
-McSwain&mdash;graduates and undergraduates of college, the
-very best Carolina could give for her cause. It is particularly
-noted, that these were representative young men,
-sons of men of prominence in the church and in the
-State. Never did one shell destroy more of the beauty
-and promise of life, or carry more sorrow to human
-hearts.</p>
-
-<p>The Fifteenth South Carolina operated on the extreme
-right in support of cavalry, and is reported as losing 21<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>
-in killed and wounded. General Longstreet complained
-that Drayton was sent to the right without his knowledge,
-and expressed his regret that he could not command
-his aid when he needed it to reinforce the battle.</p>
-
-<p>Major Frobel reported that on Friday morning he took
-Bachman's battery, by General Hood's order, to the
-extreme right on the Orange &amp; Alexandria railroad,
-where Stuart's cavalry was operating. Here Bachman
-opened on a column marching to the Confederate right.
-Fifteen rounds were so well directed that the column
-halted and then disappeared toward the left. Later,
-Bachman and Garden took post on the Warrenton pike,
-and for two hours engaged the batteries of the enemy at
-the Groveton house, and silenced them. On the 30th, in
-the afternoon, following Hood's advance, Bachman and
-Garden advanced down the Warrenton pike, Bachman
-taking position on the right of the road and Garden on
-the left, both well out, and opened on the enemy's guns
-at the Dogan house. Again the batteries engaged and
-drove the enemy's guns away from the house, and prepared
-the way for Colonel Law's brigade to carry the
-position. Bachman had exhausted his ammunition, and
-Garden moved on until night stopped his progress.
-Major Frobel reported that Bachman and Garden handled
-their guns with great skill and effect. Lieutenant Siegling,
-a gallant officer of Bachman's battery, was struck
-from his horse by a fragment of shell, and seeing the
-exposed position of his mounted men, as he was falling
-gave the command, "Cannoneers, dismount." His wound
-was through the stomach, and was supposed to be
-mortal, but his cheerful resolution and strong physique,
-with skillful surgical attention, carried him through
-the ordeal, and he rejoined his command.</p>
-
-<p>The following are the returns of casualties from the
-several South Carolina commands engaged at Manassas
-on the 29th and 30th. Except from Boyce's battery
-there are no reports of casualties in the artillery: Gregg's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>
-brigade&mdash;Orr's Rifles, 116; First, 143; Twelfth, 145;
-Thirteenth, 144; Fourteenth, 65. Jenkins' brigade&mdash;First
-(Hagood's), 124; Second Rifles, 58; Fifth, 39;
-Sixth, 115; Sharpshooters, 68. Drayton's brigade,
-Fifteenth, 21. Wofford's brigade, Hampton's legion,
-74. Evans' brigade, Holcombe legion, 155; Seventeenth,
-179; Eighteenth, 113; Twenty-second,&mdash;; Twenty-third,
-149; Boyce's battery, 6. The grand total is 1,714, and of
-these, 281 are given as killed on the field. Many of those
-reported wounded had received mortal hurt.</p>
-
-<p>The morning of Sunday, August 31, 1862, dawned
-upon the plains and hills and valleys of Manassas to find
-them covered with the dead, the dying and the wounded
-of both armies. The trophies of victory cheered the
-awful prospect, but the sight of the great battlefield
-filled every manly heart with feelings of reverence for
-the dead and sympathy for the wounded, both friend and
-foe. Ten thousand wounded Union soldiers, 30 pieces of
-artillery, many stand of colors, and 7,000 prisoners bore
-witness to the steady courage and the heroic endurance
-of Jackson's three divisions on the 29th, and the gallant
-charge of Longstreet's wing on the 30th. Pope retreated
-after nightfall on the 30th and put his rear guard in the
-Confederate defenses at Centreville.</p>
-
-<p>He reported that he had been driven in perfect order
-from the field, by overwhelming numbers; that the fight
-had been an unequal one; that Longstreet had crushed his
-left with great masses of Confederates, pouring down in
-a stream of reinforcements from the Bull Run mountains.
-" ... At no time could I have hoped to fight a successful
-battle with the immensely superior force of the
-enemy which confronted me, and which was able at any
-time to outflank me and bear my small army to the dust."
-But the official records show beyond question that on the
-field of Manassas he had under his command 10,000 more
-men than Lee commanded in his front on the 30th.
-Jackson's corps numbered scarcely 20,000 men of all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>
-arms. Pope assailed it all day on the 29th, and made
-desperate attempts to destroy it on the 30th, and not a
-man reinforced Jackson on the 29th or the 30th; and the
-"superior forces" that assaulted General Pope's right on
-the 30th were just the corps of General Jackson after all
-its losses and work on the 27th, 28th and 29th of August.</p>
-
-<p>General Longstreet tells us that on the morning of
-Sunday, the 31st, General Lee called General Jackson to
-his headquarters and gave him instructions to cross Bull
-run at Sudley's ford, march by Little River turnpike,
-and intercept the enemy's retreat. On receiving these
-instructions, says Longstreet, Jackson said, "Good!" and
-away he went without another word. He marched on
-the morning of the 31st, struck the Little River turnpike
-at Wykoop's, turned toward Fairfax Court House, and
-camped for the night at Pleasant valley. On September
-1st he continued his march, passed Chantilly, and
-came upon Pope's forces at Ox hill, just south of the
-turnpike, and about halfway between Chantilly and
-Germantown. General Pope had due notice of the
-advance on his right, and early on the 1st formed a
-determination, as he reports, to fight a battle between
-the roads which come together at Fairfax, on one of
-which he was stationed, Jackson, followed by Longstreet,
-marching on the other.</p>
-
-<p>Reinforced by Sumner's and Franklin's corps, General
-Pope arranged for battle on the 1st of September with a
-force of 57,000. The corps of Heintzelman, Reno and
-McDowell were in position south of the Little River
-turnpike, facing almost north. Against these corps General
-Jackson attacked on the afternoon of the 1st, the battle
-being fought during a storm of rain and wind, which
-blew directly in the faces of the Confederates. Jackson
-put his corps on right into line of battle, Hill, Lawton
-and Starke from right to left. Jackson attacked by
-Hill's division, and a severe battle followed until night.
-During the battle a portion of Ewell's division, com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>manded
-by Lawton, supported General Hill, but the battle
-was mainly fought by Hill, the brigades of Branch,
-Gregg and Pender bearing the brunt of the fight. General
-Hill says that the enemy stubbornly contested the
-ground, but on the fall of the two prominent commanders
-on the field, Generals Kearny and Stevens, the enemy
-was driven back, but not far, retreating entirely after
-night. The battle was aggressive on Jackson's part, and
-as it progressed pushed the Federal forces back, but
-night coming on both sides ceased from conflict.</p>
-
-<p>In this battle Gregg's brigade, leading Hill's division,
-came first into line by its right, the Thirteenth and
-Fourteenth in the front line, Orr's Rifles, the Twelfth
-and the First supporting. As the battle progressed, the
-Rifles and the Twelfth were advanced to the front line
-of battle, the First remaining in support, under command
-of Capt. C. W. McCreary. Lieut.-Col. W. D. Simpson
-commanded the Fourteenth, and Capt. James Perrin the
-Rifles. The losses in Gregg's brigade at Ox Hill were
-reported as follows: Orr's Rifles, 5 killed, 25 wounded,
-total 30; First South Carolina, 1 killed, 7 wounded, total
-8; Twelfth, 1 killed, 10 wounded, total 11; Thirteenth,
-5 killed, 24 wounded, total 29; Fourteenth, 3 killed, 23
-wounded, total 26; total, 15 killed, 89 wounded. Lieut.
-W. C. Leppard, of the Thirteenth, and Adjt. W. C.
-Buchanan, of the Twelfth, were killed on the field
-after being distinguished in the action. Captain West
-and Lieutenant Youngblood of the Fourteenth, and Lieutenant
-Jenkins of the Rifles, were wounded.</p>
-
-<p>We call the battle of Ox Hill a battle with Pope's rear
-guard, for such it was. Though his army was in position
-to give battle to General Lee on the 2d of September,
-his forces were arranged so as to secure his retreat,
-and this he actually made on the night of the 1st and the
-morning of the 2d, falling back on the defenses of Washington.
-General Pope seems to have regarded his army
-at Centreville on the morning of September 1st, though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>
-numbering 62,000, including Banks, near at hand, no
-match for that of General Lee, which was not a man
-over 40,000, if so strong. If he had only known the
-actual strength of General Lee's army, the question
-arises, Would it have made any difference in the results
-of the Rappahannock-Manassas campaigns?</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> For the part borne by Gregg's brigade on the 29th,
-I shall follow the official reports and Mr. Caldwell's history.</p></div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>THE MARYLAND CAMPAIGN&mdash;THE SOUTH MOUNTAIN
-BATTLES&mdash;CAPTURE OF HARPER'S FERRY&mdash;BATTLES
-OF SHARPSBURG AND SHEPHERDSTOWN.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">General</span> Lee marched his victorious army from
-the plains and hills of Manassas to Leesburg, and
-crossed into Maryland, fording the Potomac between
-September 4th and 7th, and concentrating at the
-city of Frederick. His reasons for this move are here
-given in his own words:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>The armies of Generals McClellan and Pope had now
-been brought back to the point from which they set out
-on the campaign of the spring and summer. The object
-of those campaigns had been frustrated, and the designs
-of the enemy on the coast of North Carolina and in western
-Virginia thwarted by the withdrawal of the main
-body of his forces from these regions. Northeastern
-Virginia was freed from the presence of Federal soldiers
-up to the intrenchments of Washington, and soon after
-the arrival of the army at Leesburg, information was
-received that the troops that had occupied Winchester
-had retired to Harper's Ferry and Martinsburg. The
-war was thus transferred from the interior to the frontier,
-and the supplies of rich and productive districts made
-accessible to our army.</p>
-
-<p>To prolong a state of affairs in every way desirable, and
-not to permit the season of active operations to pass without
-endeavoring to inflict further injury upon the enemy,
-the best course appeared to be to transfer the army into
-Maryland. Although not properly equipped for invasion,
-lacking much of the material of war, and feeble in transportation,
-the troops poorly provided with clothing, and
-thousands of them destitute of shoes, it was yet believed
-to be strong enough to detain the enemy upon the northern
-frontier until the approach of winter should render
-his advance into Virginia difficult, if not impracticable.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>
-The condition of Maryland encouraged the belief that the
-presence of our army, however inferior to that of the
-enemy, would induce the Washington government to
-retain all its available force to provide against contingencies
-which its course toward the people of that State
-gave it reason to apprehend. At the same time it was
-hoped that military success might afford us an opportunity
-to aid the citizens of Maryland in any efforts they
-might be disposed to make to recover their liberties. The
-difficulties that surrounded them were fully appreciated,
-and we expected to derive more assistance in the attainment
-of our object from the just fears of the Washington
-government than from any active demonstration on the
-part of the people, unless success should enable us to
-give them assurance of continued protection.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The South Carolina commands with Lee in Maryland,
-were the brigades of N. G. Evans, Kershaw and Jenkins
-under Col. Joseph Walker; the Fifteenth regiment, Colonel
-De Saussure, in Drayton's brigade; the Hampton
-legion infantry, in Wofford's brigade, and Bachman's,
-Garden's, Rhett's and Boyce's batteries&mdash;all with Longstreet's
-corps; in Jackson's corps, the brigade of Maxcy
-Gregg and McIntosh's battery; and with the cavalry
-under Stuart, the Second cavalry, Col. M. C. Butler, of
-Hampton's brigade, and Hart's battery. Thus it will be
-seen that four brigades, a regiment and a battalion of
-infantry, six light batteries, and one regiment of cavalry
-represented South Carolina in the short and bloody campaign
-through which we are now to trace their career.
-We may not do more than make such general allusions to
-other commands as will put the positions and movements
-of the South Carolinians in their true moral and military
-aspect. The gallant comrades of other States, who fought
-by their side, and on whose heroic daring and sublime
-fortitude so much depended&mdash;whenever they touched
-their Carolina brethren in battle, their touch was an
-inspiration, and wherever they fought by their side, their
-battle was an assurance of strength.</p>
-
-<p>When General Lee took post at Frederick, his position<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>
-warranted the expectation that the Federal forces in the
-valley of Virginia and at Harper's Ferry would retreat
-upon Washington, and he made dispositions to intercept
-them. In this he was disappointed. Martinsburg and
-Harper's Ferry were held fast, and Lee resolved to attack
-those points at once. He prepared an order detailing his
-combinations and directing the march of each corps and
-division, and the action of his cavalry. A copy of this,
-sent Gen. D. H. Hill, fell into General McClellan's
-hands, as a former order, issued on the Rapidan, had gone
-into the hands of Pope. Thus McClellan was informed
-that Lee's army would leave Frederick and cross the
-mountains at Boonsboro gap; that D. H. Hill's division
-was to halt at Boonsboro, while the rest of Longstreet's
-corps marched toward Hagerstown; that Jackson would
-cross the Potomac and move on Harper's Ferry; that
-McLaws' division, following Jackson, would enter Pleasant
-valley and possess Maryland heights, and that Walker's
-division, following McLaws, would cross the Potomac
-and possess Loudoun heights. Friday, September 12th,
-was to be the day when these combinations should
-result in the capture of Harper's Ferry. That accomplished,
-Jackson, McLaws and Walker were to rejoin the
-army at Boonsboro or Hagerstown.</p>
-
-<p>McClellan, thoroughly appreciating the situation,
-promptly advanced against Boonsboro gap. In this
-forward movement he was delayed by General Hampton,
-who skirmished at every available point. As the advance
-guard approached Frederick with cavalry, infantry and
-artillery, Hampton drew in his outposts and formed his
-brigade for attack. The enemy posted a gun, supported
-by infantry, so as to command the city, and this gave
-Hampton his opportunity. As the gun opened he ordered
-Butler to charge, with the brigade in support. One brilliant
-dash at the gun and its support, and it was in Hampton's
-possession, the enemy scattered, many killed and
-wounded, and Colonel Moore, Twenty-eighth Ohio, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>
-10 other prisoners taken. In this affair, Lieutenant-Colonel
-Meighan, of the Second South Carolina cavalry,
-and Captain Waring, of the Jeff Davis legion, acted with
-distinguished gallantry, and the Second, under its gallant
-colonel, was commended for its conduct. So successful
-was the repulse of the advance guard of the enemy that
-Hampton withdrew at a walk, and camped for the night
-at Middletown, taking with him the prisoners, and leaving
-Lieutenant-Colonel Martin, commanding the Jeff
-Davis legion, to cover his camp.</p>
-
-<p>At daylight, Martin was attacked in the gap of Catoctin
-mountain which he was holding. Hampton sent up a
-section of Hart's battery to his support, and Martin held
-his position against odds until 2 p. m., the fire of Hart's
-guns driving the opposing artillery from several positions.
-Then the enemy, reinforced, gained a strong
-point for artillery, and Hampton withdrew Martin, and
-in front of Middletown formed for battle, which was soon
-joined. Hart's guns replied vigorously to those of the
-Federals, the sharpshooters became warmly engaged, and
-soon the whole brigade was in action, the fight being
-pressed by infantry on the enemy's side. Notified that
-Gen. D. H. Hill had taken position in Boonsboro gap,
-General Stuart, who had come forward, ordered Hampton
-to withdraw to the south, and sent Martin with Hart's
-guns through the gap in South mountain to Boonsboro.
-Hampton retired to Burkittsville, and on his way encountered
-a Federal cavalry command, which he charged with
-Colonel Young's Georgians, dispersed the force, with a
-loss of 30 killed and wounded on the enemy's part, and
-4 killed and 9 wounded in the Cobb legion.</p>
-
-<p>Hill's division, which had marched into Boonsboro
-gap, was composed of the brigades of Ripley, Rodes,
-Garland, Colquitt and Anderson. With these commands
-and Rosser's Fifth Virginia cavalry, Hill stood against
-the assaults of McClellan for five hours. Longstreet hurried
-back from Hagerstown to his support and arrived<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>
-between 3 and 4 p. m. With Longstreet were the South
-Carolina brigades of Evans and Jenkins, the Fifteenth
-South Carolina with Drayton, and the Hampton legion
-with Wofford. Evans' brigade, under Col. P. F. Stevens,
-was marched to the left of General Hill's battle to
-support Rodes, who was nearly overwhelmed. Stevens
-put in the brigade on the right of Rodes, and was at once
-assailed. The Seventeenth, under Col. F. W. McMaster,
-held its ground on the right of the brigade, supported
-by the Holcombe legion, but the pressure of the attack
-pressed back the Twenty-second and Twenty-third until
-these regiments, rallied by their gallant commanders,
-Lieut.-Col. T. C. Watkins and Capt. S. A. Durham and
-Maj. M. Hilton, returned to the battle, and supported by
-the Eighteenth, Col. W. H. Wallace, held the battle, in
-line with the Seventeenth and the legion. But not for
-long; the enemy crowded up the mountain in such
-strength that Rodes and Stevens could not hold their
-line and were driven from the crest.</p>
-
-<p>In this brief struggle, Lieut.-Col. Thomas C. Watkins
-fell in the thick of the fight, rallying his regiment. His
-fall was a loss to his command and to his country, but he
-died as he wished to die, fighting for the independence
-of the Southern Confederacy. He was succeeded by
-Major Hilton, who rallied the regiment and restored its
-position on the crest. In the same contest Lieut.-Col.
-R. S. Means, of the Seventeenth, was severely wounded.
-At the moment of his fall the crest was carried, and Colonel
-McMaster ordered him borne from the field, but he
-generously refused the aid of his comrades, seeing they
-must inevitably be captured.</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Stevens especially commended the conduct of
-Colonel McMaster, Major Hilton, Captain Durham and
-Adjt. W. P. DuBose. The latter officer was captured
-after night while endeavoring with a small force to reconnoiter
-the enemy's front. The loss in the brigade was
-comparatively small: Seventeenth, killed 7, wounded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>
-37, missing 17; Twenty-second, killed 10, wounded 57,
-missing 4; Twenty-third, killed 4, wounded 16, missing 4;
-no reports for the Eighteenth and the legion.</p>
-
-<p>The rapid march of Longstreet from Hagerstown on
-the 14th had thinned the ranks of all his brigades. Men
-overcome with fatigue fell by the way in large numbers,
-and the rush up the mountain in the afternoon almost
-depleted some commands. Colonel McMaster, reporting
-the strength of the Seventeenth in the battle, said: "In
-this battle we had engaged 10 officers and 131 men, rank
-and file, and ambulance corps." General Longstreet,
-referring in his recent book to the effect upon the troops
-of the march from Hagerstown, and the marches and
-countermarches on the mountain, says:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>It was near night when the brigades under Generals
-Kemper and Garnett and Colonel Walker (Jenkins')
-returned from their march down the mountain and
-reached the top. They were put in as they arrived, to
-try to cover the right of Rodes and Evans, and fill the
-intervening space to the turnpike. As they marched, the
-men dropped along the road as rapidly as if under severe
-skirmish. So manifest was it that nature was exhausted
-that no one urged them to get up and try to keep their
-ranks.... The Union brigades were stronger than the
-Confederates, mine having lost more than half this number
-by the wayside from exhaustion, under the forced
-march.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Col. Joseph Walker, Palmetto sharpshooters, commanding
-Jenkins' brigade, reported his force only partially
-engaged. Much of his time in the afternoon was consumed
-by marches and countermarches, in accordance
-with orders, which carried his brigade first to the foot of
-the mountain on the west side, nearly 2 miles south of
-the Boonsboro pike, on which he had arrived from Hagerstown.
-Then he was sent to take position at the hotel on
-top of the mountain and north of the pike. From that
-post he was ordered to move across the pike obliquely to
-the south, and down the east slope of the mountain, where
-he made his partial battle. The First regiment, Lieut.-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>Col.
-D. Livingston, the Sixth, Lieut.-Col. J. M. Steedman,
-and the Fifth, Capt. T. C. Beckham, were advanced
-to a stone fence, where they stood against the fire of the
-infantry and artillery in their front, the Sharpshooters,
-Second rifles and the Fourth battalion supporting.
-Walker held this post all through the evening and night,
-moving off on the morning of the 15th and covering the
-retirement from that part of the field, the Second rifles
-marching as rear guard. The losses in Jenkins' brigade
-were comparatively light, 3 killed and 29 wounded, total,
-32, distributed as follows: Palmetto sharpshooters,
-2 wounded; First, 1 killed, 15 wounded; Second rifles,
-1 wounded; Fifth, 6 wounded; Sixth, 2 killed, 5 wounded.</p>
-
-<p>The writer regrets that he can find no record of the
-service of the Fifteenth South Carolina, in Drayton's
-brigade, and the Hampton legion infantry, in Wofford's.
-Gen. D. H. Hill, in his report of the action of his troops,
-refers to the brigade of Drayton in the following words:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>In answer to a dispatch from General Longstreet, I
-urged him to hurry forward troops to my assistance.
-General Drayton and Col. G. T. Anderson [the latter
-commanding a brigade of Georgians] came up, I think,
-about 3 o'clock, with 1,900 men.... Anderson, Ripley
-and Drayton were called together, and I directed them to
-follow a path until they came in contact with Rosser,
-when they should change their flank, march in line of
-battle and sweep the woods before them.... Anderson
-soon became partially and Drayton hotly engaged....
-Three brigades moved up in beautiful order against Drayton
-and the men were soon beaten.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>This is the only reference to Drayton's brigade in the
-action at Boonsboro, by which it appears that the Fifteenth
-South Carolina, and Fiftieth and Fifty-first Georgia,
-the three regiments that composed it, stood against
-the attack of three Union brigades until they were
-"beaten."</p>
-
-<p>The battle of Boonsboro Gap was not anticipated by
-General Lee, and it came, on the 14th, in the nature of a
-surprise. Certainly Lee's army was not prepared for it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>
-All that could be done was done&mdash;the brigades of Hill and
-Longstreet, with such artillery as could be operated on
-the mountain, held back the advancing columns of Hooker
-and Reno until night put an end to the conflict. General
-McClellan reported the battle on his side as fought
-by the divisions of Hatch, Ricketts and Meade, of
-Hooker's corps; Willcox, Sturgis and Cox, of Reno's
-corps; and the brigade of Sedgwick, of Sherman's corps;
-with artillery and cavalry. That this force did not drive
-Hill in rout from the mountain before Longstreet came
-up is due to the firmness and heroism of his defense.
-That it did not envelop both Longstreet and Hill late
-in the afternoon, and force them down upon Boonsboro,
-is due to the skill of those generals, and the conduct
-of their troops and their commanders.</p>
-
-<p>Having already stated the order for the investment of
-Harper's Ferry, we will have now to do with the part
-taken by Kershaw's and Gregg's South Carolina brigades
-in its capture. Kershaw was with McLaws and Gregg
-with A. P. Hill. To Kershaw, commanding his own and
-Barksdale's brigades, was assigned the task of capturing
-the south end of Elk ridge, called Maryland heights,
-which overlooked Harper's Ferry. The heights captured,
-McLaws was to plant his rifled guns there to co-operate
-with Walker, on Loudoun heights, and Jackson, on Bolivar
-heights. Kershaw marched on the 12th and ascended
-Elk ridge by Solomon's gap. The Union pickets offered
-a feeble resistance at the gap and retired, Kershaw ascending
-to the top of the ridge and marching on its crest
-toward the point of attack. Capt. G. B. Cuthbert, Second
-South Carolina, commanding Kershaw's right flankers,
-and Major Bradley, Mississippi regiment, commanding
-skirmishers in advance, met and easily drove back the
-outposts along the ridge. But the road was so obstructed,
-and so impracticable, that it was 6 p. m. before General
-Kershaw came up on the first line of defense, within one
-mile of the south end, or Maryland heights. This was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>
-strong abatis running across the ridge and flanked by
-high boulders. Here the enemy was standing in force.</p>
-
-<p>Kershaw put his brigade in two lines of attack and held
-Barksdale in reserve. Henagan's Eighth South Carolina
-and Aiken's Seventh made the first line, Nance's Third,
-and Kennedy's Second in rear. Before these dispositions
-were made night came on, and the troops lay on their
-arms within sight of the battlefield. Early on the 13th
-the South Carolinians moved to the attack in beautiful
-order, and came under the heavy fire of the enemy. The
-Eighth encountered a ledge of rock which completely
-stopped its advance, but the Seventh had a clear field to
-the abatis. Aiken led his regiment on with a dash,
-mounted the obstruction, poured a volley into the faces
-of his adversaries, and the abatis was won, the enemy
-retreating a quarter of a mile to a still stronger position
-across the ridge. Kershaw sent Barksdale to his left to
-make a detour on the east slope, and gain the flank of
-the position. The Seventh and Eighth again advanced
-to the abatis and carried it, but the fire from a log breastwork
-in rear checked their progress. The Third, under
-Nance, reinforced the fire of the Seventh and Eighth, and
-these three regiments made the battle, losing severely.</p>
-
-<p>Meanwhile Barksdale had worked his way around to
-the rear and right of the Federals and opened fire. Seeing
-himself assailed in front and flank, the enemy retreated
-down the south end of the mountain and across the river,
-by pontoon, into Harper's Ferry. Kershaw and Barksdale
-moved to the position captured, overlooking the
-enemy in his stronghold. Major McLaws, of the division
-staff, directed the cutting of a road by which four rifled
-guns were brought to the heights, and by 2 p. m. on the
-14th, while the battle at Boonsboro gap was raging, and
-the enemy had penetrated Pleasant valley by Crampton's
-gap and was marching on McLaws' rear, Captains Read
-and Carlton opened their guns on Harper's Ferry and
-Bolivar heights.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Kershaw's work was done and well done, and he was
-ordered into the valley early on the morning of the 15th.
-While on the mountain the brigades suffered from want
-of water; not a drop could be obtained except at the foot
-of the ridge. The march on the crest was over crags
-and boulders, and the advance to battle was impeded by
-fallen trees and every possible obstruction. General
-Kershaw reported that not a man retired from his line
-who was not wounded, and especially spoke of the Seventh,
-Colonel Aiken, as bearing the brunt of the battle
-and suffering the heaviest loss. Lieut. Moultrie Dwight,
-of the brigade staff, was severely wounded by a fall from
-a precipice while communicating a message from Kershaw
-to Barksdale. Barksdale's loss was 2 killed and 15
-wounded. Kershaw lost 33 killed and 163 wounded;
-total, 196. The Second South Carolina, not being engaged
-directly, suffered no casualties. The three regiments
-engaged numbered 100 officers and 863 soldiers. The
-Third had 14 killed, 35 wounded, total 49; the Seventh,
-13 killed, 100 wounded, total 113; the Eighth, 6 killed,
-28 wounded, total 34.</p>
-
-<p>Gregg's South Carolina brigade marched with Jackson's
-corps from the vicinity of Boonsboro on the 11th
-and camped at Williamsport on the Potomac. On the
-12th, crossing the Potomac, Jackson marched upon Martinsburg,
-occupied by a Federal force under Brigadier-General
-White. Gregg was in front and deployed for
-battle, but White retired upon Harper's Ferry. Jackson
-entered the town and the inhabitants rejoicingly received
-him and his troops. His hungry men were feasted, their
-general caressed and honored, and the sutler's stores and
-army provisions left by the enemy duly appropriated.
-Marching on for Harper's Ferry, Jackson was in position
-before that place, on Bolivar heights, by noon of the
-13th. Next day Gregg was sent to Jackson's right
-(with Branch's brigade) to take position on the Shenandoah,
-move along its north bank, and be ready on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>
-morning of the 15th to assault from that point. Early on
-the 15th all the batteries opened on the defenses of Harper's
-Ferry, among them McIntosh's South Carolina battery.
-McLaws' rifled guns from Maryland heights, Walker's
-batteries from the Loudoun hills, and Jackson's from
-Bolivar heights poured their shot and shell into every
-opposing fort and battery, and the signal was about to
-be given to "cease firing" to give chance for the concerted
-assault of Jackson's infantry, when the banner of
-surrender was raised and Harper's Ferry was captured.
-The enemy replied from every one of his batteries with
-vigor, and kept up his defense until he saw his doom.
-Gregg had not lost a man, and remaining with A. P.
-Hill's division to secure the spoil of battle, his brigade
-reaped a harvest of good things at Harper's Ferry. The
-situation is thus described by Captain Caldwell:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>We fared sumptuously. In addition to meat, crackers,
-sugar, coffee, shoes, blankets, underclothing, etc., many
-of us captured horses, of which the quartermaster, however,
-duly deprived us.</p>
-
-<p>Jackson was the great theme of conversation. The
-Federals seemed never weary of extolling his genius and
-inquiring for particulars of his history. They were
-extremely anxious to see him. He came up from the
-riverside late in the afternoon. The intelligence spread
-like electricity. Almost the whole mass of prisoners
-broke over us, rushed to the road, threw up their hats,
-cheered, roared, bellowed, as even Jackson's own troops
-had scarcely ever done. We, of course, joined in with
-them. The general gave a stiff acknowledgment of the
-compliment, pulled down his hat, drove spurs into his
-horse, and went clattering down the hill away from the
-noise.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The garrison of Harper's Ferry, surrendered, gave
-Jackson over 11,000 prisoners, 73 pieces of artillery,
-13,000 small-arms, and a large supply of military stores.</p>
-
-<p>General McClellan did not push his advantage gained
-at Boonsboro gap. It was 8 o'clock on the morning of
-the 15th before his troops appeared on the west of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>
-mountain, and General Lee had the columns of D. H.
-Hill and Longstreet beyond his reach by that time.
-Marching all the night of the 14th, these commands were
-in front of Sharpsburg early on the morning of Monday,
-the 15th. Jackson left Harper's Ferry on the night following,
-with McLaws', Walker's and Anderson's divisions,
-marched up to Shepherdstown, and crossed the
-river and reported to General Lee on the battlefield early
-on the 16th. He had left A. P. Hill's division at Harper's
-Ferry to parole the prisoners, secure the property
-captured, and hold the place. As will be seen, McLaws
-and R. H. Anderson did not reach the field of battle
-until it had been raging for hours, but they came up, as
-did A. P. Hill, in time to reinforce Lee at critical
-moments.</p>
-
-<p>In writing of Sharpsburg there are particular features
-of that battlefield to which reference must frequently be
-made in order to comprehend the struggle, and these
-will first be noted.</p>
-
-<p>The town of Sharpsburg is about a mile from the southward
-bend of the Potomac. A straight line running due
-east from the Potomac and passing through Sharpsburg
-would cross the Antietam river about 1½ miles from the
-town. The general direction of the Antietam in front
-(east) of Sharpsburg is a little west of south. And this,
-too, is the general direction of the Potomac in the vicinity
-of the battlefield. About 3 miles below Sharpsburg the
-Potomac makes a sweeping bend to the east and the
-Antietam to the west, the latter entering the former just
-below the point where the river turns sharply to the
-south. Lee's line was in front of Sharpsburg and behind
-the Antietam, which was easily forded, and crossed by
-good stone bridges in Lee's front and on each flank.</p>
-
-<p>Two main roads gave direction to the battle, one running
-north to Hagerstown, and the other a little north of
-east to Boonsboro. About 1¼ miles from the town, on
-the Hagerstown road, was a church known as the Dunk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>er's
-chapel, with a heavy wood north, south and west of
-it. The hills along the Antietam, on both sides, were high
-and commanding, and gave the best positions for artillery.
-The country between the Antietam and the Hagerstown
-road was undulatory, with good elevations for artillery,
-and south of Sharpsburg very much the same. The
-Antietam makes a very long bend to the west about 1½
-miles below the town and then bends south again. General
-Lee's right rested on this bend, the hills being high
-and steep on the Sharpsburg side. Lee formed two lines
-of battle on the hills described, its direction parallel with
-the Antietam, bending toward the Potomac on the left.</p>
-
-<p>On the 15th, Longstreet was posted on the south of the
-Boonsboro road, and D. H. Hill north of it. Hood's
-division prolonged the line on Hill's left bending west
-until it touched the Hagerstown road. Jackson, early on
-the 16th, was put on Hood's left, with his right on the
-Hagerstown road. Stuart with cavalry and horse artillery
-guarded the extreme left next the Potomac. Walker,
-with his two brigades, came up from Harper's Ferry by
-afternoon, and was posted on the extreme right and
-immediately on the Antietam bluffs. As the divisions
-slept on arms, on the night of the 16th, they stood for
-battle, from right to left, in the following order: Walker,
-D. R. Jones, Evans (brigade), D. H. Hill, Hood, Lawton,
-J. R. Jones, cavalry. The artillery opened the great
-battle at dawn on the 17th, and before the sun had risen
-Jackson was hotly engaged with Hooker's corps on the
-Confederate left.</p>
-
-<p>Jackson's and Hood's troops held their ground with
-great courage and firmness, sometimes advancing in triumph
-and then repulsed by the front lines of the enemy.
-The history of Jackson's battle is a history of violent and
-bloody contention, advances and retirements, with ground
-lost, gained, relost and regained, until at last the enemy
-was forced to the defensive and the Confederate battle
-held on nearly its chosen line. The three corps of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>
-Hooker, Mansfield and Sumner were engaged in these
-battles with Jackson and Hood, while the latter were
-reinforced from time to time by three brigades from
-D. H. Hill, one from D. R. Jones, and two with Walker.
-These forces, with Jackson's two small divisions and
-Hood's two brigades, had forced the battle beyond the
-Hagerstown road, and were on the successful offensive,
-as against Hooker's and Mansfield's corps, when Sumner
-entered the battle. His advance was against Jackson's
-right and center, two of his divisions (Richardson's and
-French's) operating east of the turnpike and south of the
-church, and one (Sedgwick's) moving against the woods
-just north of the church. Sumner's line operated at once
-to check the tide of his retreating friends, and to stem
-that on his advancing foes. Fresh, strong and admirably
-handled, the divisions of Richardson, French and Sedgwick
-moved to renew the waning battle. Richardson,
-supported by French, moved against D. H. Hill's left
-center, and Sedgwick attacked in front and north of the
-church.</p>
-
-<p>Sumner's account of affairs on the battlefield when he
-reached it shows the work which had been done by the
-troops of Jackson, Hood, D. H. Hill and the brigade from
-D. R. Jones. He said: "On going upon the field, I
-found that General Hooker's corps had been dispersed
-and routed. I passed him some distance in the rear,
-where he had been carried wounded, but I saw nothing
-of his corps as I was advancing on the field. There were
-some troops lying down on the left which I took to belong
-to Mansfield's command. In the meantime, General
-Mansfield had been killed, and a portion of his corps
-thrown into confusion."</p>
-
-<p>Sedgwick had pushed his battle successfully, and was
-now south and west of the church and about to clear the
-woods, when the head of McLaws' division arrived from
-Harper's Ferry, worn down by their forced march, without
-food, and many of them footsore. But they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>
-ready for battle, and appreciated the emergency. Portions
-of Hooker's and Mansfield's corps were attacking farther
-to Jackson's left, and Sumner's fresh corps was terribly
-aggressive. General Lee had ordered Walker from
-the extreme right, and he arrived in good time to join
-with McLaws. These commands, with portions of the
-troops that had been fighting all the morning, confronted
-the new advance, assailed it, beat it back, broke its order,
-and gained the position from which Sumner had advanced.
-Sedgwick was overwhelmed, but Richardson retired in
-order. The attack of Sumner on Lee's left and left center
-had failed, and failed by reason of the heroic, aggressive
-battle of McLaws and Walker, and the rallied fragments
-of Jackson's, Hood's, Hill's and Jones' troops.</p>
-
-<p>In this great achievement Kershaw's South Carolina
-brigade, of McLaws' division, bore a distinguished part.
-Arriving on the field just as Jackson's battle had been
-driven into the woods south of the chapel and the enemy
-were in plain view, McLaws advanced Kershaw against
-him in direct attack, the Second South Carolina leading.
-The struggle to be made was for the possession of the
-wood west and north of the chapel. Kershaw threw the
-Eighth, Seventh and Third forward to Kennedy's support,
-and they pressed their battle into the wood and
-beyond the chapel, supported right and left by their comrades,
-and by the fire of Read's battery. Aiken approached
-within 30 yards of a Federal battery, drove its
-gunners off, and was about to seize the guns when a
-flanking battery opened upon him with canister and
-drove him back. The enemy reinforced made assault
-after assault, and were as often repelled. Kershaw had
-established his line beyond the church, and here he held
-his battle throughout the day. Reporting upon the conduct
-of his brigade, he said that the Eighth, under Lieut.-Col.
-A. J. Hoole, carried in 45 men, rank and file, and lost
-23; the Second, first to attack and drive the enemy,
-suffered the loss of Colonel Kennedy from a severe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>
-wound, and its gallant major, Franklin Gaillard, led it
-on against a front line, broke it, and pressed it beyond
-range of fire; the Third, under Nance, twice changed
-front under fire, and as often drove the opposing line;
-the Seventh, led by Aiken, trailed their progress to the
-cannon's mouth with the blood of their bravest, and out
-of 268 carried into action, lost 140, Colonel Aiken being
-among those most seriously wounded. The death of its
-gallant Maj. W. C. White deprived the service of an
-accomplished officer, a noble gentleman, and an elevated
-character.</p>
-
-<p>Without a supply of rations from Monday to Wednesday;
-constantly under arms, marching, or in action during
-that period, no sleep and but brief halts for rest,
-Kershaw's gallant command fought at Sharpsburg as if
-they had come to the field from a well-provided camp.</p>
-
-<p>But Sumner's work was not yet done. Richardson and
-French, supported by their famous batteries, many of
-them rifled guns, returned to the attack, directing their
-march directly against D. H. Hill's center on the Boonsboro
-road. He had sent Ripley, Garland and Colquitt to
-reinforce the struggle on the left, and had with him only
-two brigades of his own division (Rodes' and G. B. Anderson's),
-his batteries, Evans' brigade under Col. P. F. Stevens,
-and Boyce's battery. With these troops Hill met
-and repelled Richardson's first advance. General Lee
-sent up R. H. Anderson's division to his support, and
-Hill formed that command behind his front line. By the
-mistake of a subordinate, Rodes' brigade was moved from
-the front line and a broad gap left in Hill's defense. At
-once Richardson saw his advantage and pressed his troops
-into and beyond the gap. We give, substantially, General
-Hill's account. G. B. Anderson held his brigade in
-position, while the Federals poured through the gap,
-making all the defense he could, until he was wounded,
-when his brigade broke in panic, but Colonel Bennett and
-Major Sillers of North Carolina rallied a portion of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>
-the brigade. There were no troops near, except some
-rallied fragments of commands, to hold the center. Hill
-was now back to the hill which commanded Sharpsburg
-and the rear. Affairs looked critical. A battery in a
-cornfield was ordered up, and proved to be Boyce's South
-Carolina battery, attached to Evans' brigade. It moved
-out most gallantly, in full view, and exposed to a terrible
-direct and reverse fire from rifled guns beyond the Antietam.
-A caisson was exploded, but the battery unlimbered
-and with grape and canister poured volley after
-volley so fast into the advancing troops that they halted,
-wavered, and then broke in retreat. With such of his
-troops as he could call to his immediate command, Hill
-charged, was checked, repulsed and charged again, and
-at last the center was secure.</p>
-
-<p>The part borne by Evans' brigade of South Carolinians
-in this defense of the center is described by Colonel Stevens,
-commanding:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Sickness, fatigue and casualties of battle had reduced
-the brigade to a mere skeleton. Placed in position near
-the town and north of the Boonsboro road, the brigade
-acted as support with various batteries, until the afternoon,
-when the attack in front pressing, General Evans
-ordered it deployed as skirmishers to meet the enemy.
-In this position we were forced back, until I again advanced,
-and with Boyce's battery broke the line in my
-front and drove them back. The force in our front having
-retired, and Colonel Walker, commanding Jenkins'
-South Carolina brigade, on our right, having sent to me
-for artillery, I ordered Captain Boyce with his battery to
-report to him. Night coming on, the brigade bivouacked
-on the field.... During the engagement at Sharpsburg
-my men behaved well, obeyed orders, and never gave
-back except at my command.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Boyce lost 15 horses. Sergt. Thomas E. Dawkins and
-Private James Rogers were killed, Privates B. Miller and
-E. Shirley mortally wounded, and Lieut. H. F. Scaife
-and 15 of the battery more or less severely wounded.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>
-Sergt. B. T. Glenn continued to work his piece long after
-receiving a very severe wound.<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a></p>
-
-<p>Colonel McMaster, of the Seventeenth South Carolina,
-Evans' brigade, reports that he carried into the battle
-only 59 officers and men, so great had been his losses
-from sickness and wounds and straggling. Out of these
-he lost 19 in battle. There are no separate returns of the
-losses of Evans' brigade at Boonsboro gap and Sharpsburg,
-but in these two they are reported as follows: Holcombe
-legion, 18 wounded; Seventeenth, 18 killed, 49
-wounded; Eighteenth, 3 killed, 39 wounded; Twenty-second,
-8 killed, 64 wounded; Twenty-third, 14 killed, 66
-wounded; aggregate, 43 killed, 236 wounded.</p>
-
-<p>While D. H. Hill was defending the center, Longstreet's
-line was assailed, on Lee's right. Crossing at the bridge
-and fords General Burnside's troops threw their masses
-against D. R. Jones' division. Jenkins' brigade under
-Colonel Walker was on the left of Jones' division, and
-the operations are reported by Colonel Walker. During
-the 16th the brigade lay in line south of the Boonsboro
-road exposed to an incessant fire of artillery from batteries
-posted east of the Antietam. In the afternoon of the
-17th Walker was moved forward, and supported a part of
-the Washington artillery, of New Orleans. These gallant
-batteries were constantly engaged, and drew an unceasing
-fire upon Walker as well as themselves. The guns
-withdrew for ammunition and Walker went forward 400
-yards to an apple orchard. The enemy being near,
-Walker attacked with the Palmetto sharpshooters and
-the Second rifles on the right, the Sixth, Fifth and First
-continuing the line to the left.</p>
-
-<p>The fire of the brigade was so steady and so well deliv<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>ered,
-that when about to advance, the force in its front
-broke and retired to the woods on the Antietam. On
-Walker's right, the attack on Generals Kemper and Drayton
-was so heavy that those brigades were giving ground,
-and the enemy was pressing up a ravine in their rear and
-on their right. Walker changed his front, and attacking
-the flagging force, in concert with Drayton and Kemper,
-drove back the advancing line. In this repulse the guns
-of Rhett's battery, under Lieut. William Elliott, did splendid
-service, firing at short range on the infantry masses
-as they came up from the Antietam against Jones. The
-losses of the brigade at Sharpsburg were 26 killed and 184
-wounded, the heaviest loss falling on the Palmetto sharpshooters.
-Capts. J. E. Lee and N. W. Harbin, of the
-sharpshooters, were killed; and Lieut.-Col. D. Livingston,
-of the First; Capt. E. B. Cantey, commanding the
-Sixth; Lieut. J. C. McFadden, of the Sixth; Lieuts.
-H. H. Thompson and W. N. Major, of the sharpshooters,
-were wounded. To that part of the action of Jenkins'
-brigade in which it was turned by Walker to deliver its
-fire upon the forces driving back Kemper and Drayton,
-Gen. D. R. Jones, the division commander, makes complimentary
-reference in a paragraph in which he also
-refers to the Fifteenth, in Drayton's brigade: "The Fifteenth
-South Carolina, Colonel De Saussure, fell back
-very slowly and in order, forming the nucleus on which
-the brigade rallied." In the two engagements of Boonsboro
-Gap and Sharpsburg, the Fifteenth lost 110 killed
-and wounded.</p>
-
-<p>The attack upon Jones on the right, coming from a
-whole corps, and met by his division alone, numbering
-less than 2,500, and the artillery on his line, gave illustration
-of endurance, courage and resolution seldom if
-ever surpassed in the annals of war. General Toombs,
-with his artillery and two Georgia regiments, repulsed
-five separate assaults by Burnside's forces, and only retired
-when every cartridge had been fired and his position had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>
-been turned by a passage below him. Just at the moment
-when Jones was driven back upon the town and the corps
-of General Burnside under General Cox was sweeping
-up on his front and right and making for a lodgment on
-the Shepherdstown road in his rear, Lee's line of retreat,
-the division of A. P. Hill, which had been marching all
-day, reported on Jones' right and formed forward into
-battle. This arrival saved the day.</p>
-
-<p>Hill placed his batteries rapidly and opened with canister;
-but before his infantry could be formed the enemy
-had charged the guns and captured McIntosh's battery
-and flag. Not a moment was to be lost if Lee's line to
-Shepherdstown was to be saved, and A. P. Hill and Jones
-ordered the charge. "My troops were not in a moment
-too soon," says Hill. With a yell of defiance Archer
-charged [with Toombs] recaptured McIntosh's battery
-and drove the enemy pell-mell down the slope;
-Gregg and Branch, from Archer's left, poured in a deadly
-fire as they steadily moved down the slope, and the whole
-line of attack broke and retired to the Antietam. Night
-settled down upon the battlefield of Antietam and the
-bloodiest struggle of the war was over.</p>
-
-<p>Gregg's casualties were 163 killed and wounded, of
-which the First lost 4 killed and 30 wounded; Orr's
-Rifles, 3 killed and 9 wounded; Twelfth, 20 killed and
-82 wounded; Thirteenth, 1 killed and 14 wounded. The
-Fourteenth was not engaged.</p>
-
-<p>The brave and accomplished Col. Dixon Barnes, of the
-Twelfth, fell mortally wounded. Lieut. Archibald McIntire,
-of the First, and Capt. F. A. Irwin and Lieut.
-J. B. Blackman, of the Twelfth, were killed. Capt. M. P.
-Parker, of the First; Capts. J. L. Miller and H. C. Davis
-and Lieut. R. M. Carr, of the Twelfth; Lieuts. J. M.
-Wheeler and W. L. Litzsey, of the Thirteenth, and Capt.
-James Perrin, commanding Orr's Rifles, were wounded.</p>
-
-<p>Space does not permit a review of this great battle. It
-was a gigantic struggle of eighteen hours. General Mc<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>Clellan
-referred to it as a mighty contest in which 200,000
-men contended for mastery! General Lee reported it as
-a protracted and sanguinary conflict in which every effort
-of the enemy to dislodge him from his position had been
-defeated with severe loss. The battle was not renewed
-on the 18th. General McClellan, reporting to his government,
-said that a sense of duty to the army and the country
-forbade a renewal of the fight on the 18th without
-reinforcements, the probabilities of defeat being too great.
-Whatever General McClellan's strength, it is certain
-General Lee fought around Sharpsburg with less than
-40,000 men of all arms. When Lee was at Frederickstown,
-his army numbered, by its returns, in round numbers,
-61,000 of all arms. The battles of Boonsboro,
-Crampton's Gap and Harper's Ferry, with the cavalry engagements,
-followed. These, of course, reduced the fighting
-force, but his heaviest losses were from straggling
-incident to the rapid marches and the actual suffering of
-the troops for the want of sleep and food between Boonsboro
-and Sharpsburg. The remarks of Gen. D. H. Hill
-will apply to most of the divisions. He says:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>My ranks had diminished by straggling, and on the
-morning of the 17th I had but 3,000 infantry.... Our
-wagons had been sent off across the river on Sunday, and
-for three days the men had been sustaining life on green
-corn and such cattle as they could kill in the field. In
-charging through an apple orchard with the immediate
-prospect of death before them, I noticed men eagerly
-devouring apples.... Had all our stragglers been up,
-McClellan's army would have been completely crushed.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>In leaving the battlefield of Sharpsburg, the writer
-pauses to pay a tribute of respect and love to a brave
-and accomplished soldier, his preceptor at the South
-Carolina military academy, and his honored friend. Col.
-Charles Courtney Tew, the gallant commander of the
-Second North Carolina, in Anderson's brigade of D. H.
-Hill's division, fell at the head of his regiment in Hill's
-defense of the center against the attack of Richardson in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>
-the afternoon. After graduating at the head of the first
-class to leave the South Carolina military academy, Colonel
-Tew became one of its able and distinguished professors.
-Removing to North Carolina, he established a military
-academy at Hillsboro, and when the time came for
-battle he was at the head of the second regiment raised
-in the old North State. Modest, resolute, sincere,
-devoted to study and to work, he was an accomplished
-scholar, a true and noble spirit, and a resolute character.
-General Hill said of him, while reporting his ability and
-gallantry, and lamenting his loss: "He had no superior
-as a soldier in the field." Knowing him well, we can
-understand how his efficiency at the head of a regiment
-and his fine attainments as a soldier, would make such
-an impression upon his major-general. How many such
-men did the South yield up in willing and costly sacrifice
-on the altar of Southern independence!</p>
-
-<p>The last guns of the Maryland campaign of 1862 were
-fired at Shepherdstown and by the cavalry in front of
-Williamsport, on the 20th of September. In both these
-actions South Carolina troops took part, under Generals
-Gregg and Hampton. General Lee's army was behind
-the Opequon on the 19th; that of McClellan was threatening
-the passages of the Potomac. The cavalry under
-Stuart, with Hampton's brigade in advance, had moved
-up the right bank of the Potomac and crossed into Maryland,
-at Williamsport, to watch and threaten the enemy's
-right and rear. Advancing from Williamsport, Hampton
-met a strong force of all arms sent to oppose Stuart, successfully
-skirmished with it all day of the 20th, and recrossed
-the river into Virginia without loss at night.</p>
-
-<p>On the evening of the 19th, General Porter with the
-Federal Fifth corps was at the Shepherdstown ford, with
-his artillery on the Maryland hills and his sharpshooters
-lining the left flank. Under cover of his artillery, he
-successfully crossed a portion of his command, stormed
-the position on the Virginia side, drove off the infantry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>
-force of 600 men, and captured four guns of General Pendleton's
-artillery. Early on the 20th, A. P. Hill was sent
-with his division to drive Porter's force back and hold
-the crossing. In executing this command General Hill
-fought the battle of Shepherdstown.</p>
-
-<p>General Porter in his report represents the attack of
-General Hill to have been made upon two of his brigades,
-and a part of a third, who, by his order, recrossed the
-river, under the cover of his batteries, with little injury,
-except to the One Hundred and Eighteenth Pennsylvania
-regiment. He gives as the reason for his retrograde
-movement that the enemy (Hill) was reported as advancing
-in force. Reading the Federal general's report, one
-not conversant with the facts would naturally suppose
-that Hill's division met the Pennsylvania regiment alone
-in actual battle, and as Porter says that this regiment
-became "confused" early in the action, and their arms
-were ineffective, it would appear that Hill had little to
-do.</p>
-
-<p>General Hill, after stating that the brigades on the
-Virginia side were making preparations to hold their
-position, thus describes the situation: "I formed my
-division in two lines&mdash;in the first, Pender, Gregg and
-Thomas, under Gregg; in the second, Lane, Archer and
-Brockenbrough, under Archer. The enemy had lined
-the opposite hills with some 70 pieces of artillery, and the
-infantry who had crossed lined the crest of the high banks
-on the Virginia shore.... The advance was made in the
-face of the most tremendous fire of artillery I ever saw."
-Mr. Caldwell, in his history, says: "We were under the
-fire of their batteries the whole time, though they did not
-open heavily upon us until we cleared the cornfield; then
-their fire was terrific! Shot, shell and canister swept the
-whole surface of the earth. Yet the advance was beautifully
-executed. It excelled even the marching of the
-enemy at Sharpsburg.... The roar of the pieces and
-the howl and explosion of shells were awful. Sometimes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>
-a shell burst in the ranks, tearing and mangling all
-around it. In Pender's brigade I saw a man lifted in
-the air. But all in vain. The ranks closed up, and the
-advance continued without a falter." Alluding to this
-heroic advance, General Hill says: "Too much praise
-cannot be awarded to my regiments for their steady,
-unwavering step."</p>
-
-<p>Describing the fighting with the infantry, General Hill
-said that his left brigade was so hotly engaged with the
-enemy's infantry that Pender called on Archer for help,
-and the latter moved his own brigade to Pender's, thus
-putting four brigades on the front line. The One Hundred
-and Eighteenth Pennsylvania, confused as it was,
-with damaged arms, could hardly have done so much
-against a line of battle that had marched to the attack
-through such an artillery fire as both sides report was
-poured upon it. At close quarters with General Porter's
-troops, Hill ordered the final charge, and the brigades of
-the Fifth corps were driven into and across the river,
-hundreds being drowned, over 200 prisoners taken, and
-the dead and wounded left on the field of battle.</p>
-
-<p>In this battle the heaviest loss fell on Hill's left flank.
-The greatest loss of the South Carolina brigade was in
-the Fourteenth regiment, which had 10 killed, among
-them the gallant Capt. James H. Dunlap, and 45 wounded,
-most of them by the artillery fire. In the other regiments
-of Gregg's brigade, 8 were wounded, including Lieut.
-D. H. Hamilton, adjutant of the First.</p>
-
-<p>After this engagement General Lee camped his army
-behind the Opequon, and the weary soldiers enjoyed a
-rest. Regiments and brigades were assigned new commanders
-to take the places of those who had fallen on the
-field. Men who had greatly distinguished themselves
-for personal gallantry in the ranks, were either elected
-to office by their fellow soldiers, or promoted upon special
-recommendation of their superiors.</p>
-
-<p>The description which Mr. Caldwell gives of the condi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>tion
-of the troops at this time is so graphic, and the
-writer, from his observations and experiences, knows it
-to be so true to the facts, that he quotes it here entire,
-as applicable to all the commands of Lee's army, after
-their marches and battles and toil and suffering in the
-memorable months of August and September, 1862:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>It is difficult to describe the condition of the troops at
-this time, so great and various was their wretchedness.
-They were sunburnt, gaunt, ragged, scarcely at all shod&mdash;specters
-and caricatures of their former selves. Since
-the beginning of August they had been almost constantly
-on the march, had been scorched by the sultriest sun of
-the year, had been drenched with the rain and the heavy
-dews peculiar to this latitude, had lost much night rest,
-had worn out their clothing and shoes, and received nothing
-but what they could pick up on the battlefield. They
-had thrown away their knapsacks and blankets, in order
-to travel light; had fed on half-cooked dough, often raw
-bacon as well as raw beef; had devoured green corn and
-green apples, and contracted diarrhea and dysentery of
-the most malignant type. They now stood, an emaciated,
-limping, ragged mass, whom no stranger to their
-gallant exploits could have believed capable of anything
-the least worthy. Orders were published for instant and
-thorough ablution, and the men were marched by squads
-and companies to the Opequon.</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> Captain Boyce mentions all his officers, Lieutenants
-Jeter, Porter, Scaife and Monro, and Sergeants Glenn, Humphreys, Bunch,
-and Young, and Corporals Rutland, Byrd, Watts and Schartle; and
-Privates Scaife, Garner, Hodges, Shirley, Simpson, Gondelock, A.
-Sim, L. H. Sims, Willard, Peek, Gossett and Franklin, for distinguished
-gallantry in the battles from the Rappahannock to Antietam.</p></div>
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>HAMPTON'S CAVALRY IN THE MARYLAND RAID&mdash;THE
-BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG&mdash;DEATH OF GREGG&mdash;SOUTH
-CAROLINIANS AT MARYE'S HILL&mdash;CAVALRY
-OPERATIONS.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Early</span> in October, General Lee, from his camp
-at Winchester, in the Virginia valley, directed
-J. E. B. Stuart to take a picked force of 1,500 cavalry,
-cross the Potomac above Williamsport, penetrate the rear
-of General McClellan's army, damage his railroad communications,
-and gain such information of his positions,
-strength, etc., as this opportunity would afford. He was
-to return by such route as circumstances would determine.
-In this expedition, Hampton's brigade was in
-advance, and crossed at McCoy's ford by the dawn of day
-on October 10th. A section of Hart's South Carolina
-battery, and 175 picked men of the Second South Carolina
-cavalry, under Colonel Butler, were with Hampton.
-Lieutenant Phillips, Tenth Virginia, with 25 dismounted
-men, at the appointed moment waded the river and surprised
-the enemy's pickets above the ford, while Butler
-dashed across with his troopers and routed the guard,
-and in five minutes the ford was secured. Hampton's
-brigade leading, rode on rapidly, passing through the
-narrow strip of Maryland into Pennsylvania, and arrived
-before Chambersburg at night. Placing Hart's guns in
-position, the town surrendered upon demand (made
-through Lieut. T. C. Lee, Second South Carolina), and
-General Hampton moved his little brigade into it at
-10 o'clock at night and established a rigid provost guard,
-with Capt. J. P. Macfie, Second cavalry, in command.
-The night was spent in Chambersburg, and on the morn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>ing
-of the 11th, Hampton was ordered to destroy the
-depot and such storehouses as contained munitions of
-war. This was promptly done, and as rear guard General
-Hampton took up his march behind Stuart's column.
-The march was continued through the day and night of
-the 11th, and the early morning of the 12th found the
-rear guard at Barnesville, on the Potomac, with the
-enemy's advance pressing.</p>
-
-<p>Hampton sent part of his command and one of Hart's
-guns down the Poolesville road on his left, and with the
-other and the Second South Carolina and Phillips' legion,
-he defended the crossing of the wagons, led horses and
-the two other brigades of Stuart. This being successfully
-accomplished, he crossed most of his brigade under cover
-of one of Hart's pieces, then sent the gun over, and
-brought his last regiment to the Virginia shore, without
-losing a man or a horse. The brigade brought
-over 260 horses captured on the raid. General Hampton
-mentioned in terms of praise the conduct of his whole brigade,
-and especially commended the service rendered by
-Captain Macfie, Second South Carolina; Capt. W. H. H.
-Cowles, First North Carolina; Capt. T. G. Barker,
-adjutant-general of the brigade, and Lieutenants Hamilton
-and Phillips.</p>
-
-<p>Early in November, the Federal army, under McClellan,
-was concentrated about Warrenton, Va., and General
-Lee had thrown Longstreet in its front, at Culpeper Court
-House. McClellan's plan was to move directly upon
-Culpeper and Gordonsville. President Lincoln thought
-his movements too slow and cautious, losing much time
-after the battle of Sharpsburg, and had written him to
-this effect under date of October 13th. In this letter Mr.
-Lincoln revealed the insight of an experienced soldier
-and admirable common sense, incidentally paying the
-Confederate army and its chief so many tributes that
-we quote the paragraphs: "Are you not overcautious [he
-asked McClellan], when you assume that you cannot do<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>
-what the enemy is constantly doing? Should you not
-claim to be at least his equal in prowess and act upon the
-claim?" McClellan had called for the rebuilding of the
-road from Harper's Ferry to Winchester, in order to supply
-his army if he moved against Lee, then at Winchester.
-Mr. Lincoln reminded him that Lee was subsisting his
-army without a railroad, hauling his supplies twice the
-distance from Harper's Ferry to Winchester. The President
-rallied his general for not operating on Lee's communications
-and for being so anxious about his own, and
-said: "Change positions with the enemy, and think you
-not he would break your communication with Richmond
-in the next twenty-four hours?... You are now nearer
-Richmond than the enemy is, by the route that you can
-and he must take. Why can you not reach there before
-him, unless you admit that he is more than your equal on
-a march? His route is the arc of a circle, while yours is
-the chord. The roads are as good on yours as on his."
-The President was for aggressive action, and urged his
-general to strike at Lee directly, through the gaps in
-the mountains, on his communications, in any way, so he
-fought and beat him. "I would press closely to him;
-fight him if a favorable opportunity should present, and
-at least try to beat him to Richmond on the inside track.
-I say 'try;' if we never 'try,' we shall never succeed....
-We should not so operate as merely to drive him away.
-As we must beat him somewhere, or fail finally, we can
-do it, if at all, easier near to us than far away. If we
-cannot beat the enemy where he now is [at or about
-Winchester], we never can, he again being within the
-intrenchments of Richmond."</p>
-
-<p>This letter, written on the 13th of October, did not
-have the effect of either breaking up General Lee's wagon
-communications, or beating him in direct battle. The
-first week of November found the Federal army cautiously
-concentrating about Warrenton, and on the 5th of November,
-President Lincoln issued an order relieving Mc<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>Clellan
-from command and giving the army to General
-Burnside. The new commander took charge on the 9th,
-and on the 15th began his march on the "chord," while
-Lee took the "arc." Burnside's plan was to "beat" Lee
-to Fredericksburg, cross the river on pontoons and seize
-the heights, and "move upon Richmond from that point."</p>
-
-<p>The advance of Burnside's army reached Falmouth on
-the 17th. Colonel Ball, with a regiment of Virginia cavalry,
-a regiment of infantry and two batteries of artillery,
-prevented a crossing and held the city of Fredericksburg.</p>
-
-<p>On the 22d, at 8 p. m., General Lee informed President
-Davis by telegram from Fredericksburg, that General
-Burnside's whole army was on the left bank of the river
-opposite Fredericksburg; that he was on the heights with
-four divisions of Longstreet's corps, Pendleton's reserve
-artillery, and two brigades of Stuart; that the Fifth division
-of Longstreet would be up on the 23d, and that he
-would resist an attempt to cross the river.</p>
-
-<p>On the 23d, Lee ordered Jackson, in the Valley, to move
-east of the mountains and put his corps in position at
-Warrenton, or Culpeper, on the flank of Burnside, where
-he would be in calling distance when needed. On the
-25th he again wrote Jackson, that as far as he could judge,
-Burnside was repairing the railroad to the Potomac, getting
-up supplies, and making ready for a move on Richmond.
-"To delay him," said General Lee, "and throw
-him into the winter, I have determined to resist him from
-the beginning. From the circumstances which surround
-you, if you see that no good can be obtained from a flank
-movement on Culpeper or Warrenton, you can march
-directly to this point." Accordingly, on December 1st,
-Jackson was in position on Longstreet's right, and General
-Lee's army was united.</p>
-
-<p>General Burnside's army was arranged in three grand
-divisions&mdash;right, center and left&mdash;commanded by Generals
-Sumner, Hooker and Franklin. In each grand division
-there were six divisions, with cavalry and numerous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>
-batteries attached. According to General Burnside's
-report, he had in battle line in Lee's front, December
-13th, an army 113,000 strong. There were four brigades
-of cavalry on his immediate flanks, and twenty-three batteries
-with Franklin's wing and nineteen with Sumner's
-and Hooker's. In the battle, as reported by the chief
-of artillery, all of Franklin's batteries were engaged on
-the field (116 guns), and only seven batteries of Sumner's
-and Hooker's. To cover the crossing of the river on the
-12th, General Hunt reported 147 guns in battery along
-the Stafford hills.</p>
-
-<p>Confronting this magnificent array of guns and infantry,
-Lee's army was drawn up on the hills behind Fredericksburg,
-"with a view to resist the enemy's advance after
-crossing," as General Lee expressed it. Longstreet's
-corps, five divisions, was the left, and Jackson's, four
-divisions, the right wing of Lee's army. From Longstreet's
-left, resting on the river at Taylor hill, to Jackson's
-right on the wooded height at Hamilton, the divisions
-stood as follows: Anderson's, McLaws', Pickett's
-and Hood's, of Longstreet's wing; and A. P. Hill's, of
-Jackson's wing. Ransom's division was in support of the
-guns on Marye's and Willis' hills. Behind A. P. Hill
-were the divisions of Early, Taliaferro and D. H. Hill in
-columns of division. A. P. Hill's division was in two
-lines, the brigades of Archer, Lane and Pender in front,
-and Gregg and Thomas behind them. There was a gap
-between Archer and Lane, and Gregg was some distance
-behind this gap. The woods hid the front line of
-A. P. Hill from its supports. Jackson had fourteen guns
-on his right and twenty-one on his left, posted in good positions
-to sweep his front and flank. Walton's and Alexander's
-battalions of artillery occupied the Marye's height
-and the hills to right and left, on which were also posted
-the batteries of the divisions of Anderson, Ransom and
-McLaws.</p>
-
-<p>In this disposition of the troops the South Carolina<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>
-commands were posted as follows: Gregg's brigade on
-the right, as has been noted; McIntosh's battery, with
-Lieut.-Col. R. L. Walker's guns, on the extreme right of
-A. P. Hill; Jenkins' brigade with Pickett's division;
-Bachman's and Garden's batteries on Hood's line; Rhett's
-battery in Alexander's battalion; Kershaw's brigade in
-McLaws' line, with the left of the brigade resting on
-Hazel run. The brigade of Gen. N. G. Evans, with
-Boyce's battery, had been ordered to South Carolina early
-in November.</p>
-
-<p>The part which fell to the South Carolina commands
-in the battle of Fredericksburg will now be related. That
-allotted to Gregg's brigade is sad to relate, for it involved
-the death of the gallant commander. The first attack of
-the day was made on Walker's guns and A. P. Hill's
-division, on the extreme right. The enemy's batteries,
-from the plain and from the Stafford hills, had been raking
-Hill's front for hours. Stuart had held the Federal
-infantry advance in check, with Pelham's enfilade fire,
-as long as he could maintain his exposed position in front
-of Jackson's right, and had been forced to retire. At
-noon, the division of General Meade, supported on its right
-by that of General Gibbon and on its left by that of General
-Doubleday, advanced to the assault of the position
-at Hamilton's, held by A. P. Hill. Meade received the
-fire of McIntosh's and Pegram's, Crenshaw's and Latham's
-guns, which checked, then broke, and finally drove
-back his advance. Promptly reforming, Meade and Gibbon
-marched steadily on through the artillery fire, and
-rushed against Hill. Archer and Lane and Pender met
-the assault, and the battle was sternly contested. Meade
-and Gibbon pressed their attack and entered the woods
-in the unfortunate interval between Archer and Lane.
-Lane and Archer were flanked right and left. Lane
-gave away slowly, and Archer's left was overwhelmed.</p>
-
-<p>Thomas came to Lane's help in answer to his call, and
-they held Gibbon back, but Meade pressed on through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>
-the woods and took Gregg by surprise. Gregg was fully
-persuaded that the time had not come for his advance,
-and being without orders from Hill, unaware of the interval
-between Archer and Lane, unable to see in the thick
-woods, and not believing the enemy near him, he had
-resisted the request of his men to fire for fear of damaging
-Lane and Archer. Suddenly Meade's troops came
-in sight of Orr's rifles on his right and opened a fire upon
-them before they could return it. This threw the rifles
-into confusion, and but for the firmness of the First regiment,
-immediately on the left, and the conduct of the left
-company of the rifles, under Lieut. J. D. Charles, the
-whole brigade would have been routed, for General
-Gregg, who had promptly ridden to his right, was immediately
-shot from his horse, and at the critical moment
-the brigade was without its head.</p>
-
-<p>Col. D. H. Hamilton, of the First, senior officer, quickly
-grasping the situation, changed his front on his tenth
-company, to the rear, and opened on the mass of the
-enemy at close quarters, the left company of the rifles,
-under Lieutenant Charles, taking post on his right.
-Holding his position, Hamilton was immediately supported
-by the other regiments of the brigade, the Twelfth
-coming up on his left and the Thirteenth and Fourteenth,
-under McGowan, on his right, and they stood firmly
-against Meade's attack, delivering their fire at close quarters,
-without giving a foot. Driven from their guns,
-Orr's rifles were helpless, but every man who survived
-hailed the moment of his ability to regain his place in
-the front. Some of them, seizing their guns from the
-stacks, fought in the ranks of the First regiment. Sergeant
-Pratt, of Company B, rallied a number of the men,
-and took his place on the right of Lieutenant Charles'
-company. The Fifth Alabama battalion, the Twenty-second
-Virginia battalion, and the Forty-seventh Virginia
-regiment, from Archer's and Brockenbrough's brigades,
-came up to Hamilton's assistance, and together the Car<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>olinians,
-Alabamians and Virginians charged and drove
-back the bold assault of Meade. Jackson sent Early forward,
-and a sweeping charge of his division drove Meade
-and Gibbon back and beyond the railroad. The attack
-on Gregg was wholly unexpected by that brave and gallant
-soldier, who had exerted himself to keep his brigade
-quiet, particularly cautioning them that their friends were
-in front.</p>
-
-<p>The casualties of the brigade were reported as follows:
-Orr's Rifles, 21 killed, 149 wounded; First South Carolina,
-15 killed, 58 wounded; Twelfth South Carolina, 1
-killed, 7 wounded; Thirteenth South Carolina, 3 killed,
-52 wounded; Fourteenth South Carolina, 28 wounded;
-aggregate, 336. The main loss was sustained by Orr's
-rifles, who were attacked lying down behind their stacks,
-and 170 of them killed and wounded and their general
-slain, before they could grasp their arms in defense. In
-the First regiment Capt. T. H. Lyles was killed. Capt.
-T. P. Alston, Lieutenant Armstrong, Lieut. Thomas
-McCrady, and Lieut. W. J. Delph were wounded. Captain
-Alston returned to the field, after his wound was
-dressed, despite the remonstrances of the surgeon. Adjt.-Gen.
-A. C. Haskell, severely wounded, refused to leave
-the field until he sank fainting from loss of blood.</p>
-
-<p>General Gregg was shot through the spine, and died the
-day after the battle. Seeing he must die, he sent his
-respects to the governor of his State, and assured him
-that he "gave his life cheerfully for South Carolina."
-General Hill said of him, in his official report, "A more
-chivalrous gentleman and gallant soldier never adorned
-the service which he so loved." General Jackson, in his report,
-deplored the loss of "a brave and accomplished officer,
-full of heroic sentiment and chivalrous honor." General
-Lee wrote to Governor Pickens to claim a share in South
-Carolina's sorrow, and to express his appreciation of her
-loss and the loss to his army. "He has always been at
-the post of duty and of danger," said General Lee. "His<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>
-services in this army have been of inestimable value, and
-his loss is deeply lamented. In its greatest triumphs and
-bloodiest battles he has borne a distinguished part....
-The death of such a man is a costly sacrifice, for it is to
-men of his high integrity and commanding intellect that
-the country must look to give character to her councils,
-that she may be respected and honored by all nations."
-Mr. Caldwell, the brigade historian, pays his general a
-worthy tribute, and speaks of his high character, his
-heroic courage, his careful, unswerving, unselfish equity.
-He was a Ney on the battlefield and a Rhadamanthus in
-giving judgment.</p>
-
-<p>The distinguished part borne by Kershaw's brigade at
-Fredericksburg will now be referred to. As already
-stated, Kershaw was in McLaws' line, to the right of
-Marye's hill. His brigade included, besides the Second,
-Third, Seventh and Eighth, the Fifteenth, transferred
-from Drayton's brigade, and the Third battalion, known
-as James' battalion. These transfers were made by General
-Lee on November 26th, and the policy adopted, as
-far as possible, of brigading troops of the same State
-together.</p>
-
-<p>On the morning of the 11th, being called on to reinforce
-General Barksdale's pickets on the river, at Deep run,
-General Kershaw sent the Fifteenth, Colonel De Saussure,
-upon this duty. During the night, so bitterly cold was
-the weather, one of De Saussure's men was frozen to death,
-and others so badly as to be temporarily disabled for
-service. Under such circumstances of suffering the fortitude
-and courage required of the soldier on picket are as
-great and as noble as when displayed in charging the
-batteries of the enemy. The brigade was at work on
-the line strengthening the position, until the hour of its
-battle. At 10 o'clock on the 13th, while Meade and Gibbon
-were assaulting A. P. Hill, and Sumner and Hooker
-were throwing their divisions against Marye's hill, Kershaw
-was ordered to reinforce the position held by Gen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>eral
-Cobb at the foot of the hill. The Second regiment,
-Col. A. D. Kennedy, and the Eighth, Capt. E. T. Stackhouse,
-were sent forward. Before these regiments could
-reach their destination, Kershaw was directed by General
-McLaws to go with his whole brigade and take personal
-command, as the gallant and noble Cobb had been mortally
-wounded, and General Cooke, who supported him
-from the crest in rear, was also wounded.</p>
-
-<p>Riding rapidly forward, General Kershaw reached the
-point with the Second and Eighth just in time to meet
-and assist in repulsing a fresh assault. Kershaw describes
-the position at the stone wall so clearly that we quote his
-report:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Marye's hill, covered with our batteries&mdash;then occupied
-by the Washington artillery, Colonel Walton commanding&mdash;falls
-off abruptly toward Fredericksburg to a stone
-wall, which forms a terrace on the side of the hill and the
-outer margin of the Telegraph road, which winds along
-the foot of the hill. The road is about 25 feet wide, and
-is faced by a stone wall about 4 feet wide on the city side.
-The road having been cut out of the side of the hill, in
-many places this wall is not visible above the surface of
-the ground. The ground falls off rapidly to almost a
-level surface, which extends about 150 yards, then, with
-another abrupt fall of a few feet, to another plain which
-extends some 200 yards, and then falls off abruptly to a
-wide ravine, which extends along the whole front of the
-city and discharges into Hazel run.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The brigade of General Cobb had held the position
-behind the stone wall against the attack of the Federal
-Second corps, the three divisions of that corps, French's,
-Hancock's and Howard's, assaulting successively in the
-order named. In making his heroic defense, Cobb was
-supported by the artillery fire from the hill in his rear,
-and the infantry fire from the crest, delivered by the
-brigade of General Cooke. When Kershaw arrived, the
-attack of the Ninth corps was pending, and Sturgis' division
-of that corps was moving forward. Throwing his
-two regiments behind the wall, in the sunken road, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>
-line of Confederates, four deep, delivered their fire with
-such deadly effect that the column of Sturgis was checked,
-broken and driven in confusion back on its supports.
-Meanwhile the remaining regiments of Kershaw's brigade
-were reporting for position as they successively
-came up. Col. James Nance, with the Third, formed to
-the left of the Marye house with his right at the house,
-and the Seventh, Lieut.-Col. Elbert Bland, formed on
-the right of the house with his left in front of the house
-and touching the Fifteenth North Carolina, of Cooke's
-brigade. Bland's position was not so exposed as that of
-Nance, as he was partially protected by an abrupt rise
-along his front. Nance was in the open and terribly
-exposed. The Fifteenth, Colonel De Saussure, was placed
-in rear of Walton's battalion as a support.</p>
-
-<p>These regiments took their position under the enemy's
-artillery and infantry fire. De Saussure being under the
-crest, could not reply, but Nance and Bland, firing over
-the troops at the stone wall, delivered their volleys into
-Getty's column of attack as it advanced boldly against
-Kershaw to make the fifth division assault of the day.
-Getty made a gallant charge, but all in vain. Walton's
-guns, the fire from the North Carolinians and the volleys
-of Nance and Bland, all pouring down on him from the
-hills, and the steady stream from the Georgians of Cobb
-and the Carolinians of Kershaw at the stone wall, broke
-up his front and his march, and he, too, went to the rear
-in confusion.</p>
-
-<p>Three divisions of the Second and two of the Ninth
-corps had now been beaten in detail in the attempt to
-carry the Confederate position. General Sumner's right
-grand division had been repulsed by three brigades and
-the artillery. General Burnside, bitterly disappointed
-that Franklin, with 60,000 troops, had not crushed Jackson
-and turned Lee's right, and unwilling to accept General
-Hooker's assurance that it was a "hopeless" task to
-attack the stone wall again, determined that it must be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>
-done, and ordered Hooker forward with his Fifth corps.
-Calling all his batteries at his command into service, and
-ordering General Butterfield to form Humphreys' and
-Sykes' divisions of the Fifth corps for attack, Hooker
-directed all his guns to open their fire, with the intention
-of breaking all "barriers" and clearing the way for "Butterfield's
-attacking column to carry the crest."</p>
-
-<p>Seeing these preparations in progress in his front, Kershaw
-ordered down the Third, Seventh and Fifteenth
-regiments to take position in the road and behind the
-stone wall. General Kershaw described the artillery fire
-of Hooker's batteries as terrific. It was continued until
-near sunset, when Humphreys and Sykes advanced to
-carry the position with the bayonet. General Hooker
-says the attack was made with a spirit of determination
-"seldom, if ever, equaled in war." He assigns as the
-reason for its "almost immediate repulse," that the enemy
-had the advantage of an "impregnable position."</p>
-
-<p>General Kershaw reports that the attack was gallant and
-impetuous, and assailed his whole front, lasting from 5 to
-6 p. m., but that the columns were shattered and beaten
-by the time they came within a hundred paces of the position.
-Some of the assailants came as near as thirty
-paces, but were shot down, or, being unsupported,
-retreated with the mass. With this last assault the battle
-was practically ended, and the Confederate victory won.
-General Lee reports that not more than 20,000 of his
-army were engaged during the day.</p>
-
-<p>At the last assault of General Hooker's, Kershaw had
-behind the stone wall and in the sunken road, his own
-and Cobb's brigades, and a brigade from General Ransom's
-division. It is not clear from the reports whether
-this last-mentioned brigade was not General Cooke's. If
-so, it is certain that Cooke's brigade fought from the hill,
-and the brigade from Ransom's division, to which Kershaw
-refers as being engaged in defense of the position, was
-not behind the wall. If this was the case, then only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>
-Cobb's and Kershaw's brigades defended the wall against
-the successive attacks of eight divisions and their batteries!</p>
-
-<p>The loss of General Kershaw's brigade was 373 killed
-and wounded, distributed as follows: Second South Carolina,
-6 killed, 56 wounded; Third, 25 killed, 138 wounded;
-Seventh, 4 killed, 57 wounded; Eighth, 2 killed, 29
-wounded; Fifteenth, 1 killed, 52 wounded; Third battalion,
-1 killed, 1 wounded. The heaviest loss fell on Colonel
-Nance's regiment. Taking his position on the crest
-of the hill to the left of the Marye house, just as an
-assault was being made, and being in the open and in
-full view of the assaulting column and its supports, the
-Third was subjected to a terrible infantry fire, as well
-as the fire of the batteries. Seeing the importance of
-delivering a steady fire on the advancing column of
-attack, Colonel Nance held his men in position and delivered
-his fire until the attack was repulsed. Meanwhile
-he fell wounded, and Lieut.-Col. D. W. Rutherford, Maj.
-Robert C. Maffett, Capt. W. W. Hance and Capt. John C.
-Summer, who in succession took command, were all shot
-down. Colonel Nance lay on the field, and continued to
-direct his men, and when carried off, ordered up a fresh
-supply of ammunition and directed them to move more
-under cover. Captain Hance lost a leg, and Capts. J. C.
-Summer and L. P. Foster and Lieuts. James Hollingsworth
-and James C. Hill, all officers of high character and gallant
-men, were killed on the field. Capt. R. P. Todd, the
-senior captain of the regiment, was among those first
-wounded. The three field officers and the three senior
-captains were wounded or killed, leaving the fourth captain,
-John K. G. Nance, in command.</p>
-
-<p>In the Second, Maj. Franklin Gaillard was twice
-wounded. Lieuts. R. E. Elliott and R. Fishburne, Jr., of
-Captain Cuthbert's company, were wounded. Captain
-Cuthbert was detailed to skirmish with the enemy's advance
-in front of McLaws' division early in the morning,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>
-and remained on that duty all day. The Third battalion
-was also detailed for special duty at Howison's mill, on
-Hazel run, and was not with the brigade in the engagement.
-In the Seventh, Capts. Benjamin Roper and T. A.
-Hudgens and Lieut. J. C. Lovelace were wounded. In the
-Eighth most of the casualties were met while the regiment
-was taking position and exposed to the enemy's
-view. In the Fifteenth, Lieuts. B. P. Barron and J. A.
-Derrick were wounded.</p>
-
-<p>Of the general staff, Adjt.-Gen. C. R. Holmes, Lieut.
-A. E. Doby, Lieut. J. A. Myers and Lieut. W. M.
-Dwight were specially mentioned. Doby's gallant and
-efficient conduct in directing the posting of troops under
-fire is particularly referred to by the regimental commanders.
-Dwight, not yet recovered from his injuries
-on Maryland heights, was again at his post, and was
-wounded by a fragment of shell. The Georgians and
-Carolinians who defended the stone wall against the
-assaults of eight divisions, with their powerful artillery,
-throughout the memorable battle of Fredericksburg,
-made it a veritable Thermopylæ, and won from their gallant
-assailants the declaration that their defense made
-the position "impregnable," and to attack it was a "hopeless"
-task. The name and death of Gen. Thomas R. R.
-Cobb will forever be associated with this heroic defense,
-and the honor and glory of sustaining the position which
-he held against such odds, will be the lasting possession
-of Kershaw and his brigade.</p>
-
-<p>Jenkins' brigade, though under artillery fire and
-suffering the loss of 8 men, was but slightly engaged;
-Bachman's and Garden's batteries did effective service
-against the flank of the Federal attack on the extreme
-right. The rifle battery of Captain Rhett, attached to
-Alexander's battalion, was posted on an eminence south
-of the plank road. From this position Rhett's guns commanded
-the Stafford hills, a mile and a half away, and
-the approach to the stone wall. On the 12th, Rhett<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>
-opened on the bridge parties and enfiladed two of the
-streets of the city. The rifles of the enemy replied vigorously,
-but the battery was so well protected that no
-harm was done. On the 13th, the battery shared in the
-honors of that eventful day, and is associated with other
-batteries of Alexander's battalion and the batteries of
-Colonel Walton in the immortal defense of Marye's
-heights.</p>
-
-<p>General Hampton's cavalry brigade, after November
-10th, included two South Carolina regiments, the First,
-Col. J. L. Black, and Second, Col. M. C. Butler. While
-General Lee was concentrating his army at Fredericksburg,
-before the battle, Longstreet being already in position
-and Jackson halted at Orange Court House, General
-Hampton crossed the Rappahannock and made a brilliant
-dash into the enemy's lines, capturing an outpost on his
-immediate right flank. On the morning of November
-27th, with 50 men from the First North Carolina, 50 from
-the Cobb legion, 40 from the Jeff Davis legion, 34
-from the Phillips legion, and 34 from the Second South
-Carolina, a force of 208 men, Hampton crossed the river
-at Kelly's mill and moved northeast to Morrisville.
-Learning of an outpost stationed at a church 8 miles
-east of Falmouth, immediately on Burnside's right flank,
-and on the road from Morrisville to Fredericksburg, General
-Hampton at once determined upon its capture. The
-pickets of this outpost were advanced toward Morrisville
-as far as Deep run, a tributary of the Rappahannock,
-and on the roads leading toward Warrenton. Moving
-from Morrisville in an arc through the country, so as to
-avoid the picket on the Morrisville road and to get between
-those on the other roads and the post at the church,
-Hampton lay concealed the night of the 27th, within two
-miles of the church.</p>
-
-<p>At 4 a. m. of the 28th, he left the Morrisville road,
-passed through the woods in a circuit and came into the
-marsh road a half mile from the church. The attack was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>
-ordered, and Maj. J. H. Whittaker, leading the detachments
-of the First North Carolina and the Jeff Davis
-legion, dashed into camp, and Hampton coming up
-with the rest of his command, the surprise was complete,
-and the whole Federal squadron captured. The Cobb
-legion, sent up the White Ridge road, took the pickets
-in rear, and surprised and captured them. Taking his
-prisoners, except those too badly wounded to be moved,
-General Hampton went up the road toward Morrisville,
-and swept the picket at Deep run, thus completing the
-capture of two squadrons of the enemy's cavalry. The
-achievement was completed by 8 o'clock. This was a
-brilliant morning's work. With a small force, numbering
-208 men, General Hampton had eluded the outpost
-pickets on two roads, surprised and captured the outpost,
-and then, in turn, swept in his pickets! With 2 captains,
-3 lieutenants, 2 stand of colors, 87 privates,
-100 horses and as many carbines as the fruit of his brilliant
-dash at the enemy, and without the loss of a man,
-General Hampton moved on to Morrisville and to the
-Rappahannock, and was in camp again by night of the
-28th. To General Stuart he reported in high terms of
-praise the conduct of his men and their officers, mentioning
-particularly Major Whittaker, Capt. T. G. Barker
-and Lieut. T. P. Hampton of his staff.</p>
-
-<p>On December 10th, General Hampton again left his
-camp at Culpeper Court House and rode out to capture
-Dumfries and operate on the Telegraph road up to the
-Occoquan. This would bring him on the line between
-Alexandria and Fredericksburg. His detachments were
-from the First South Carolina, Lieut.-Col. J. D. Twiggs;
-Second South Carolina, Col. M. C. Butler; First North
-Carolina, Lieut.-Col. James B. Gordon; Jeff Davis legion,
-Lieutenant-Colonel Martin, and the Cobb legion, Capt.
-Jerry Rich, a force of 520 men. Butler commanded the
-First North Carolina, Second South Carolina, and Cobb
-legion; Martin the First South Carolina and Davis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>
-legion. On the night of the 11th, the command bivouacked
-within 16 miles of Dumfries, and by daylight on the
-12th, Hampton had his troops on the main approaches
-immediately at the town. The surprise was complete,
-and Butler, dashing in, received the surrender after firing
-a few shots. Fifty-odd prisoners, 24 sutler's wagons and
-the telegraph operator with his battery, were the only
-fruits of this dash. The command was disappointed at
-not finding the large garrison they confidently expected,
-but Hampton proposed to sweep up the Telegraph road
-toward the Occoquan.</p>
-
-<p>In this move, however, he was disappointed. General
-Sigel's corps was marching to Dumfries by the only
-road open to General Hampton's retreat, and he was compelled
-to retrace his march in order to save his wagons
-and prisoners. Marching in retreat on the 12th for 40
-miles, he camped near Morrisville, and on the morning
-of the 13th, while the battle of Fredericksburg was in
-progress, recrossed the Rappahannock at Kelly's again,
-without losing a man.</p>
-
-<p>Resting for three days, General Hampton left camp
-on the 17th for a third expedition against the enemy's
-communications, this time aiming to sweep up the Telegraph
-road and attack the garrison at Occoquan. His
-force, numbering 465 men, was made up of detachments
-from his regiments, as in the other expeditions; 100
-from the First South Carolina, Col. J. L. Black; 75
-from the First North Carolina, Capts. J. C. Blain and N.
-M. Addington; 75 from the Second South Carolina, Capt.
-T. H. Clark; 80 from the Phillips legion, Maj. W. B. C.
-Puckett; 75 from the Cobb legion, Maj. William C.
-Delony, and 60 from the Davis legion, Lieutenant-Colonel
-Martin.</p>
-
-<p>Crossing the river at the railroad on the 17th, the brigade
-marched to the wood road and bivouacked at Cole's
-store at night. Moving rapidly down this road before
-day, Hampton by dawn was at Kanky's store, on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>
-Neabsco creek, 8 miles from Occoquan. At Kanky's a
-small post was surprised and captured, with eight wagons.
-Sweeping up the Telegraph road Major Deloney in advance,
-every picket was successively surprised and captured.
-Hampton moved on the town of Occoquan in
-three columns, commanded by himself, Deloney and
-Martin. The latter dashed into the town from the south
-side, and found a wagon train of Sigel's corps in the act
-of crossing the river, by ferry-boat. Dismounting his
-men, he deployed them on the south bank as sharpshooters,
-and compelled the wagon guard on the opposite bank
-to surrender. General Hampton entered the town from
-the north side, and Deloney came up the Telegraph road
-with his prisoners and two captured wagons, loaded with
-army stores. A force of 2,500 cavalry, marching from
-Alexandria, appeared at this juncture at Selectman's ford,
-1½ miles south of Occoquan, and were about to cross, but
-General Hampton sent Captain Clark with part of his
-own and part of the Phillips legion to hold the ford, while
-he secured the wagon train.</p>
-
-<p>Clark successfully disputed the crossing, and the enemy
-sent part of his force to recapture the wagons on the
-north side. In this they were defeated and driven off,
-and returned to the ford. Hampton sent word to Captain
-Clark to resist the crossing for an hour, and he would
-save the train. But the single boat was his only means
-of crossing the river, and the banks were high and the
-passage difficult. After twenty wagons, loaded with
-army stores, had been ferried over, General Hampton
-sent them off under Colonel Black, with the prisoners,
-and commenced his return march, Captain Clark covering
-his rear. The enemy's cavalry crossed, but Clark gallantly
-dashed at the head of their column and drove them
-back and across the river. Resuming the retreat, Clark
-skirmished with the advance of the enemy for two miles,
-when he gave up the pursuit. Marching by Greenwood
-church and Cole's store, the brigade camped on Cedar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>
-run on the night of the 18th, and on the 19th the march
-was promptly resumed, the wagons and prisoners securely
-crossed over the Rappahannock, and General Hampton
-was "safely home without the loss of a man."</p>
-
-<p>He brought in 157 prisoners, 20 loaded wagons, 30 stand
-of infantry arms, and 1 stand of colors. Again he
-reported to General Stuart the gallant bearing and spirit
-of his command, staff, field, line, rank and file. The wonderful
-escape from casualties on this expedition is hard
-to be accounted for, especially in the operations of Captain
-Clark while disputing the passage of Selectman's
-ford and charging the enemy's head of column. It
-seems ungracious to say that the only explanation is that
-the enemy were badly demoralized and fired wildly, for
-they fired abundantly. At the town and on the Telegraph
-road, there was no decided resistance offered.
-The surprise was complete, and the show of force and dash
-compelled almost immediate surrender.</p>
-
-<p>These brilliant achievements of General Hampton's
-command were followed by a fourth expedition, led by
-General Stuart, with "select detachments" from the
-brigades of Hampton, Fitzhugh Lee and W. H. F. Lee.
-Hampton's command was composed of 175 of the First
-North Carolina, under Maj. J. H. Whittaker; 150 of the
-First South Carolina, Capt. W. A. Walker; 150 of the
-Second South Carolina, Col. M. C. Butler; 180 of the
-Cobb legion, Maj. William G. Delony; 130 of the Phillips
-legion, Lieut.-Col. W. W. Rich, and 85 of the Jeff
-Davis legion, Lieutenant-Colonel Martin; a force 870
-strong. A section of artillery, under Lieut. F. M. Bamberg,
-was also with Hampton. General Stuart's purpose
-was to operate mainly on the Telegraph road, assured
-of finding it at this time well filled with trains moving to
-General Burnside's army. Gen. W. H. F. Lee was
-ordered to move on Dumfries, General Hampton on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>
-Occoquan, and Gen. Fitzhugh Lee on the Telegraph road
-between these points, the brigades being in supporting
-distance.</p>
-
-<p>Gen. W. H. F. Lee found the force at Dumfries too
-strong for successful attack. He captured all the pickets
-he encountered, about 50, and drove in the outposts, but
-the infantry and artillery defending the town were too
-well posted for his small cavalry brigade. Fitzhugh Lee
-was more fortunate. Encountering two regiments of
-cavalry drawn up in line of battle, he charged and routed
-them, following them for 8 miles and taking over 100
-prisoners; captured 8 loaded wagons, and their guard,
-on the Telegraph road; crossed the Occoquan at Selectman's
-ford, attacked and routed a body of cavalry posted
-there, and took their camp and burned the railroad bridge
-over the Accotink, on the Orange &amp; Alexandria railroad.</p>
-
-<p>Hampton crossed the Rappahannock with the division,
-and pushed on to Cole's store with his brigade, capturing
-the pickets beyond that point. Butler, with most of the
-brigade, moved directly on the town of Occoquan; Hampton,
-with Martin's and Delony's detachments, supporting
-him. Colonel Butler drove in the pickets, charged into
-the place and routed several hundred cavalry, taking 19
-prisoners and 8 loaded wagons, with the loss of 1 man
-wounded, the first casualty in Hampton's command on
-his repeated expeditions. Camping for the night at Cole's
-store, General Hampton returned toward Occoquan on
-the 28th. At Greenwood church, General Stuart sent
-Butler, with his detachments, to attack the enemy's force
-north of that point, at Bacon Race church, and ordered
-Hampton, with the other detachments, to follow Fitzhugh
-Lee across the Occoquan at Selectman's ford. Crossing
-in Lee's rear, he turned up the river, met and routed
-a small force of the enemy, and was joined by Butler at
-night, when the darkness stopped his pursuit of the
-enemy.</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Butler, before joining Hampton north of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>
-Occoquan, had extricated his command on the Bacon
-Race road in the most skillful manner. Meeting a force
-of the enemy within a mile of the church, Butler's
-advance, under Lieut. W. H. Perry, charged and drove
-it back on its supports. Coming up with his main force,
-Colonel Butler charged the squadron in his front, and
-drove them in precipitous retreat. Following up their
-retreat, he came upon General Geary's division of cavalry,
-with artillery, on the march from Fairfax to Dumfries.
-Geary was in position to meet him, and at once
-opened with canister. Taking in the seriousness of his
-situation, he promptly retired a short distance, and by
-the time the enemy had formed column for advance, he
-wheeled about and presented a bold front, compelling a
-halt and the forming of a new line of battle by this movement.
-This gave time for retreat, but a strong force of
-Geary's division was on the road in his rear. Before
-either force of the enemy could attack him, Colonel
-Butler moved off on his flank, and by making a circuit of
-four miles, rejoined his friends and saved his command,
-with the loss of several horses and two of his men wounded.
-Colonel Butler had understood that his attack at the
-church was to be supported by General Hampton, and
-pushed his little force against Geary with the expectation
-of this co-operation. Finding himself in front of a division
-and under its artillery fire, he made the best of the
-situation, and extricated his command with admirable
-tact and the coolest judgment.</p>
-
-<p>Hampton recrossed the Rappahannock on the 29th, with
-his captured wagons and 33 prisoners. General Stuart
-reported over 200 prisoners captured by his brigade, a
-large number of horses, mules, wagons, saddles, sabers,
-and other valuable property. He was disappointed in his
-expectation of finding loaded trains on the Telegraph
-road, and ascribed his ill luck to the numerous "descents
-upon that road by General Hampton and detachments
-from his command."</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>These brilliant achievements of the cavalry were acknowledged
-and published in orders to the army by General
-Lee, as follows:</p>
-
-
-<p>General Orders, No. 29.</p>
-
-<p>Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia,</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-<p>
-February 28, 1863.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>The general commanding announces to the army the
-series of successes of the cavalry of Northern Virginia
-during the winter months, in spite of the obstacles of
-almost impassable roads, limited forage, swollen streams
-and inclement weather.</p>
-
-<p>I. About the 1st of December [November 27th] General
-Hampton, with a detachment of his brigade, crossed the
-upper Rappahannock, surprised two squadrons of Federal
-cavalry, captured several commissioned officers and about
-100 men, with their horses, arms, colors and accouterments,
-without loss on his part....</p>
-
-<p>III. On the 10th of December, General Hampton
-crossed the Rappahannock with a detachment of his brigade,
-cut the enemy's communications at Dumfries,
-entered the town a few hours before Sigel's corps, then
-advancing to Fredericksburg, captured 20 wagons with
-a guard of about 90 men, and returned safely to his camp.
-On the 17th of the same month, he again crossed the
-river with a small force, proceeded to Occoquan, surprised
-the pickets between that place and Dumfries, captured 50
-wagons, bringing many of them across the Occoquan in a
-ferry-boat, and beating back a brigade of cavalry sent to
-their rescue. He reached the Rappahannock with 30
-wagons and 130 prisoners.</p>
-
-<p>IV. On the 25th of December, General Stuart, with
-detachments of Hampton's, Fitz Lee's and William H. F.
-Lee's brigades, under the command of these officers
-respectively, made a forced reconnoissance in rear of the
-enemy's lines, attacked him at Dumfries, capturing men
-and wagons near that place, advanced toward Alexandria,
-drove his cavalry with considerable loss across the Occoquan,
-captured his camp on that stream, burned the
-Accotink bridge, on the Orange &amp; Alexandria railroad,
-then, passing north of Fairfax Court House, returned to
-Culpeper with more than 200 prisoners and 25 wagons,
-with a loss on his part of 6 men wounded and Captain
-Bullock, a most gallant officer, killed....</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>IX.... A detachment of 17 men of Hampton's brigade,
-under the brave Sergeant Michael, attacked and
-routed a body of Federals near Wolf Run shoals, killing
-and wounding several and bringing off 15 prisoners, with
-the loss on our part of Sergeant Sparks, of the Second
-South Carolina regiment, who, a few days before, with
-2 of his comrades, attacked, in Brentsville, 6 of the enemy
-sent to take him, killed 3 and captured the rest.</p>
-
-<p>In announcing these achievements, the commanding
-general takes special pleasure in adverting to the promptness
-of the officers in striking a successful blow whenever
-the opportunity offered, and the endurance and gallantry
-with which the men have always supported their commanders.
-These deeds give assurance of vigilance, activity
-and fortitude, and of the performance of still more
-brilliant actions in the coming campaign.</p>
-
-<p>
-R. E. <span class="smcap">Lee</span>, General.<br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>OPERATIONS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, SPRING OF 1863&mdash;CAPTURE
-OF THE ISAAC SMITH&mdash;INGRAHAM'S DEFEAT
-OF THE BLOCKADING SQUADRON&mdash;NAVAL
-ATTACK ON FORT SUMTER&mdash;HUNTER'S RAIDS.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">The</span> operations of the Federal naval and land forces
-on the coast of South Carolina at the beginning of
-the year 1863, pointed to an attack upon either
-Charleston or Savannah. General Beauregard, commanding
-the department of South Carolina, Georgia and
-Florida, with the active co-operation of the Confederate
-government and the governors of the States, was making
-every preparation for the defense of both cities.</p>
-
-<p>In South Carolina, on January 1, 1863, Gen. Joseph H.
-Trapier commanded from the North Carolina line to the
-South Santee; Gen. R. S. Ripley from the South Santee
-to the Stono and Rantowles creek; Gen. Johnson Hagood
-from Rantowles to the Ashepoo, and Gen. W. S. Walker
-from the Ashepoo to the Savannah. These officers had
-under their command a force of 14,500 of all arms, present
-for duty; more than half this force being stationed
-in the forts and on the immediate approaches to Charleston.
-The district, commanded by General Ripley,
-embraced the harbor defenses, Christ Church and St.
-Andrew's parishes, and the islands surrounding the harbor.
-Each island constituted a separate subdivision of
-the district, the parish of St. Andrew's being attached to
-James island.</p>
-
-<p>Col. L. M. Keitt, Twentieth South Carolina, commanded
-on Sullivan's island; Col. William Butler, Fort
-Moultrie and the batteries outside. On Morris island
-Col. R. F. Graham, of the Twenty-first, was in charge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>
-Gen. States R. Gist, on his return from Wilmington,
-commanded on James island and in St. Andrew's. Fort
-Sumter, garrisoned by the First artillery, was in charge
-of Col. Alfred Rhett, and Forts Ripley and Castle Pinckney
-were commanded by Capt. H. S. Farley.</p>
-
-<p>The following South Carolina troops were at this time
-on duty in the State:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Infantry: First regiment regulars, Col. William Butler,
-Fort Moultrie; Third volunteers, Col. C. J. Colcock,
-Third district; Eleventh, Colonel Heyward, Third district;
-Sixteenth, Col. James McCullough, Second district;
-Twentieth, Col. L. M. Keitt, Sullivan's island; Twenty-first,
-Col. R. F. Graham, Morris island; Twenty-fourth,
-Col. C. H. Stevens, Third district; Twenty-fifth, Col.
-C. H. Simonton, James island; Twenty-sixth, Col.
-A. D. Smith, Second district; Charleston battalion,
-Lieut.-Col. P. C. Gaillard, city; Seventh battalion,
-Lieut.-Col. P. H. Nelson, Second district; First battalion
-sharpshooters, Maj. Joseph Abney, Third district.</p>
-
-<p>Artillery: First regiment regulars, Col. Alfred Rhett,
-Fort Sumter and batteries; Second regiment volunteers,
-Colonel Lamar, James island; Lucas' battalion, Maj.
-J. J. Lucas, James island; Palmetto battalion, Maj. E. B.
-White, James island; siege train, Maj. Charles Alston,
-city. Batteries: German, Company A, Capt. D. Werner,
-Sullivan's island; German, Company B, Capt. F. Melchers,
-James island; Ferguson's, Capt. T. B. Ferguson,
-Christ Church; Santee, Capt. C. Gaillard, Christ Church;
-Gist Guards, Capt. C. E. Chichester, Morris island;
-Mathewes', Capt P. N. Bonneau, Morris island; Ward's,
-Capt. J. Ward, Georgetown; Parker's, Capt. E. L. Parker,
-Second district; Washington, Capt. G. H. Walter,
-Second district; Horse artillery, Capt. W. L. Trenholm,
-Third district; Beaufort, Capt. S. Elliott, Third district;
-Lafayette, Capt. J. T. Kanapaux, Third district; Palmetto,
-Capt. W. E. Earle, Third district.</p>
-
-<p>Cavalry: Ferguson's regiment, Colonel Ferguson;
-Third regiment, Col. C. J. Colcock; Sixth regiment,
-Colonel Aiken; Rutledge cavalry, Col. B. H. Rutledge;
-Company, Capt. J. H. Tucker; Stono scouts, Capt. J. B. L.
-Walpole; rangers, Capt. M. J. Kirk.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>In aggregate the South Carolina commands were nine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>
-regiments and three battalions of infantry; two regiments
-and three battalions of heavy artillery; thirteen
-light batteries; four regiments and three independent
-companies of cavalry. Besides the South Carolina commands,
-General Beauregard had under his command in
-the State the North Carolina brigades of Generals Clingman
-and Cooke, and several regiments and batteries from
-Georgia. His total effective force of all arms, in February,
-was about 15,500 for the defense of the State, with
-10,000 near Savannah and on the coast of Georgia.</p>
-
-<p>It will be recalled that when General Beauregard
-assumed command in South Carolina, October 1, 1862,
-General Pemberton, at his request, estimated the troops
-necessary for the defense of the State against a probable
-force which might be sent to attack Charleston, at 30,000
-infantry, cavalry and heavy artillery, and fifteen light
-batteries, an estimate which General Beauregard
-approved as the minimum required. It was with great
-concern, therefore, that he contemplated the attack
-which was evidently pending in January, 1863, when his
-total of all arms in South Carolina was but a little over
-15,000, with about 10,000 in Georgia. But with the war
-raging in Virginia and in the West, and a Federal army
-threatening North Carolina, the military resources of the
-Confederate government were taxed to the utmost.
-South Carolina had put all her fighting material in the
-field, and thousands of her noblest sons had fallen in
-Virginia, in Tennessee, and on her own soil. Meanwhile
-every preparation was being made to defend Charleston
-and the line of railroad connecting it with Savannah.
-January closed with two brilliant incidents in the history
-of this defense.</p>
-
-<p>The Federal gunboats had control of the Stono river
-up to the range of Fort Pemberton. This strong work,
-mounting fifteen heavy guns, commanded the Stono and
-flanked the defensive line on James island to the west.
-John's island, on the west side of the Stono, was occupied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>
-only by a cavalry picket, and gunboats ran up and down
-the river with impunity. It was arranged by Generals
-Beauregard and Ripley to surprise and capture one or
-more of them. These arrangements were most successfully
-carried out on the 30th of January. Maj. J. J.
-Lucas, commanding at Fort Pemberton, sent Capt. John
-H. Gary with three rifled 24-pounders to put them in
-battery, and under cover, at Thomas Grimball's place on
-James island. This was done in the night, and the guns
-carefully secreted from the enemy's view. They were
-commanded by Lieuts. W. G. Ogier, E. B. Colhoun and
-Capt. T. B. Hayne respectively, officers of Companies
-A, B and C, of Lucas' command. In the same way,
-lower down the Stono, at Battery island, Maj. J. W.
-Brown, Second artillery, concealed two rifled 24-pounders
-in the woods, at night, built platforms for them in the
-old battery, and kept in hiding for the event. Brown's
-guns were commanded by Lieuts. John A. Bellinger,
-Company B, and F. Lake, Company K. Fifty men of
-the Eighth Georgia battalion, under Lieuts. R. Hays and
-George Johnson, were detailed as sharpshooters. Lieut.-Col.
-Joseph A. Yates, First regulars, made a secret disposition
-of a larger force, on John's island, between the
-guns of Gary and Brown. He took two companies of
-Major Alston's siege train, A and B, commanded by
-Capt. B. C. Webb and Lieut. S. W. Willson, Jr.; Company
-F, Palmetto battalion, Capt. F. C. Schulz; a light
-battery, commanded by Capt. F. H. Harleston; one
-Parrott gun, in charge of Lieut. T. E. Gregg; Capt.
-John C. Mitchel's company, I, First artillery, and Companies
-H and I of the Twentieth infantry, Capt. S. M.
-Roof and Lieut. M. Gunter. Yates masked his guns at
-Grimball's and Legaré's points, on John's island, and
-awaited his opportunity.</p>
-
-<p>The gunboat Isaac Smith, carrying a 30-pounder Parrott
-in her bow, and eight 8-inch columbiads, steamed up
-the river on the afternoon of the 30th, passed Brown at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>
-Battery island and Yates on John's island, and dropped
-anchor opposite Gary's position, within 500 yards.
-Waiting a few moments for her to become settled in her
-anchorage, Gary unmasked his guns and opened fire.
-The Smith promptly replied with shot, shell and canister,
-but suffering from Gary's fire, she slipped her anchor and
-retreated down the river, followed by the shots of Gary's
-rifled guns and replying vigorously. But as she began
-her retreat, she was met by the batteries of Yates, which
-opened immediately. Reaching Legaré's point, she was
-too badly crippled in her machinery to proceed, and
-dropped anchor and surrendered. She lost 8 killed, 44
-wounded, and surrendered 10 officers and 95 men. Private
-McQueen, of Alston's command, was mortally
-wounded, the only casualty on the Confederate side.
-The Isaac Smith was towed up under the guns of Pemberton,
-and subsequently did service in the harbor. In
-this affair the Stono scouts, Captain Walpole, rendered
-Colonel Yates valuable service.</p>
-
-<p>Brown, at Battery island, was only to fire in case the
-batteries above him had failed to arrest the boat, and
-was silent until one of her friends attempted to go to her
-rescue. When within range, Brown opened with his
-rifles, and after a sharp conflict drove her down the river.
-Next morning a larger boat steamed up and engaged
-Brown's battery, but she would not stand long and expose
-her sides to rifles, and doing Brown no harm, after being
-hit several times she dropped down out of range. The
-guns were all removed on the night of the 31st, having
-done their work well.</p>
-
-<p>Flag Officer D. N. Ingraham, commanding the Confederate
-naval forces in Charleston harbor, with the Confederate
-ironclad gunboats Palmetto State and Chicora,
-made a brilliant attack on the blockading squadron on
-the early morning of January 31st. The Palmetto State
-was commanded by Lieut.-Com. John Rutledge, and
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>the Chicora by Capt. J. R. Tucker. The Palmetto
-State carried Commodore Ingraham's flag. Waiting
-for a full tide in order to cross the bar with safety,
-the two steamers took position near the bar before
-day and passed over at 4:30 a. m., the Palmetto State
-leading. The plan of attack was to engage the enemy
-at close quarters and sink his vessels by ramming.</p>
-
-<p>Rutledge encountered the United States steamer Mercedita
-immediately after crossing, took her by surprise,
-rammed and sunk her. The Chicora encountered a
-schooner-rigged propeller, engaged and set her on fire.
-A large side-wheel steamer was next met and engaged at
-close quarters, and ran out of sight, it being yet before
-day. The Keystone State was then met by Tucker and
-with her consort, a propeller, quickly engaged. The
-larger vessel struck, being on fire, but after Captain
-Tucker ceased his fire, she ran off. Meanwhile, Rutledge
-was vainly endeavoring to bring others to close quarters.
-The ironclads were slow, and except when taking the
-enemy by surprise they were at a disadvantage. Seeing
-the whole squadron in full retreat to the south and east,
-the flag officer chased them out of sight, and anchored
-his vessels outside at 8 o'clock.</p>
-
-<p>Temporarily the blockade of the port was raised, but
-the fleet soon returned, much strengthened, and the gallant
-gunboats waited another chance.</p>
-
-<p>The Federal land and naval forces had held possession
-of Port Royal harbor, and the islands surrounding it,
-since November, 1861. It was now April, 1863. During
-that period their only achievement had been the capture
-of Fort Pulaski, at the mouth of the Savannah river.
-Repeated attempts had been made to destroy the bridges
-and break the railroad communication between Savannah
-and Charleston, all of which had been signally repulsed.
-Battles had been fought at Pocotaligo, Coosawhatchie,
-and at numerous points along the line of the railroad,
-and repeated skirmishes with raiding parties of the
-enemy had always resulted in "driving him back to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>
-gunboats." The enemy advanced in force against
-Charleston, by way of James island, in June, 1862, but
-the Confederate victory at Secessionville, on the 16th of
-that month, compelled his retreat and return to his base
-at Port Royal. Charleston or Savannah being his objective,
-he had been threatening both cities for a period of
-seventeen months, without accomplishing anything more
-than the practical ruin of the sea-island planters and
-their property, the capture of Fort Pulaski, and the
-possession of the waters surrounding the islands.</p>
-
-<p>The beginning of April, 1863, found the Federals concentrating
-in the Stono and North Edisto, for another
-attempt to take Charleston, in which the land attack was
-to be for the possession of Morris island, by way of Folly
-island, the objective being Fort Sumter; and the naval
-attack, by the ironclad fleet, was to be on that fort, Fort
-Moultrie, and the batteries defending the outer harbor.</p>
-
-<p>On April 7th, General Beauregard commanded a force
-of 22,648 effectives, of all arms, for the defense of
-Charleston and the coast of South Carolina. In the forts
-and batteries, and on the islands surrounding the harbor,
-the effective force amounted to 12,856. The remainder
-of the troops were disposed along the main line of defense
-between Rantowles creek and the Savannah river, guarding
-the water approaches from Beaufort and the Edistos,
-while a small force of cavalry and light artillery operated
-in Christ Church, and beyond the Santees. On the 4th
-of April, seven monitors had been collected in North
-Edisto and twenty transports were in the Stono, landing
-troops on Cole's and Folly islands. On the 6th, the steam
-frigate Ironsides and eight monitors were off the bar, and
-on the morning of the 7th, having crossed, were lying
-off the south end of Morris island. The Federal land
-forces were commanded by Maj.-Gen. David Hunter,
-and the fleet by Rear-Admiral S. F. Du Pont.</p>
-
-<p>No attempt by General Hunter's forces was made, or
-appeared to be in preparation, to attack either Morris<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>
-island from Folly island, or James island from Cole's
-island. On James island General Gist commanded a
-force fully adequate to hold the enemy's advance until
-he was reinforced; but on Morris island Colonel Graham
-was not strong enough to resist a division attacking from
-Folly island under the fire of gunboats, which lay off the
-north end of the latter island. If the Federal general
-had known his opportunity, he might have possessed himself
-of the south end of Morris island, and overwhelmed
-the gallant little force standing in his path. Graham's
-command on Morris island was his regiment, the
-Twenty-first South Carolina, Chichester's and Mathewes'
-companies of artillery at Battery Wagner, under Lieut.-Col.
-C. K. Hughes, and a detachment from the First
-South Carolina artillery at Cummings point, under Lieutenant
-Lesesne. Morris island was at the mercy of the
-Federal general, but happily he did not possess the military
-insight and the aggressive capacity to perceive and
-use his advantage. He remained inactive and secure in
-his island isolation, while Du Pont went into battle with
-the forts and batteries. After the defeat of the admiral,
-he wrote to that officer from the transport Ben DeFord,
-that he had been "a mere spectator," and that he "could
-do nothing but pray for him," which he assured him he
-had done "most heartily."</p>
-
-<p>Du Pont moved to the attack at 2 p. m., on April 7th,
-in single file, steaming up Ship channel, the monitor
-Weehawken leading, and the flagship Ironsides in the
-center of the column. The plan of attack contemplated
-the destruction of Fort Sumter, whose high walls and
-broad sides were a noble target for the admiral's 15 and
-11-inch turreted guns.</p>
-
-<p>If there had been no Fort Moultrie, or Batteries Bee
-and Beauregard on Sullivan's island, and no Wagner or
-Cummings point battery, the noble walls of Sumter
-might have crumbled beneath the powerful impact of
-tons of iron; but the writer believes that the barbette and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>
-casemate batteries of the east and northeast faces of
-Sumter, directed, as they were, by skilled and heroic
-officers, and manned by gallant soldiers, would have been
-equal to the disabling of the fleet before its powerful
-guns could have effected a serious breach.</p>
-
-<p>The action began at 3 p. m., by a shot from Fort Moultrie,
-directed at the Weehawken. Fort Sumter and Batteries
-Bee, Beauregard, Wagner and Cummings Point
-opened their fire, and the action at once became general.
-All the batteries had been instructed to concentrate on
-the leading assailants, and following these directions, the
-concentration of fire soon disabled the Weehawken, and
-she steamed out of range, giving place to the next monitor,
-which steamed into action on the curve of an ellipse.
-The Ironsides came into action first against Moultrie,
-and then Sumter, approaching within 1,600 or 1,700
-yards, but the fire of the forts and the batteries directed
-upon her drove her beyond range. The Keokuk, a
-double-turreted monitor, gallantly steamed under the
-walls of Sumter, within 900 yards of her batteries, and
-opened with her 11-inch guns. Sumter, Moultrie, Bee
-and Cummings Point concentrated their fire upon her,
-and for forty minutes she fought heroically for the breach
-in Sumter. The 10-inch shot and 7-inch bolts penetrated
-her armor, her hull and turrets were pierced, her boats
-shot away, the plating at her bow was ripped up for six
-feet in length and two and a half in width, and she was
-barely able to retreat to an anchorage off Morris island,
-where she sank. The battle was continued for two hours
-and twenty-five minutes, when Admiral Du Pont signaled
-his vessels to retreat. He had made a gallant fight, but
-his ironclads could not stand the fire of Ripley's guns,
-and his defeat was decisive. "I attempted to take the
-bull by the horns," he wrote General Hunter, the day
-after the battle, "but he was too much for us. These
-monitors are miserable failures where forts are concerned;
-the longest was one hour and the others forty-five
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>minutes under fire, and five of the eight were wholly
-or partially disabled."</p>
-
-<p>By the 12th of April the surviving monitors had been
-taken to Port Royal or sent north for repairs, and the
-Ironsides, much damaged, was being repaired at her
-moorings on the blockading line outside the bar. There
-is no report at hand of the casualties in the fleet.</p>
-
-<p>In the forts and batteries the casualties were very few.
-At Fort Sumter five men were wounded by splinters
-from a traverse. Their names are not reported. At
-Fort Moultrie the flagstaff was shot away, and falling,
-mortally wounded Private Lusty, Company F. Private
-Joseph Harrison, Company G, lost a finger, but after
-having his wound dressed, returned to his gun. Both
-these gallant men were of Colonel Butler's regiment.
-At Battery Wagner there were 8 casualties, 3 killed and
-5 wounded, by the explosion of an ammunition chest.
-Sergt. G. W. Langley and Privates Amos Fitzgerald and
-Jerry Dyer were killed, and Lieut. G. E. Steedman,
-Corp. Matthew Martin and Privates Samuel Red, Marion
-Quillan and Thomas Prince were wounded. Total casualties,
-4 killed and 11 wounded. Fort Sumter suffered
-some damage, but none of a serious nature. The other
-forts were entirely unhurt. At Sumter an 8-inch columbiad
-burst, a 42-pounder rifled gun was dismounted by
-recoil, and a 10-inch gun was dismounted by having part
-of its carriage shot away. The walls of the fort were
-not materially damaged. Fifty-five shot struck the east
-and northeast faces, damaging several of the embrasures
-to the casemates, cracking the parapet wall in places,
-and dislodging the masonry surrounding the spot struck.
-Three shot, striking very near each other, on the east face
-and near the parapet, made a crater 10 feet high, 8 feet
-wide, and 2 feet deep. In other places the penetrations
-were 2, 3 and in two instances as much as 5 feet, with
-craters from 2 to 6 feet in height, and from 1 to 5 feet in
-width. This damage was speedily repaired, and the fort<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>
-stood as strong as ever for battle in forty-eight hours
-after the action.</p>
-
-<p>The brilliant victory of the forts over the much-dreaded
-ironclad fleet was celebrated on every hand, and the gallant
-commanders of batteries, their officers, and their
-men, were the boast and the toast of the day. The legislature
-being in session at the time, passed, amid much
-enthusiasm, a joint resolution of thanks to the officers
-and men for the gallant defense of Charleston "against
-the onset of the foe," and hailed their achievement as the
-bright harbinger of a still more glorious victory.</p>
-
-<p>The forts and batteries engaged were garrisoned and
-commanded by the following troops and officers:</p>
-
-<p>Fort Moultrie was garrisoned by a detachment of the
-First South Carolina regular infantry, drilled as artillery,
-and commanded by Col. William Butler, Maj. T. M.
-Baker second in command. The guns engaged were
-manned by Company A, Capt. T. A. Huguenin; Company
-E, Capt. R. Press. Smith; Company F, Capt. B. S.
-Burnet; Company G, First Lieut. E. A. Erwin, and the
-mortars, Company K, Capt. C. H. Rivers. Staff: Capt.
-W. H. Wigg, Lieut. Mitchell King, Capt. G. A. Wardlaw,
-Lieut. Thomas Williams.</p>
-
-<p>Battery Bee was garrisoned by another detachment of
-the First South Carolina, and commanded by Lieut.-Col.
-J. C. Simkins. The guns were fought by Company C,
-Capt. Robert De Treville; Company H, Capt. Warren
-Adams, and Company I, Capt. W. T. Tatom.</p>
-
-<p>Battery Beauregard was commanded by Capt. J. A.
-Sitgreaves, with Company K, First artillery, Lieut.
-W. E. Erwin commanding, and Company B, First
-infantry, Capt. J. H. Warley commanding. The commanders
-on Morris island have already been referred to.</p>
-
-<p>Fort Sumter was garrisoned by seven companies of the
-First South Carolina regular artillery, Col. Alfred Rhett,
-Lieut.-Col. Joseph A. Yates, Maj. Ormsby Blanding.
-Colonel Rhett commanded the fort, Lieutenant-Colonel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>
-Yates the barbette guns, and Major Blanding the casemate
-batteries. Lieutenant Clarkson's detachment of
-Company B, Charleston battalion, was posted in second
-tier of casement as sharpshooters. Companies B and D,
-Capts. D. G. Fleming and F. H. Harleston, fought the
-guns on the east and northeast parapet batteries. The
-other companies were stationed as follows: Company F,
-Capt. J. G. King, northwest parapet; Company I, Capt.
-J. C. Mitchel, west parapet; Company E, Capt. J. R.
-Macbeth, mortar battery and east casemate battery;
-Company G, Capt. W. H. Peronneau, northeast casemate
-battery; detachments of Companies C and E, Capt.
-C. W. Parker, northwest casemate battery. Lieut.
-W. H. Grimball, with regimental band, battery in second
-tier of casemates. Staff: Lieut. S. C. Boyleston,
-adjutant; Capt. T. M. Barker, quartermaster; Capt.
-S. P. Ravenel, chief of staff; Lieut. J. B. Heyward, ordnance
-officer; Rev. N. Aldrich, chaplain; Lieut. Edward
-J. White, engineer officer. Signal corps: T. P. Lowndes,
-Arthur Grimball, Joseph Seabrook.</p>
-
-<p>The following extracts from the reports are of interest:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>The nearest the enemy ventured at any time to Fort
-Moultrie was estimated at 1,000 yards; to Battery Bee,
-1,600 yards; to Battery Beauregard, 1,400 yards. (Gen.
-J. H. Trapier's report.)</p>
-
-<p>The enemy's fire was mostly ricochet and not very
-accurate; most of their shots passed over the fort and
-several to the right and left. The greater portion of their
-shots were from 1,300 to 1,400 yards distant, which
-appeared to be the extent of their effective range. Some
-shots from a greater distance did not reach the fort at
-all. (Col. A. Rhett's report.)</p>
-
-<p>The advance vessels took their positions alternately,
-ranging from 1,800 to 2,000 yards from this battery....
-Two hundred and eighty-three solid shots were fired from
-this battery.... Of this number, many were distinctly
-seen to strike the vessels aimed at, and it is believed,
-doing serious damage in many instances. (Lieutenant-Colonel
-Simkins' report.)</p>
-
-<p>I am satisfied that the Ironsides was struck several<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>
-times by shot from this battery, and I think one or two
-others were also struck, with what effect it is impossible
-to say, except from reports since the engagement, which
-lead us to believe that the enemy were considerably
-damaged. (Captain Sitgreaves' report.)</p>
-
-<p>The guns of this battery were of too light a caliber to
-be of much service, but those at Cummings point were
-much heavier, and the firing was particularly good.
-(Maj. C. K. Huger's report.)</p>
-
-<p>Our batteries were admirably served by our skilled
-artillerists. Much of the rapidity and accuracy with
-which the heavy guns were fired was due to the use of
-Colonel Yates' traverser, with the merits of which the
-general commanding has been fully impressed. Our batteries
-discharged 2,200 shot of all sorts, the enemy's fleet
-about 110, chiefly 15-inch shell and 11-inch solid shot;
-not less than 80 of which were directed at Fort Sumter.
-The sinking of the Keokuk, and the discomfiture of the
-other ironclads have established their vulnerability to our
-heavy projectiles at a range, say, of from 900 to 1,200
-yards. (Maj. D. B. Harris, chief engineer.)</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The Weehawken, which led the attack, carried on her
-bow a huge raft for finding and exploding torpedoes,
-popularly called the "devil," which greatly retarded her
-advance, and was ultimately shot adrift by the batteries.
-Maj. W. H. Echols, of the engineers, in his report says
-of this raft:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>The "devil" floated ashore on Morris island; the cables
-by which it was attached to the turrets' bow being cut
-away. It is probable that the "devil" becoming unmanageable,
-was the cause of the turret retiring early from
-the action, it being a massive structure, consisting of two
-layers of white pine timbers 18 inches square, strongly
-bolted together; a re-entering angle 20 feet deep to receive
-the bow of the vessel; 50 feet long, 27 feet side; a layer
-of beveled timbers on the front, forming a bow; seven
-heavy iron plates, through which passed chains directly
-down and over the sides through hawser plates; to these
-were attached grappling irons, with double prongs, suspended
-underneath at the sides and bow; in the countersinks
-were loose iron rollers, apparently to facilitate the
-drawing of the chains through the holes over them when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>
-the grapplings took hold, to drag up to the "devil"
-whatever he may catch with his hooks.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>It was a miserable contrivance and proved of no use to
-the fleet and only an object of merriment and curiosity
-to the garrisons and their officers.</p>
-
-<p>Says General Ripley in his report:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>In this the first trial of the Abolition iron fleet against
-brick fortifications and their first attempt to enter the
-harbor of Charleston, in which they were beaten before
-their adversaries thought the action had well commenced,
-they were opposed by 76 pieces in all, including
-mortars.... While service in immediate action is that
-which is most conspicuous, after such a result as has been
-accomplished, the greatest credit is due to that long,
-patient and laborious preparation by which our works
-and material, never originally intended to withstand such
-an attack as has been encountered, have been so resecured
-as to enable our gallant and well-instructed officers
-and men to obtain their end with comparatively small
-loss. In that preparation the late Lieut.-Col. T. M.
-Wagner contributed much on both sides of the channel,
-and Colonel Rhett, Lieutenant-Colonel Yates, Major
-Blanding and other officers of Fort Sumter have been
-more or less engaged since the fort fell into our hands,
-two years ago.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>On the morning of April 9th the United States steamer
-Washington was attacked in the Coosaw river by light
-batteries under Capt. Stephen Elliott, crippled and set
-on fire by shells, and totally destroyed. On the night of
-the 10th, Lieutenant-Colonel Dargan, of the Twenty-first,
-made a night attack upon the picket at the north end of
-Folly island, crossing from Morris island a small detachment
-in boats. The attack was a surprise, and completely
-stampeded the enemy's picket force, which fled to the
-south of the island. Colonel Dargan returned, after fully
-locating the enemy's camp, bringing off a single prisoner,
-and leaving one of the enemy's pickets severely wounded.</p>
-
-<p>General Hunter addressed his energies to making raids
-up the river, destroying the property of the planters and
-carrying off their negroes, keeping his negro troops,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>
-employed in this business, always under the protection of
-the gunboats. One of these gunboat raiding parties
-steamed up the Combahee on the 2d of June, burned four
-fine residences, with all their valuable contents, and six
-mills, and carried off about 700 negroes. Later in the
-month a greater part of the town of Bluffton, on May river,
-was burned by a gunboat raid, and the utmost vigilance
-was required by troops stationed on the rivers to protect
-the property of citizens from wanton destruction. In
-reporting the raid up the Combahee to the secretary of
-war, General Hunter, after expressing pleasure at the
-success which Colonel Montgomery had achieved, continues:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>This expedition is but the initial experiment of a system
-of incursions which will penetrate up all the inlets,
-creeks and rivers of this department, and to be used in
-which I am now having several of our light draught
-transport steamers supplied with bulwarks of boiler iron,
-etc.... Colonel Montgomery with his forces will repeat
-his incursions as rapidly as possible in different directions,
-injuring the enemy all he can and carrying away
-their slaves, thus rapidly filling up the South Carolina
-regiments in the departments, of which there are now four.
-The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts regiment (colored), Colonel
-Shaw commanding, arrived to-day in good condition,
-and appears to be an excellent regiment, over 900
-strong. They will soon have abundant and very important
-employment, as will all other regiments, white or colored,
-that may be sent to reinforce this department.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>SOUTH CAROLINA TROOPS IN MISSISSIPPI&mdash;ENGAGEMENT
-NEAR JACKSON&mdash;THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN&mdash;SIEGE
-OF JACKSON.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">On</span> May 2d the secretary of war telegraphed General
-Beauregard as follows: "Advices show the enemy
-abandoning their attack on the eastern coasts
-and concentrating great forces on the Mississippi. Send
-with utmost dispatch 8,000 or 10,000 men to General
-Pemberton's relief." General Beauregard replied that
-he had returned to North Carolina Cooke's and Clingman's
-brigades, but would send at once 5,000 men and
-two light batteries to General Pemberton's relief. He
-added that he would then have left only 10,000 infantry
-available for the defense of South Carolina and Georgia,
-and if he sent more troops to Pemberton, he would lose
-command of the Savannah railroad. This satisfied the
-secretary, and on the 4th he telegraphed General Beauregard
-to hurry the 5,000 troops on as soon as possible.</p>
-
-<p>Accordingly, orders were issued, assigning Brig.-Gens.
-S. R. Gist and W. H. T. Walker to the command of brigades,
-with a light battery attached to each, and directing
-them to report to General Pemberton. These two brigades
-were composed of Georgia and South Carolina
-troops, the Fourth Louisiana battalion being attached to
-Walker's brigade.</p>
-
-<p>By General Beauregard's order of May 4, 1863, the
-command of Carolinians and Georgians known in the
-Western army as Gist's brigade was duly formed. The
-following was its composition: Sixteenth South Carolina,
-Col. James McCullough; Twenty-fourth South Carolina,
-Col. C. H. Stevens; Eighth Georgia battalion, Capt.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>
-Z. L. Watters; Forty-sixth Georgia, Col. P. H. Colquitt;
-Ferguson's battery, Capt. T. B. Ferguson.</p>
-
-<p>On the 5th, General Beauregard telegraphed General
-Pemberton that he would send two brigades of his best
-troops, and requested that they be kept together under
-General Gist. On the 6th, the first of Gist's troops, five
-companies of the Forty-sixth Georgia, under Col. P. H.
-Colquitt, and the Twenty-fourth South Carolina, under
-Lieut.-Col. Ellison Capers (Col. C. H. Stevens remaining
-to bring on the stores of the regiment), left Charleston
-for Jackson, Miss., by way of Atlanta, Montgomery,
-Selma and Meridian. Delayed on the way, these commands
-reached Jackson on the evening of May 13th, and
-went into bivouac near the depot, with orders to be ready
-to march out on the Clinton road at dawn next day.
-Gen. Joseph E. Johnston reached Jackson by the same
-train.</p>
-
-<p>The situation was most critical in Mississippi. General
-Grant's army was thrown between Jackson and Vicksburg,
-holding the railroad at Clinton, where McPherson's
-corps was encamped. Sherman's corps was between
-Jackson and Raymond, McClernand's in supporting distance.
-General Pemberton, with 17,000 men, was at
-Edwards depot and marching to give battle. General
-Johnston did not have exceeding 6,000 men in and
-about Jackson. The three corps of General Grant numbered
-about 45,000 effectives.</p>
-
-<p>It was easy to beat Johnston at Jackson before Pemberton
-could possibly come to his aid, as the latter had
-only reached Edwards on the 13th, and formed for defensive
-battle at that point. Clinton was 8 miles from
-Jackson, and Edwards was distant 25 miles, so that Grant
-was between Pemberton and Johnston, 25 miles from
-the former and 8 miles from the latter. This was the situation
-on the night of the 13th of May. McPherson
-advanced upon Jackson early on the 14th, on the Clinton
-road, and Sherman at the same time, on the Raymond<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>
-and Mississippi Springs road, both corps converging on
-Jackson, while Pemberton was in line of battle at
-Edwards, and General Grant's cavalry was demonstrating
-in his front to keep up a show of attack. To check
-McPherson and Sherman while valuable stores were being
-removed from Jackson toward Canton, General Johnston
-sent the troops he could command out on the roads leading
-to Clinton and Raymond.</p>
-
-<p>The Twenty-fourth South Carolina, Lieutenant-Colonel
-Capers, five companies of the Forty-sixth Georgia, Capt.
-T. B. Hancock, of Gist's brigade, with the Fourteenth
-Mississippi and Capt. J. A. Hoskins' battery of four pieces,
-were ordered out at daylight on the 14th, under Colonel
-Colquitt, to take position on the Clinton road, at a point
-to be designated by Brig.-Gen. John Gregg. General
-Gregg selected a good position on a ridge about 3 miles
-from Jackson, assisted Colquitt in arranging his defense,
-and left him with orders to hold the enemy until ordered
-to retire through Jackson. The Georgians (five companies)
-and the Mississippi battalion were posted on the right
-of the road, and the Twenty-fourth and Hoskins' battery
-on the left. The position was at Wright's farm, the command
-being on the right and left of his house. The
-Twenty-fourth was advanced some distance to take
-advantage of a garden fence, and the artillery placed in
-battery on the crown of the hill, one gun behind the
-Twenty-fourth, in support, and three at the main road.
-This little brigade, which did not number over 900 men
-and officers, was attacked at 9 a. m. by the Seventh division
-of the Seventeenth army corps, composed of three
-brigades with four light batteries, and held its position
-until 2 p. m. before it was forced to retire.</p>
-
-<p>The enemy's official reports give his losses as follows:
-Second brigade 215, Third brigade 37, Fourth brigade 13;
-total in division, 265, exclusive of artillery. In defending
-this position Colquitt's little brigade of two battalions,
-one regiment and four guns lost 198 men and officers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>
-killed, wounded and captured. The heaviest loss was in
-the Twenty-fourth South Carolina, which held its position
-longest and lost 105 men and officers. Lieutenant-Colonel
-Capers was wounded, and Lieut. A. F. Cunningham,
-of Company F, was killed. On the enemy's part their
-main loss was in the center brigade, which made the
-direct attack in front.</p>
-
-<p>The fighting in the final assault, which carried the
-position and forced a retreat on Jackson, is described as
-follows by the commander of the Tenth Missouri, which,
-with the Seventeenth Iowa, Eightieth Ohio, Thirty-sixth
-Illinois, and Company E, of the Twenty-fourth
-Missouri, made up the Second brigade:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Colonel Holmes, commanding the brigade, now ordered
-bayonets fixed and a charge made upon the enemy. The
-troops moved forward at double-quick, cheering wildly,
-driving in first the skirmishers, and then the main line,
-passing over about 500 yards under a terrific fire of shell,
-canister and musketry to the house of O. P. Wright, in and
-behind which, and the hedges, fences and trees surrounding
-it, the rebels were hidden and protected. Here
-ensued an almost hand-to-hand conflict, with the Twenty-fourth
-regiment South Carolina volunteers. The Tenth
-Missouri suffered severely from the stream of fire which
-issued from behind every object which could furnish protection
-to the enemy. We succeeded finally in dislodging
-them and driving them some 200 yards to the left [enemy's
-left] and toward the main road to Jackson. Reforming
-our line, a section of the Sixth Wisconsin battery was
-rapidly brought upon the field....</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>But the Twenty-fourth, now under Major Appleby, had
-followed the remainder of the brigade in retreat, and
-joined General Johnston's little army moving out from
-Jackson on the Canton road. In the fight above described,
-the attack on the Georgia and Mississippi battalions
-was made principally by the Iowa and Ohio regiments,
-and was well sustained by the Georgians and Mississippians.
-The conduct of Captain Hoskins' battery was
-beyond praise. But for the service of his four guns, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>
-position could not have been held two hours against the
-attack of the Federal division. Writing to General Beauregard
-from Canton, on the 25th of May, General Gist
-said:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>None of the troops from your department reached Jackson
-in time for the affair at Raymond, and only two regiments
-of Gen. W. H. T. Walker's brigade, Martin's
-battery, Twenty-fourth South Carolina, five companies of
-the Forty-sixth Georgia, and Eighth Georgia battalion
-arrived in time to participate in the skirmish and evacuation
-of the city. I got within 6 miles, and was ordered
-back by General Johnston with remainder of Walker's
-and my own brigade.... The only troops of my brigade
-engaged at Jackson were those mentioned above, and all
-officers join in awarding them highest praise for soldierly
-conduct and gallantry. The Twenty-fourth regiment
-South Carolina volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel Capers
-commanding, particularly distinguished themselves.
-[War Records, Vol. XXIV, Pt. III, p. 919.]</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>General Walker's troops were not engaged in the battle
-at Wright's house. The Eighth Georgia battalion of Gist's
-brigade arrived in Jackson by train on the morning of the
-14th, too late to take part with the Twenty-fourth South
-Carolina and the Forty-sixth Georgia.</p>
-
-<p>Looking back upon the event and reflecting on the performance
-of the little brigade at Wright's house, it seems
-almost ludicrous to read in the report of Major-General
-McPherson, commanding the Seventeenth army corps, an
-account of the formidable disposition he made to attack it.
-Erroneously stating that he found the enemy "posted in
-strong force under Gen. W. H. T. Walker," he continues:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>The position of the enemy was carefully reconnoitered,
-and Lieut. J. W. McMurray's battery, Parrott guns,
-brought up to reply to their artillery, which had already
-opened on our lines. While the dispositions for the
-attack were being made, a very heavy shower set in which
-delayed the attack an hour and a half, the rain coming
-down in such torrents that there was great danger of the
-ammunition being spoiled if the men opened their cartridge
-boxes. The time, however, was well employed in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>
-putting the men in position, and bringing up Logan's
-division as a reserve. The enemy occupied a semi-circular
-ridge, stretching across the main road, his right
-holding a piece of woods, and his center and left commanding
-rolling ground in his front, over which it would
-be necessary to pass to attack him. Two [only one,
-Hoskins'] batteries were in position, one covering the
-road and the other near his left, having a good range
-across the open field. The disposition of my troops was
-as follows: Boomer's brigade on the left of the road in
-the timber; Holmes' brigade on his right, in the open
-fields; Sanborn's brigade on the right of Holmes, with
-skirmishers well out on his flank; John E. Smith's brigade,
-Logan's division, in the woods in rear of Boomer,
-about 400 yards, in column of regiments as a reserve;
-Stevenson's brigade across a ravine on Boomer's left,
-with directions to advance and gain a road which entered
-the city from the northwest; Dennis' brigade remained a
-short distance in the rear to guard the trains.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Six brigades arrayed in battle by the accomplished
-General McPherson, against two battalions, one regiment,
-and a battery of four guns!</p>
-
-<p>General Johnston's forces, about 6,000 strong, encamped
-the night of the 14th, 5 miles from Jackson on
-the Canton road. As many of the stores as could be run
-out of the city by railroads to Canton and Brandon, and
-by wagons, were safely removed, and General Grant's
-army was free to turn upon General Pemberton.</p>
-
-<p>The situation in Mississippi was so serious that additional
-troops were ordered from South Carolina, and on
-May 15th the secretary of war directed General Beauregard
-to send Evans' brigade with all dispatch to General
-Johnston. The governor of South Carolina, the mayor
-of Charleston and General Beauregard all remonstrated
-with the President against stripping the coast of the State
-almost bare of infantry, but the President was firm in
-the belief that the enemy had but a small force in South
-Carolina; that his troops had gone to Virginia, North
-Carolina and to the southwest, and that 10,000 of all arms
-were sufficient for the defense of Charleston and the coast.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>
-Accordingly Evans' brigade&mdash;Seventeenth, Col. F. W.
-McMaster; Eighteenth, Col. W. H. Wallace; Twenty-second,
-Lieut.-Col. J. O'Connell; Twenty-third, Col. H. L.
-Benbow; Twenty-sixth, Col. A. D. Smith; Holcombe
-legion, Lieut.-Col. W. J. Crawley&mdash;went to Mississippi,
-and was assigned to the division of Major-General French,
-in Johnston's little army.</p>
-
-<p>On the 20th of May, General Gist, with the balance of
-his brigade, joined General Johnston at Canton, and was
-assigned to Walker's division. Meanwhile the disastrous
-battles of Baker's Creek and the Big Black had been
-fought and lost by General Pemberton, and Grant was
-investing Vicksburg, with his army greatly increased.
-By the 4th of June, General Johnston had collected at
-Jackson, Canton and Yazoo City, and on the Big Black,
-a force of 24,000 infantry and artillery, and 2,800 cavalry
-under Gen. W. H. Jackson. This force was almost without
-transportation, and was deficient in ammunition for
-all arms. The Big Black river, impassable except by
-bridges, interposed between General Johnston's army
-and Grant's, and was guarded at every pass by intrenched
-forces from the army investing Vicksburg.</p>
-
-<p>Johnston decided that an attack on Grant under these
-circumstances was impracticable, though urged by the
-secretary of war to make it. Pemberton had 18,000 or
-20,000 effective troops in the defenses of Vicksburg, and
-on the 4th of June, General Johnston wrote him: "All
-we can attempt to do is to save you and your garrison."
-He urged a simultaneous attack at the same point
-with a view of extricating Pemberton, and proposed that
-it be made north of the railroad. But General Pemberton
-deemed himself too weak to attack his foe, strongly intrenched,
-and General Johnston held the same view on
-his part, so that the siege of Vicksburg progressed, Grant
-being secured in his intrenchments by his overwhelming
-numbers and powerful artillery from Pemberton in front,
-and by the fortified crossings of the Big Black from Johnston
-in rear.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Finally, on June 29th, General Johnston put his army
-in motion for the Big Black, the force effective for service
-being reported, June 25th, at 28,569, of all arms. General
-Johnston puts it, on the 29th, at a little over 20,000 infantry
-and artillery, and 2,000 cavalry, supplied with
-transportation, full equipment of ammunition, and a serviceable
-floating bridge. "This expedition," General Johnston
-wrote in his Narrative, "was not undertaken in the
-wild spirit that dictated the dispatches from the war
-department." On the 21st of June, the secretary of war
-had urged Johnston to attack General Grant for the relief
-of Pemberton, and had said: "The eyes and hopes of the
-whole Confederacy are upon you, with the full confidence
-to fail nobly daring, than, through prudence even, to be
-that you will act, and with the sentiment that it is better
-inactive."</p>
-
-<p>Johnston moved to the Big Black, not indulging the
-sentiment of Mr. Seddon, that it was better to dare an
-attack and fail, than to remain only in observation of the
-siege. His purpose was to make a reconnoissance along
-the Big Black to find a point of attack, his hope being to
-extricate General Pemberton's army and not to raise the
-siege. These reconnoissances on the 1st, 2d and 3d of
-July satisfied him that an attack north of the railroad was
-impracticable, and before he had made his proposed
-examinations south of the railroad, Vicksburg capitulated.
-Learning this, General Johnston fell back to the fortified
-line around Jackson, where he was invested by three corps
-of Grant's army, under Sherman, which, by the 10th, were
-intrenched in front of Johnston's semi-circular line.
-Daily skirmishes took place, and the city of Jackson was
-well pelted with shot and shell until the night of the 16th,
-when Johnston crossed Pearl river, saving his stores and
-public property, and carrying off his entire force, artillery
-and wagon trains. Ultimately the army was encamped
-at and near Morton, Miss., on the 20th of July. The
-enemy did not follow except in small force, and after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>
-burning the town of Brandon, destroying the railroad
-bridges, and setting fire to the city of Jackson, which he
-utterly destroyed, on the 23d of July the ruined city was
-left to its distressed inhabitants, and Sherman's army
-returned to Vicksburg.</p>
-
-<p>In the campaign above described, from May 20th to July
-20th, Gist's brigade formed part of Walker's division,
-Evans' brigade of French's. The marches and countermarches
-to which they were subjected in the heat of
-summer, the men for the most of the time badly supplied
-with shoes and actually, at times, suffering for water fit
-to drink, fully tested the spirit and discipline of the
-brigade. In the short siege of Jackson, July 10th to 16th
-inclusive, Walker's division occupied a position on the
-left center of the line of defense, with its right on the
-Clinton road, the brigades posted as follows: Ector's,
-Gregg's, Gist's and Wilson's. Several casualties occurred
-in General Gist's brigade on the picket line, and in the
-trenches, but no return of them is available.</p>
-
-<p>In the retreat from the Big Black, French's division
-reached Jackson in advance July 7th, and at daylight on
-the 9th, the troops were put in position in the trenches,
-Evans' brigade on the right resting on the Clinton road,
-with the batteries of J. F. Culpeper and B. A. Jeter on its
-front. On the 11th an effort was made to force in Evans'
-skirmishers, and handsomely repulsed by the Holcombe
-legion. The next attack was on Breckinridge, at the
-left of French, and the 13th was devoted to heavy cannonading.
-John Waties' battery was put in position at
-French's left. There was heavy firing all the morning
-of the 14th, with brisk skirmishing. Evans' line advanced,
-drove back the enemy, burned several small
-houses which sheltered the Federal sharpshooters, and
-then fell back to their line. Gist's brigade remained
-encamped near Morton until the latter part of August,
-when, in response to General Bragg's request for troops,
-Walker's and Breckinridge's divisions were ordered to
-report to him near Chattanooga.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Capt. James Gist, special aide to General Gist, and Dr.
-Thomas L. Ogier, division surgeon, both died of fever at
-Morton, lamented by their comrades. Captain Gist and
-Doctor Ogier were both identified with the brigade of
-General Gist from its earliest history, and were greatly
-loved and respected as efficient and faithful officers.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>SOUTH CAROLINIANS IN THE CHANCELLORSVILLE
-CAMPAIGN&mdash;SERVICE OF KERSHAW'S AND McGOWAN'S
-BRIGADES&mdash;A GREAT CONFEDERATE
-VICTORY.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">After</span> the defeat of General Burnside's attempt to
-drive the Confederate army from its position in
-rear of Fredericksburg, both armies went into winter
-quarters, and remained inactive until about the middle
-of April, 1863. In January, General Burnside was
-removed from command, and Gen. Joseph Hooker, who
-had commanded the center grand division of Burnside's
-army, was placed in command of the army of the Potomac,
-and charged with the task of capturing Richmond.
-Upon assuming command, General Hooker published his
-general orders, No. 1, in which he contrasted the merits
-of his army with those of General Lee's in the following
-sentences: "In equipment, intelligence and valor the
-enemy is our inferior. Let us never hesitate to give him
-battle, wherever we can find him." It is hardly possible
-that such language could have disparaged the character
-of General Lee's army in the estimation of the Federal
-soldiers who had so often felt the force of its "equipment,
-intelligence and valor."</p>
-
-<p>President Lincoln was not willing to give General
-Hooker so great a trust without warning and serious
-admonition, which he embodied in the following letter,
-under date of January 26, 1863:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>General: I have placed you at the head of the army
-of the Potomac. Of course, I have done this upon what
-appears to me to be sufficient reasons. And yet I think
-it best for you to know that there are some things in
-regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>
-believe you to be a brave and skillful soldier, which, of
-course, I like. I also believe you do not mix politics with
-your profession, in which you are right. You have confidence
-in yourself, which is a valuable if not an indispensable
-quality. You are ambitious, which within reasonable
-bounds does good rather than harm. But I think
-that during General Burnside's command of the army you
-have taken counsel of your ambition and thwarted him
-as much as you could, in which you did a great wrong
-both to the country and to a most meritorious and honorable
-brother officer. I have heard in such way as to
-believe it, of your recently saying that both the army and
-the government needed a dictator. Of course it was not
-for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command.
-Only those generals who gain success can set
-up as dictators. What I now ask of you is military success,
-and I will risk the dictatorship. The government
-will support you to the utmost of its ability, which is
-neither more nor less than it has done and will do for all
-commanders. I much fear the spirit you have aided to
-infuse into the army of criticising their commander and
-withholding confidence from him will now turn upon you.
-I shall assist you as far as I can to put it down. Neither
-you, nor Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any
-good out of an army while such a spirit prevails in it.
-And now beware of rashness&mdash;beware of rashness; but
-with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and gain
-us victories.</p>
-
-<p>
-Yours very truly,<br />
-A. Lincoln.<br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>How far the anxious President's candid letter influenced
-the generalship of the new commander may be
-seen by what follows in description of his unhappy experiences
-in "finding the enemy" and testing his "inferior
-equipment, intelligence and valor."</p>
-
-<p>On April 30, 1863, the Federal army under Hooker had
-133,708 men "actually available for the line of battle,"
-organized in seven corps; the First under Reynolds, the
-Second under Couch, the Third under Sickles, the Fifth
-under Meade, the Sixth under Sedgwick, the Eleventh
-under Howard, the Twelfth under Slocum. The artillery
-included 370 guns, of all calibers. The cavalry force
-outnumbered General Lee's three to one.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>General Lee's army was numerically not as strong as
-at the battle of Fredericksburg, Longstreet having been
-sent south of the James with the divisions of Hood and
-Pickett, and Hampton's cavalry brigade having been sent
-into the interior to recruit its horses. Lee's army confronting
-Hooker numbered of all arms, on the 1st of
-April, 53,303, with 170 pieces of artillery. McLaws and
-Anderson commanded the divisions of Longstreet's corps
-present, and Early, A. P. Hill, Rodes and Colston commanded
-Jackson's divisions; W. H. F. Lee and Fitzhugh
-Lee commanded the two brigades of cavalry under
-Stuart, and General Pendleton the artillery battalions of
-Alexander, Crutchfield, R. L. Walker, Brown, Carter,
-Andrews and McIntosh. McGowan's brigade, on April
-29th, occupied the same position it held in the battle of
-December 13th.</p>
-
-<p>By the 29th of April, three of Hooker's corps, the Fifth,
-Eleventh and Twelfth, had marched up the Rappahannock,
-crossed at Kelly's ford, and were marching for
-Germanna and Ely's fords on the Rapidan, on Lee's left
-flank. The Second corps crossed at the United States
-ford on the 30th, and at night Hooker was at Chancellorsville
-with four corps of his army, covering all
-approaches to that position. On the same day he ordered
-up the Third from in front of Fredericksburg, and by noon
-on May 1st he was in position around Chancellorsville
-with five army corps. General Sedgwick, with the remaining
-two corps, the First and Sixth, had crossed below
-Fredericksburg, and was demonstrating as if for attack.
-General Hooker was so much elated by the success of this
-concentration, that he published a field order congratulating
-his army on its "brilliant achievements," and declared
-that General Lee must "ingloriously fly" before
-such a combination, else "certain destruction awaits
-him, should he give us battle on our own ground."
-<i>Nous verrons</i>.</p>
-
-<p>On the 29th of April, General Lee had decided that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>
-Hooker's main attack was to be expected from the troops
-marching on Chancellorsville, and that the operations in
-his front at Fredericksburg were only demonstrations in
-force to deceive him. He made his dispositions at once,
-and leaving Early and Barksdale and the reserve artillery
-for the defense of the position at Fredericksburg, with
-the main army marched to meet Hooker at Chancellorsville.
-The divisions of Anderson and McLaws were
-advanced on the main approaches, the plank road and old
-turnpike, and became engaged with Hooker's advance on
-both roads, early on the 1st of May, about 4 miles
-from General Hooker's headquarters. Jackson, with his
-three divisions, was in supporting distance, and in immediate
-charge of the advance. Pressing forward, on both
-roads, the Federals were driven back upon the line immediately
-around Chancellorsville, in which they were
-strongly protected by natural and prepared defenses.</p>
-
-<p>On the evening and night of the 1st, General Lee put
-his troops in position across the plank road and fronting
-General Hooker's line. Lee's right extended as far as
-the mine road, and his left was in front of and beyond
-the Catherine furnace. General Hooker's line extended
-as far as the river on his left, and on his right along
-the road to Germanna's ferry (the old turnpike) for a
-distance of 3 miles. This line was covered from end to
-end by a vast forest, which hid its extent from observation,
-and was protected by abatis of fallen timber, rifle-pits,
-breastworks of logs, earthworks, etc. The forest
-also hid General Lee's line, and by the activity of the
-cavalry on his flanks, General Hooker was led to magnify
-both its strength and its length.</p>
-
-<p>Hooker was so strong in front that General Lee determined
-to attack beyond his fortified line. On the night
-of the 1st he held a long conference with General Jackson,
-as a result of which General Jackson was ordered to
-lead his three divisions early in the morning to the extreme
-right and rear of General Hooker's line, and assault<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>
-with vigor. Lee was to stand in Hooker's front with
-McLaws' and Anderson's divisions, and Early was to
-keep back Sedgwick. Jackson marched with 26,000 men,
-and left Lee in front of Hooker with 14,000. The wilderness
-was his defense. It hid his weakness and screened
-Jackson's march.</p>
-
-<p>Kershaw's brigade, with McLaws&mdash;the Fifteenth,
-Lieut.-Col. Joseph F. Gist; Seventh, Col. Elbert Bland;
-Third, Maj. R. C. Maffett; Second, Col. J. D. Kennedy;
-James' battalion, Lieut.-Col. W. G. Rice, and Eighth,
-Col. John W. Henagan&mdash;was in the second line of battle
-at Zoar church on May 1st, and next day formed in the
-front line before Chancellorsville, with thirteen companies
-thrown forward in the dense woods, under Maj.
-D. B. Miller, James' battalion, engaged in continually
-pressing the enemy.</p>
-
-<p>Jackson's three divisions were commanded by Gens.
-A. P. Hill, R. E. Rodes and R. E. Colston. His South
-Carolina brigade, in Hill's light division, was now commanded
-by Brig.-Gen. Samuel McGowan, who was colonel
-of the Fourteenth South Carolina under the lamented
-Gregg, and when that gallant and accomplished soldier
-fell at Fredericksburg, was promoted to take command
-of the brigade, thenceforth known in the army of Northern
-Virginia as McGowan's brigade. McGowan's brigade,
-after being engaged in skirmishing, and under artillery
-fire on the 1st, moved out with Hill's division early
-on the 2d. As soon as the First regiment left the cover
-of the woods, said Col. D. H. Hamilton, it was subjected
-to the "most trying ordeal to which any troops could be
-subjected. As soon as we reached the open ground, we
-were exposed in open and full view to the batteries of
-the enemy, and under a deliberate and annoying fire, we
-passed those batteries in review. My regiment stood the
-ordeal well. Projecting hills soon screened us from further
-annoyance, and our march was rapidly and success<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>fully
-continued until we reached a position beyond Chancellorsville,
-in rear of the enemy's line of works."</p>
-
-<p>By 4 p. m. on the 2d, General Jackson was on the Germanna
-Ford road, and in rear of the right flank of General
-Hooker. The forest enveloping him covered his deployments,
-and his three divisions were put in line of battle,
-one behind the other, and marched up the road, and
-actually began the attack from the rear and flank before
-General Hooker's troops knew that they were being
-approached by a Confederate force. The Eleventh corps,
-General Howard, held the Federal right. Jackson's front
-line was led by Rodes, and so impetuous was the attack,
-and so complete the surprise, that the divisions of Howard
-were at once thrown into confusion and soon into rout.
-Rodes pressed on up the road and through the forest,
-followed by Colston and then by Hill, the great Jackson
-directing the advance. It was known that the enemy
-had a fortified line at the Talley house, and a second at
-Melzi Chancellor's house. Jackson's order was to carry
-the position at Talley's, and to move right on against the
-second at Chancellor's. Both were carried, and the entire
-right of Hooker's line defeated and driven back to the
-heights of Chancellorsville. Now, late in the day,
-General Jackson ordered A. P. Hill's division to relieve
-the divisions of Rodes and Colston at the Chancellor
-house. It was at this juncture, while Hill's division was
-taking position, that General Jackson, he and his staff
-being mistaken in the darkness for Federal cavalry, was
-fired upon and mortally wounded. Gen. A. P. Hill was
-soon afterward wounded, and the command of Jackson's
-corps devolved upon General Rodes for a time. General
-Stuart was then summoned, and the night of the 2d was
-spent by that active soldier in arranging for the morning's
-attack.</p>
-
-<p>At sunset, McGowan's brigade had reached that part
-of the field that had been cleared of the enemy by Rodes'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>
-division, leaving roads and fields strewn with the Federal
-dead. Colonel Hamilton's report continues:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Passing beyond, we were drawn up in line, by order of
-General McGowan, on the plank road, the Fourteenth
-regiment being deployed, and covering our front as skirmishers.
-Here we were subjected to a heavy fire of
-shells, which was annoying, but did not do us much damage.
-About 11 o'clock orders were given to advance, and
-the attempt was made, but either in consequence of the
-impossibility of advancing through the pine thickets, or
-a change of orders, the order was countermanded. At
-midnight the brigade was marched to a position in front
-of the enemy's breastworks, with Brigadier-General Lane
-on our left and Brigadier-General Archer on our right.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>At dawn on the 3d, Stuart's line was arranged for a
-renewal of battle, and by sunrise he moved forward,
-Archer's brigade, on the extreme right, being charged
-with the duty of uniting with General Anderson's left,
-and so reuniting Lee's separated wings. The battle of
-Chancellorsville was won by 10 a. m., by the united
-assaults of the two wings coming together at the center,
-where the victorious advance of Stuart and Anderson and
-McLaws swept back the heroic resistance which Hooker's
-broken forces made around the heights, and drove them
-from the entire field of battle.</p>
-
-<p>In this, the final and crowning assault of that great battle,
-the two South Carolina brigades, under McGowan and
-Kershaw, bore an honorable and memorable part. Kershaw
-on the right with McLaws, and McGowan on the
-left with Stuart, were in the front lines of advance, and
-carried their troops to the extreme limit of the great victory.
-The sacrifice which Carolina offered at Chancellorsville
-was costly, indeed. Over 550 of her sons were
-killed and wounded in the battle of the 3d, and that at
-Salem church on the 4th, in which last engagement
-General Lee defeated Sedgwick and drove him over the
-Rappahannock, turning upon his advance toward Chancellorsville
-with the divisions of Anderson, McLaws and
-Early.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Of the part taken by McGowan's brigade, General
-Heth, commanding Hill's division, said:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>I ordered Generals McGowan and Archer to move forward....
-The light division forming the front line,
-opened the battle of Chancellorsville.... Lane's brigade,
-supported by part of Heth's brigade, and McGowan's
-brigade advanced and charged the enemy behind
-his breastworks and supported by twenty-nine pieces of
-artillery. I cannot conceive of any body of men ever
-being subjected to a more galling fire than this force.
-The brigades, notwithstanding, drove the enemy from
-his works and held them for some time.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Passing beyond the breastworks, the brigade soon
-became very hotly engaged, but on account of the oblique
-movement of Archer's brigade on their right, that flank
-was exposed and they were compelled to hold the line of
-works they had taken. Here, in the midst of a desperate
-fight, General McGowan and his able and gallant adjutant-general,
-Capt. A. C. Haskell, were severely wounded.
-Col. O. E. Edwards, of the Thirteenth, assumed brigade
-command, but this heroic soldier, exposing himself with
-characteristic intrepidity, was soon mortally wounded.
-Col. D. H. Hamilton, of the First, then took charge of the
-brigade. Here, also, the brigade suffered an irreparable
-loss in the fall of the accomplished Col. James M. Perrin,
-of the First rifles, who was mortally wounded at the
-breastworks. Among the gallant dead of McGowan's
-brigade were Lieuts. E. C. DuBose and C. P. Seabrook,
-of the First; Lieut. H. L. Fuller, of the Thirteenth, and
-Lieut. J. H. Fricks of the First rifles. Sergt. L. A.
-Wardlaw, Color-bearer G. S. Bell and Private T. R.
-Puckett, of the Rifles, were wounded bearing the colors.
-Maj. G. McD. Miller, of the Rifles, was severely wounded.
-The total loss of the brigade was 46 killed and 402 wounded.
-Col. Abner Perrin commanded the Fourteenth, and
-was in command of part of the brigade in the last charge.
-The Twelfth was not engaged.</p>
-
-<p>The advance of Kershaw's brigade, early on the 3d,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>
-suffered the loss of its gallant leader, Capt. G. B. Cuthbert,
-Second regiment, who fell with two wounds that
-caused his death. About 9 o'clock, General Kershaw
-reported, "the whole line advanced to the attack of
-Chancellorsville, and by 11 o'clock our troops were
-in possession of the position, the skirmishers only having
-been engaged. Moving over to the turnpike road to
-form a new front, under orders from the major-general
-commanding, I was directed by Gen. R. E. Lee to move
-with General Mahone toward Fredericksburg, to check
-the advance of a column of the enemy reported coming
-up from that point, along the plank road." This movement
-brought Kershaw's brigade into the battle of Salem
-Church, in which the Third regiment and part of James'
-battalion were engaged, on the right of Wilcox's brigade.
-Late in the evening of the 4th, the brigade took part in
-the engagement at Banks' ford, driving the enemy across
-the river. They spent all the night beating the thickets for
-Federals, finding only straggling prisoners; bivouacked
-at 4 a. m., arose at sunrise, and gathered over 800 stand
-of arms. About noon they marched to a point near the
-United States ford, and relieved Heth's brigade, and on
-the 6th, after the heavy rain had ceased, advanced and
-found there were no Federals on the south side of the
-Rappahannock.</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Henagan's regiment was with General Jackson
-from the 2d. The loss of Kershaw's brigade was not
-great, 11 killed and 89 wounded; but the death of Captain
-Cuthbert and Capt. C. W. Boyd, of the Fifteenth, who
-fell together before Chancellorsville, <i>par nobile fratrum</i>,
-was deeply mourned. They were young men of the
-brightest promise, of commanding talents, high social
-position, and most attractive personality.</p>
-
-<p>General Hooker's loss at Chancellorsville was greater
-than Lee's. The former lost in both wings, according to
-his statement before the committee on the conduct of the
-war, 17,197; by the returns in the War Records, 1,575<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>
-killed, 9,559 wounded, 5,711 prisoners or missing. General
-Lee's loss was 1,581 killed, 8,700 wounded. Both generals
-lost artillery, Lee eight pieces and Hooker thirteen,
-with 1,500 rounds of ammunition. General Lee gathered
-from the field, besides tents and army stores of various
-kinds, 19,500 rifles and muskets, and over 300,000 rounds
-of infantry ammunition.</p>
-
-<p>After the battle, in his general orders of congratulation,
-General Lee recommended that the troops "unite
-on Sunday next, in ascribing to the Lord of Hosts the
-glory due unto His name," and quoted the following letter
-from President Davis:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>General Lee: I have received your dispatch, and reverently
-unite with you in giving praise to God for the
-success with which He has crowned our arms. In the
-name of the people I offer my thanks to you and the
-troops under your command for this addition to the
-unprecedented series of great victories, which your army
-has achieved. The universal rejoicing produced by this
-happy result, will be mingled with general regret for the
-good and brave who are numbered among the killed and
-wounded.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>OPERATIONS IN SOUTH CAROLINA&mdash;OPENING OF GILLMORE'S
-CAMPAIGN AGAINST FORT SUMTER&mdash;THE
-SURPRISE OF MORRIS ISLAND&mdash;FIRST ASSAULT ON
-BATTERY WAGNER&mdash;DEMONSTRATIONS ON JAMES
-ISLAND AND AGAINST THE RAILROAD&mdash;ACTION
-NEAR GRIMBALL'S LANDING.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">The</span> attempt of Admiral Du Pont and Major-General
-Hunter to reduce and capture the outer defenses
-of Charleston on April 7, 1863, having been signally
-repulsed, and the ironclad squadron badly crippled, both
-of those officers were relieved, and the energies and
-resources of the Federal government concentrated upon
-the capture of Morris island. Brig.-Gen. Q. A. Gillmore
-took command in place of General Hunter, and Rear-Admiral
-J. A. Dahlgren supplanted Du Pont. General
-Gillmore had confidently expressed his ability to reduce
-Fort Sumter from Morris island, and was an officer of
-recognized energy and skill. After the defeat of April
-7th, it was well known in Washington that Admiral
-Du Pont had lost faith in the fighting qualities of his iron
-fleet, and General Hunter, in communicating with the
-government at Washington, had several times complained
-of "the inactivity of the admiral." The failure of the
-general himself to do more than organize raiding parties,
-which pillaged plantations, burned planters' residences,
-mills and barns, and were invariably driven back to the
-ubiquitous gunboat protection, must have impressed his
-superiors unfavorably. General Hunter complained of
-his removal from command as a reflection upon his military
-conduct, but Mr. Lincoln assured him that he was
-held in high esteem, that no reflection upon him was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>
-meant, and that other and controlling reasons had determined
-the appointment of Gillmore.</p>
-
-<p>On quitting the Stono, after the repulse of the ironclads
-on April 7th, General Hunter had left a brigade,
-under Brigadier-General Vogdes, on Folly island, with
-light artillery and some cavalry. This brigade had orders
-to conceal its encampments among the sand-hills, and in
-the dense woods and behind the growth of the island, and
-so effectually carried out the directions, that the force on
-Folly island baffled the attempts made to locate it or determine
-its strength. The island was unassailable by the Confederate
-forces on James island, and there were no troops
-in the department to spare for an attack from Morris
-island, across Lighthouse inlet. General Vogdes was
-known to be on Folly island with some force, but what he
-was doing, or what he was there to do, was a matter of
-frequent discussion, and was certainly never determined
-until Gillmore developed his force on Stono inlet, when
-Morris island, Battery Wagner and Fort Sumter were
-seen to be his objectives.</p>
-
-<p>The department commanded by General Beauregard
-had been stripped almost bare to reinforce other points.
-Against this depletion of his infantry, General Beauregard,
-the governor of the State, the mayor of Charleston,
-and numerous prominent citizens had remonstrated, but
-the reply of the secretary of war was both inevitable and
-unanswerable: "It cannot be helped, however much it
-is deplored."</p>
-
-<p>Gillmore's force of all arms amounted to 10,950, supplied
-with field batteries and siege guns of the highest capacity,
-supported in the Stono and on its left flank by a flotilla of
-gunboats, and on the right by the admiral's armored
-fleet. For the immediate defense of the city, General
-Beauregard had in position, on the islands and in the
-forts and batteries, a total of 5,841 men: On Morris
-island 927, on James island 2,906, on Sullivan's island
-1,158, and in the city 850.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Morris island, the selected point of real attack, lies
-along the main ship channel, about 3½ miles in length,
-north and south, its north end, Cummings point, being
-three-quarters of a mile south by east from Fort Sumter.
-At Cummings point, Battery Gregg, named in honor of
-Brig.-Gen. Maxcy Gregg, mounted guns of the heaviest
-caliber which the department could command. This
-battery was an important outpost of Fort Sumter, and
-one of the strong defenses of the harbor. Three-quarters
-of a mile south of Battery Gregg stood, square across a
-narrow neck of the island, Battery Wagner, named in
-honor of Lieut.-Col. Thomas M. Wagner. Wagner
-touched the beach on its sea flank, and Vincent's creek
-on its west flank, covering the whole island width of
-about 280 yards. It is noteworthy that the Star of the
-West battery, which fired the first gun of the war, was
-located, in January, 1851, just in advance of the ground
-on which Wagner stood.</p>
-
-<p>At the time of which we write (July, 1863), Battery
-Wagner mounted two heavy guns on the sea face, and
-some twelve or more, of lighter caliber, on the south and
-west faces. It was a strong earthwork, constructed of
-compact sand, upon which the heaviest projectiles produced
-little effect, with well-built traverses protecting
-the guns from the sea fire, high merlons, thoroughly
-protected magazine and bomb-proof, with a strong
-parapet on the north or gorge face, for the protection
-of the opening. The salients on the east and west
-were flanked by infantry and howitzer fire. The barbette
-guns of Sumter, distant a mile and a half from Wagner,
-commanded its immediate approaches from the south,
-while from the parapet of Sumter, with a good glass,
-Morris island for its entire length was in plain view for
-observation.</p>
-
-<p>Late in May, General Ripley, commanding the defenses
-of Charleston, became dissatisfied with the progress
-of constructing batteries on the extreme south end of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>
-Morris island, designed to prevent an attack by boats
-from Folly island. The enemy's strength on the latter
-island was unknown, boats and barges were at Vogdes'
-command, and if two or three thousand troops were to
-make a determined attack, Ripley felt unprepared to
-meet it. These representations were made by him to
-General Beauregard on the 24th of May, and the work
-on the south end was pushed slowly forward by an inadequate
-force. Meanwhile General Gillmore had come into
-command, and by the middle of June was preparing his
-plans for attack at the south end of Morris island.</p>
-
-<p>When the attack came, on the early morning of July
-10th, it was a surprise and overwhelming. Gillmore had
-put forty-seven guns and mortars in battery, facing the
-nine separate 1-gun batteries of the Confederates, within
-three-eighths of a mile of the rifle-pits, and without their
-knowledge. Observant officers and men were satisfied
-that batteries were being constructed on Folly island,
-but so well was the work screened, that not until the
-brushwood was cut away, the embrasures opened out,
-and the fire opened, did the little force on the south end
-of Morris island, or the general commanding the district,
-or General Beauregard, realize the true character of the
-attack that had been so secretly prepared. "With
-lookout stations on the ruins of the old lighthouse on
-Morris island; on the mast-head of a wrecked blockade-runner,
-off Lighthouse inlet, and at Secessionville on
-James island, there was yet no discovery of these Federal
-works. So far from it, that General Ripley (district
-commander) reports, that 'up to the 8th or 9th of July
-the enemy, so far as ascertained, had constructed no
-works on Folly island, except to shelter his pickets
-from our shells.'" (Johnson's "Defense of Charleston.")
-On this subject Major Gilchrist says, in his pamphlet
-on the defense of Morris island, himself a participant in
-that defense:</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>It has always been a vexed question on whom should
-rest the blame for the neglect of this strategic point.
-There were mutual recriminations and much bad blood
-between those who were thought to be responsible for
-the success of the Federals on July 10th, which involved
-the destruction of Fort Sumter and the long and bloody
-siege of Wagner. But the truth is, General Beauregard
-did not believe an attack would be made by this route,
-and was firmly persuaded that the enemy would again
-essay an advance by way of James island. He therefore
-withdrew the negro laborers from Morris island to
-strengthen the fortifications elsewhere, leaving the Gist
-Guard and Mathewes' artillery to finish half-completed
-Fort Wagner. And when General Ripley, on his own
-responsibility, and by his own engineer, commenced to
-fortify the neighborhood of Lighthouse inlet, he commanded
-the work to stop. Later, when it was discovered
-that General Vogdes was doing some work&mdash;its extent
-unknown&mdash;on Folly island, General Ripley again, with
-the tardy consent of General Beauregard, sent two companies
-of the First South Carolina artillery, Capt. John
-C. Mitchel commanding, who, with the assistance of the
-Twenty-first South Carolina, Col. R. F. Graham, built
-among the sand-hills of the south end of Morris island
-nine independent 1-gun batteries, which were eventually
-to meet the concentrated fire of forty-seven guns in the
-masked batteries on Folly island, and 8, 11 and 15-inch
-guns in the monitors.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The writer of the pamphlet quoted cannot have been
-aware of the fact, that as early as March 10th General
-Beauregard had ordered the south end of Morris island
-fortified, that the work was promptly begun, and that
-when General Ripley complained, May 24th, of its slow
-progress, Capt. Langdon Cheves, of the engineers, was
-prosecuting it with an inadequate force, and no wood
-material furnished, necessary for magazine and bomb-proof.
-As a precautionary measure the works were
-ordered by General Beauregard, and more appreciated
-as being necessary by General Ripley, but neither of these
-generals expected them to be attacked except by boat
-howitzers and rifle guns of light batteries covering an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>
-attack by infantry landing from small boats. In such an
-attack the batteries on the south end, supported by 1,000
-men, could have successfully repelled the enemy. If an
-attack at that point should come, it was looked for only in
-that shape.</p>
-
-<p>On July 4th, from his headquarters at Hilton Head,
-General Gillmore issued his order for the disposition of
-two divisions designed to attack Morris island. The
-First was commanded by Brigadier-General Terry, its
-brigades by Brigadier-General Stevenson and Colonel
-Davis; the Second by Brigadier-General Seymour,
-its brigades by Brigadier-Generals Vogdes and Strong.
-The brigade of Vogdes was already on Folly island,
-and had been since April 7th; Strong landed on the 6th
-of July, and Stevenson subsequently.</p>
-
-<p>On the 9th, General Beauregard telegraphed Mr. Davis
-of the presence in Stono and off the bar of thirty-eight
-vessels and five monitors, and at noon of the same day
-to Governor Bonham, and to Richmond, that "an attack
-on Sumter along Folly and Morris islands is evidently
-imminent." General Mercer, at Savannah, and General
-Whiting, at Wilmington, were asked for support, and
-Generals Hagood and Walker were ordered to hold all
-available troops in the Second and Third districts in readiness
-to march or take the cars for Charleston at a moment's
-warning.</p>
-
-<p>The batteries on Folly island were then under cover
-and still unknown. The only certain indication of the
-impending attack was reported by Capt. C. T. Haskell
-early on the morning of the 9th. That gallant and energetic
-officer had made a reconnoissance to the west of
-Folly island, by boat, and had plainly discovered the
-flotilla of barges and small boats in Folly Island creek,
-"moored and ready for crossing." This reconnoissance
-by Captain Haskell, and the landing of Strong's brigade
-on Folly island, persuaded General Beauregard to look
-for the attack on the south end of Morris island. How<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>
-was he prepared to meet it? Eleven guns were in position,
-in unconnected, detached batteries, three 8-inch
-navy shell guns, two 8-inch howitzers, one 24 and
-one 30 pounder rifled Parrott, one 12-pounder Whitworth,
-and three 10-inch mortars. Rifle-pits were dug in front,
-covering Oyster point. The guns were manned by 200
-artillerists from the First regulars, under Capts. John
-C. Mitchel and J. R. Macbeth, and Lieut. H. W. Frost.
-The infantry supports were 400 men of the Twenty-first,
-under Maj. G. W. McIver, and one company of the First
-South Carolina infantry, commanded by Capt. Charles
-T. Haskell. The whole force amounted to 650 men!</p>
-
-<p>Against this defense General Gillmore was to make his
-attack with forty-seven guns from his masked batteries,
-the guns of four of the monitors, and a brigade of
-infantry 3,000 strong, composed of four regiments and
-two battalions of four companies each. Just at daylight
-on the morning of the 10th, the guns on Folly island
-were unmasked and opened their fire on the Confederate
-detached batteries. The surprise was complete. The
-gallant men and officers on duty were expecting an attack,
-but such a volume and weight of metal was overwhelming.
-But Mitchel and Macbeth ordered their guns
-opened in reply, and McIver and Haskell manned the
-rifle-pits.</p>
-
-<p>After the unequal combat of artillery had lasted about
-two hours, General Strong advanced from the northwest
-end of the island against McIver and Haskell. The few
-guns left mounted were turned upon the flotilla of boats,
-sinking a barge and killing and wounding many in the
-boats, but the advance was unchecked, and the brigade
-landed, stormed and carried the pits, and drove off the
-little force remaining unhurt by the assault. The gallant
-Haskell fell, cheering his men, sword in hand; Macbeth,
-badly wounded, was taken prisoner; Lieut. John S. Bee
-had fallen at his gun, and Lieut. T. H. Dalrymple on the
-infantry line. Fighting yet the last guns, the contest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>
-was ended by the charge of the Sixth Connecticut on the
-rear and sea flank, met by the advance of General Strong
-from the west side. The Connecticut regiment had
-passed by the entire front and landed under cover of the
-sand-hills, and took the batteries in reverse. It was an
-unequal contest, but continued for hours. Seeing its
-hopelessness, Colonel Graham ordered retreat upon Wagner,
-covered by Nelson's South Carolina battalion, under
-Maj. James H. Rion, which arrived just as the retreat
-was ordered. Four monitors followed along, pelting the
-retreating and almost exhausted Confederates with their
-15-inch shell and showers of grape. Colonel Graham
-reported a total loss in killed, wounded and missing, of
-295; 183 in the Twenty-first, 12 in Captain Haskell's company,
-and 100 in the artillery.</p>
-
-<p>The south end of Morris island was lost, and General
-Gillmore immediately reinforced Strong, and General
-Seymour took command of the division on Morris island,
-now in a position to assault Battery Wagner. On the
-9th, General Terry, with about 4,000 men, had sailed up
-the Stono, supported by gunboats, and made such a
-demonstration of landing on James island as to keep all
-the troops there, under Colonel Simonton, under arms,
-and to turn others, arriving from Charleston, in that
-direction. Reports from James island, coming to the
-commanding general on the morning of the 9th, made it
-doubtful, for a time, where the most formidable attack
-was to be made, but the concentration of force on Morris
-island, and the action of the squadron, soon settled all
-doubts as to General Gillmore's designs.</p>
-
-<p>Wagner was reinforced as soon as the troops could be
-sent over, and during the night of the 10th the garrison
-was increased to 1,000 infantry and 200 artillerists. A
-gallant band of Georgians, under Col. C. H. Olmstead,
-came to stand on the ramparts by the side of their Carolina
-brethren. There were thus assembled, for the
-defense of the fort, the following commands:</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Infantry: Twenty-first South Carolina, Major McIver;
-Seventh South Carolina battalion, Maj. J. H. Rion;
-Company D, First South Carolina regular infantry, Lieut.
-J. M. Horlbeck; four companies First Georgia, Col. C. H.
-Olmstead; four companies Twelfth Georgia battalion,
-Lieut.-Col. H. D. Capers; three companies Eighteenth
-Georgia battalion, Maj. W. L. Basinger. Artillery:
-Detachments of Companies E, I and H, First South
-Carolina regular artillery, Capt. John C. Mitchel; Gist
-Guard, Capt. C. E. Chichester, and the Mathewes artillery,
-Capt. J. R. Mathewes. Lieut.-Col. Joseph Yates
-commanded the batteries, and Colonel Graham the fort.
-Colonel Graham kept his force in the fort under arms
-and on watch, all night, while Major Rion covered the
-front with 150 skirmishers. The infantry was stationed,
-in support of the guns, from right to left, in the following
-order: Seventh South Carolina battalion, Twelfth
-Georgia battalion, Twenty-first South Carolina, First
-South Carolina infantry, Eighteenth Georgia battalion,
-First Georgia volunteers.</p>
-
-<p>At dawn on the 11th the assault came and the pickets
-were driven in. The attacking column was led by four
-companies of the Seventh Connecticut, Lieutenant-Colonel
-Rodman, followed by the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania
-and the Ninth Maine. The Third and Seventh
-New Hampshire formed the reserve. The Connecticut
-detachment charged gallantly and followed Rion's pickets
-so closely that they were nearly at the left salient of the
-fort before the fire opened, the light being so imperfect
-that it was difficult to distinguish an object 100 yards in
-advance. The Georgians on the left opened the fire of
-the infantry, and then in rolling succession every gun was
-fired. The ranks of the Seventh Connecticut were broken
-and swept away, and the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania
-was so stunned by the fire as to halt and lie down.
-Recovering, they arose and made for the center of the fort,
-while the Ninth Maine charged gallantly at the right sal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>ient.
-It was all in vain. The withering fire of canister
-and musketry broke up the ranks, and the whole column
-retreated in wild confusion. General Strong blamed the
-Seventy-sixth for his failure to carry the fort, because
-they halted and fell on the ground under "the sudden,
-tremendous and simultaneous fire" which they met.
-But that same fire would have had an identical effect
-upon them if they had not lain down, as it had when they
-rose and rushed to the charge. No regiment can preserve
-its line of assault under the fire of canister from a dozen
-guns and the continued discharge of 1,000 rifles. If the
-two New Hampshire regiments had followed this first
-assault, and they, in turn, had been followed by still a
-third column of attack, they might have carried the fort;
-but to attempt its assault with two regiments and a battalion
-of four companies was to presume upon the character
-of its defenders and the strength of its defense.</p>
-
-<p>General Strong reported his loss at 8 officers and 322
-non-commissioned officers and soldiers. Colonel Graham
-lost 1 officer and 5 soldiers killed, and 1 officer and 5 soldiers
-wounded. Capt. C. Werner, of the First Georgia,
-was the officer killed, and all the casualties in the fort
-were among the Georgia troops.</p>
-
-<p>Four monitors, lying a mile off, bombarded Wagner on
-the 10th, and on the morning of that day, Capt. Langdon
-Cheves, the engineer of Fort Wagner, just after receiving
-the intelligence of the death of his gallant kinsman, was
-killed in the fort by a fragment of shell, fired from one
-of the monitors, the first shot fired at the fort that day.
-Captain Cheves was an accomplished engineer, a devoted
-patriot and a gallant soldier. Battery Wagner was built
-under his direction, and his name, with those of others
-hereafter to be mentioned, who gave their lives in its
-defense, will be forever commemorated in its history.</p>
-
-<p>Gillmore's third demonstration, on July 10th, the
-attempt to cut the railroad at Jacksonboro, was a failure.
-It was made by Col. T. W. Higginson, commanding a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>
-regiment of recently enlisted negroes. With three armed
-steamers he ascended the South Edisto under the cover
-of a dense fog, until arrested at Willtown bluff by the
-obstructions in the river. Landing at that point a force
-of 100 or more Confederates, a section of artillery, without
-infantry supports, was surprised in camp and driven
-off, 2 men being taken prisoners. Removing the obstructions,
-Colonel Higginson steamed up the river with the
-purpose of burning the railroad bridge at Jacksonboro.
-At Dr. Glover's plantation, about 3 miles from the bridge,
-he encountered a section of Capt. George Walter's battery,
-under Lieut. S. G. Horsey, and after an action of
-an hour's duration the boats were beaten and turned
-down stream. Col. H. K. Aiken, commanding the
-Second military district, sent a section of the Marion artillery,
-Lieut. Robert Murdoch, to the plantation of Mr.
-Gibbes, below; and being joined at this point by Lieutenant
-White, with the section which had been surprised at
-Willtown bluff, the two sections caught the boats on their
-retreat, and badly crippled them. One of the vessels
-was set on fire and burned to the water's edge, and two
-of them made their escape out of the Edisto.</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Higginson reported that the vessel destroyed
-grounded on the obstructions, was abandoned and fired
-by her commander, while Colonel Aiken reported her set
-on fire by shells from the section at Gibbes'. Two brass
-rifled guns were taken from the wreck and added to
-Aiken's artillery on the river. Higginson carried off
-over 100 negroes, several bales of cotton, burned the
-barns of Colonel Morris, and pillaged the residences in
-the neighborhood of Willtown bluff. Colonel Aiken had
-2 men wounded and 2 captured. Colonel Higginson
-reported 3 killed and several wounded, himself among
-the latter. This expedition and the demonstration of
-General Terry on James island, were made at the same
-time as the attack on the south end of Morris island, and
-were intended to mask that important movement.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>General Terry was still on James island on the 16th,
-with his forces at Battery island and Grimball's on the
-Stono, and at Legaré's on the Folly river side of the
-island. They were attacked at Grimball's and Legaré's
-on the 16th by General Hagood, and driven down on
-Battery island. They embarked at that point and
-evacuated the island on the following night. In this
-affair General Hagood commanded portions of Clingman's
-North Carolina and Colquitt's Georgia brigades,
-and the Twenty-fifth South Carolina under Lieut.-Col.
-J. G. Pressley, Colonel Simonton riding with General
-Colquitt to give that general the benefit of his accurate
-knowledge of the island. Perkins' (Marion) battery followed
-and engaged with Colquitt's column at Legaré's,
-and the North Carolinians, under Col. J. D. Radcliffe,
-with artillery under Colonel Kemper, attacked the gunboats
-Marblehead and Pawnee in the Stono above Grimball's.
-Colquitt's attack at Legaré's, led by the Twenty-fifth
-South Carolina, was followed by the quick retreat of
-the force before him, and that at Grimball's retired on
-Battery island before Colonel Radcliffe had defeated the
-gunboats above the point. General Hagood reports
-that his troops were under the fire of the gunboats mainly;
-that the troops of the enemy were mostly negroes and
-behaved poorly; that his loss was 3 killed, 12 wounded
-and 3 missing, and that of the enemy, as far as ascertained,
-30 killed on the field and 14 taken prisoners.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>SECOND ASSAULT ON BATTERY WAGNER&mdash;SIEGE OF
-WAGNER AND BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER&mdash;EVACUATION
-OF MORRIS ISLAND.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">The</span> bloody repulse of the assault on Battery Wagner,
-July 11th, left General Gillmore in possession
-of two-thirds of the island, Colonel Graham holding
-the northern end for about a mile, with his outposts
-about 200 yards in advance of Wagner on a sand ridge.
-It was determined to hold Wagner to the last, and to
-relieve the garrison frequently by sending over fresh
-troops at night. Such reliefs were landed at Cummings
-point and marched up to Wagner, always subject to the
-shells of the fleet and the fire of Gillmore.</p>
-
-<p>In what follows in this chapter the writer has taken
-the facts stated mainly from the official reports; the
-admirable pamphlet of Major Gilchrist, already referred
-to; and the account given by the accomplished engineer
-on duty at Fort Sumter, Maj. John Johnson, in his valuable
-book on the "Defense of Charleston Harbor."</p>
-
-<p>Gen. W. B. Taliaferro, who had commanded a division
-in Jackson's corps, army of Northern Virginia, and was
-now serving under General Beauregard, was ordered to
-take command on Morris island on the 13th of July, and
-relieved Colonel Graham on the 14th. He reported the
-enemy had his pickets three-quarters of a mile in front;
-was busy erecting batteries along the hills 1,300 and
-2,000 yards distant; that his riflemen were annoying, and
-that the fleet had thrown some 300 shell and shot during
-the day. On the night of the 14th, General Taliaferro
-ordered Major Rion to make a reconnoissance of the
-position in front, and gave him command of 150 men for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>
-this purpose, detachments from Colonel Graham's garrison&mdash;Seventh
-South Carolina battalion, Twenty-first
-South Carolina, Twelfth and Eighteenth Georgia, and
-Fifty-first North Carolina. Major Rion was directed to
-drive in the enemy's pickets and feel his way until he
-encountered a supporting force. The duty was gallantly
-and well done. Rion pushed the pickets back, first upon
-their reserves and then upon a brigade in position, and
-moved on them so rapidly that the fire of the brigade
-was delivered into its retreating comrades. Accomplishing
-the purpose of the reconnoissance, Rion withdrew to
-the ridge 200 yards in advance of the fort.</p>
-
-<p>Graham's gallant garrison was now relieved and Fort
-Wagner occupied by the Charleston battalion, Lieut.-Col.
-Peter C. Gaillard; Fifty-first North Carolina, Col.
-Hector McKethan; Thirty-first North Carolina, Lieut.-Col.
-C. W. Knight; the companies of Capts. W. T. Tatom
-and Warren Adams, of the First South Carolina infantry
-(drilled as artillery); Captains Dixon's and Buckner's companies,
-Sixty-third Georgia infantry and heavy artillery;
-section of howitzers, De Saussure's artillery, under Capt.
-W. L. De Pass, and a section of howitzers under Lieut.
-L. D. Waties, First South Carolina artillery. Lieut.-Col.
-J. C. Simkins was in command of all the batteries,
-as chief of artillery.</p>
-
-<p>The right flank was assigned to Lieutenant-Colonel
-Gaillard, the center to Colonel McKethan, and the left
-to Lieutenant-Colonel Knight. The mortar battery,
-which fired at intervals of thirty minutes, was under
-charge of Captain Tatom. Outside the fort, two of Colonel
-Gaillard's companies, under Capt. Julius Blake, held
-the sand-hills along the beach and the face extending
-from the sally-port to the beach.</p>
-
-<p>The artillery commands fired on the Federal working
-parties and the monitors at intervals. The bombardment
-was continued by the fleet throughout the 15th, 16th and
-17th, three hundred or more heavy shot and shell being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>
-thrown on each of these days. The casualties in the fort
-were not numerous, and the damage done in the day was
-repaired at night. Meanwhile the enemy's land batteries
-were pressed forward, the nearest being within the
-fort's range.</p>
-
-<p>On the morning of the 18th, the batteries in front and
-the fleet on the flank opened on Wagner a concentrated
-fire from guns of the heaviest caliber. The Ironsides,
-five monitors and the gunboats Paul Jones, Ottawa, Seneca,
-Chippewa and Wissahickon, steamed within close
-range. General Gillmore's 10-inch mortars, 10, 20 and 30
-pounder Parrott rifles, thirty-six pieces of powerful artillery,
-all opened on the fort, and kept up the bombardment
-for the whole day and until 7:45 in the evening.
-Major Johnson's careful estimate is that the bombardment
-was from a total of sixty-four guns and mortars. Wagner,
-Gregg, Sumter, Moultrie and batteries on James island
-replied, but the fire from the island and from Moultrie
-was at too great a range to be effective. The bombardment
-became heaviest about midday, and for nearly eight
-hours one hundred guns, in attack and defense, were filling
-the air with clouds of smoke and peals of thunder.
-Most of the men were kept in the bomb-proof. The gun
-detachments filled the embrasures with sand-bags and
-covered the light pieces in the same way, keeping close
-under the merlons. Gaillard and Ramsay stuck to the
-parapet on the right, and the gallant battalion stuck to
-them. With only the protection of the parapet and the
-merlons, "with an heroic intrepidity never surpassed,"
-says General Taliaferro, "the Charleston battalion maintained
-their position without flinching during the entire
-day."</p>
-
-<p>As night came on, General Seymour formed his column
-of three brigades for the assault. We quote from his
-report:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>It was suggested to me that the brigade of General
-Strong would suffice, but it was finally understood that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>
-all the force of my command should be held ready for
-the work. The division was accordingly formed on the
-beach and moved to the front. It consisted of three fine
-brigades: The First, under Brigadier-General Strong, was
-composed of the Forty-eighth New York, Colonel Barton;
-Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania, Captain Littell; Third
-New Hampshire, Colonel Jackson; Sixth Connecticut,
-Colonel Chatfield; Ninth Maine, Colonel Emery, and
-Fifty-fourth Massachusetts [negro troops], Colonel Shaw.
-The Second brigade, under Colonel Putnam, consisted of
-the Seventh New Hampshire, Lieutenant-Colonel Abbott;
-One Hundredth New York, Colonel Dandy; Sixty-second
-Ohio, Colonel Pond; Sixty-seventh Ohio, Colonel Voris.
-The Third brigade was commanded by Brigadier-General
-Stevenson, and consisted of four excellent regiments.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>General Strong's brigade was to lead, with the Massachusetts
-regiment in front; Colonel Putnam's promptly
-to support General Strong, "if it became necessary,"
-and Stevenson's was held in reserve. The hour of twilight
-was selected "to prevent accurate firing by the
-enemy". The bayonet alone was to be used by the
-assailants. "The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, a colored
-regiment of excellent character, well officered, with full
-ranks, that had conducted itself commendably a few days
-previously on James island, was placed in front." Then,
-says Seymour, "the First brigade launched forward.
-It had not moved far, before the fort, liberated somewhat
-from the presence of our fire, opened with rapid discharges
-of grape and canister, and its parapet was lit by
-a living line of musketry. More than half the distance
-was well passed when, present myself with the column,
-I saw that to overcome such resistance, overpowering
-force must be employed."</p>
-
-<p>Seymour, now wounded, ordered up Putnam, as Strong's
-brigade "as a mass had already retired, although detached
-portions, principally from the Forty-eighth New
-York and Sixth Connecticut, with the colors of those
-regiments, still clung to the fort." Putnam at first
-declined to obey General Seymour, alleging that he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>
-Gillmore's order to remain where he was. Meanwhile,
-portions of the Sixth Connecticut and Forty-eighth New
-York were vainly endeavoring to scale the parapet or
-were bravely dying on its crest. Some had gained the
-crest and the interior of the southeast salient, where the
-defense was assigned to the Thirty-first North Carolina.
-This regiment, which had an honorable record, and was
-yet to distinguish itself on many a field, was seized with
-panic in the bomb-proof at the first alarm and could not
-be got to the parapet. The whole bastion was undefended
-by infantry at the crisis of the attack.</p>
-
-<p>Finally, Putnam came on and met the grape and canister
-and musketry of the fort, which broke his column to
-pieces. He gallantly led the mass of survivors against
-the left bastion, and mounting the parapet, entered the
-bastion enclosure with a hundred or more of his men.
-Here they maintained themselves for an hour until finally
-overcome, Colonel Putnam being killed, and the whole
-Federal attacking force on the outside of the bastion
-retreating along the beach. On leaving the field, impressed
-with the force and character of the defense, General
-Seymour had twice ordered the brigade under General
-Stevenson to follow Putnam, but the order was not
-obeyed, and that brigade took no part in the action. In
-the above account of the attack we have followed the
-report of General Seymour.</p>
-
-<p>General Taliaferro says:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>As the enemy advanced, they were met by a shower
-of grape and canister from our guns, and a terrible fire of
-musketry from the Charleston battalion and the Fifty-first
-North Carolina. These two commands gallantly maintained
-their position and drove the enemy back quickly
-from their front, with immense slaughter. In the meantime,
-the advance, pushing forward, entered the ditch and
-ascended the work at the extreme left salient of the land
-face, and occupied it. I at once ordered Lieutenant-Colonel
-Gaillard to keep up a severe enfilading fire to his
-left, and directed the field pieces on the left of the fort
-outside the sally-port to direct their fire to the right, so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>
-as to sweep the ditch and exterior slope of that part of
-the work thus occupied, thus preventing the escape or
-reinforcement of the enemy at that point. The main
-body of the enemy, after a vain attempt to pass over our
-field of fire, retreated under the fire of our artillery and
-the shells of Fort Sumter.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Calling for volunteers to dislodge the force in the salient,
-Maj. J. R. McDonald, Fifty-first North Carolina,
-and Captain Ryan, Charleston battalion, promptly
-responded, with their men. Ryan was selected and
-ordered to charge the salient. Instantly leading his men
-forward, he was killed in front of them, and this caused
-his command to hesitate and lose the opportunity. Fighting
-bravely, the Connecticut men and those of Putnam's
-brigade clung to the parapet and the interior of the salient,
-and suffered from the fire of the Fifty-first North
-Carolina whenever they exposed themselves above the
-work, or made any advance toward the interior of the
-fort. It was now past 10 o'clock, and General Hagood
-reached the fort with the Thirty-second Georgia. This
-regiment was sent along the parapet on the left and took
-position on the bomb-proof, and so completely commanded
-the force in the salient, that on demand they surrendered.</p>
-
-<p>Thus the second assault on Wagner terminated after a
-bloody and heroic struggle. It cost the Confederates
-a small loss in numbers, but a rich sacrifice in the character
-of the men who lost their lives in its splendid defense.
-Lieutenant-Colonel Simkins, standing on the
-ramparts and cheering his artillery, fell in the heat of
-the battle, "a noble type, living and dying, of the gentleman
-and the brave soldier." Capt. William H. Ryan,
-devoted to his adopted country, honored and prized by his
-comrades, the gallant chief of the Irish volunteers, was
-killed leading them against the force who occupied the
-salient. Capt. William T. Tatom, an educated soldier,
-cool, true and brave, fell by the side of his guns. Maj.
-David Ramsay, worthy to stand by the side of the heroic
-commander of the Charleston battalion, type of the cul<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>tured
-citizen, worthy of the blood of Henry Laurens,
-scholar, soldier and hero, yielded his life at Battery
-Wagner, an offering of his love for South Carolina,
-though he had opposed her secession from the Union he
-cherished. The commanding general lost his gallant
-aide, Capt. P. H. Waring, who was killed by the side of
-his chief. Two others of his staff, Capt. W. E. Stoney,
-adjutant-general, and Capt. H. D. D. Twiggs, were
-severely wounded. The total loss in the fort was 181;
-5 officers and 31 soldiers killed; 17 officers and 116 soldiers
-wounded; 1 officer and 4 soldiers captured. The
-Federal loss reported was 1,515; 28 officers and 218 soldiers
-killed; 75 officers and 805 soldiers wounded; 8 officers
-and 381 soldiers captured. Among the slain were
-Brigadier-General Strong and Colonels Putnam, Chatfield
-and Shaw. Each of these officers displayed the highest
-gallantry, and died on the rampart or in the immediate
-front of the attack.</p>
-
-<p>Major Gilchrist, describing the scene of conflict the
-morning after the battle, thus speaks of the heroic dead:
-"In the salient and on the ramparts they lay heaped
-and pent, in some places three deep. Among them Colonel
-Putnam, with the back part of his head blown off;
-still the remarkable beauty of his face and form evoked
-from his victorious foes a sigh of pity. On the crest,
-with but few of his "sable troop" beside the flag he had
-vainly planted, was the corpse of the youthful Colonel
-Shaw." The wounded, Confederate and Federal alike,
-were sent to the hospitals in Charleston, and received
-every attention from the medical corps. The Federal
-dead were buried on the field "to be unearthed again by
-the advancing sap and Federal shells."</p>
-
-<p>We extract from the reports and accounts the following
-incidents: By the explosion of a 15-inch shell and the
-falling of tons of sand, General Taliaferro was so completely
-buried that it was necessary to dig him out with
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>spades. During the heaviest period of the bombardment,
-about 2 p. m., the flag halyards were cut and the
-flag fell into the fort. Instantly Major Ramsay, Lieutenant
-Readick, Sixty-third Georgia (artillery), Sergeant
-Shelton and Private Flinn, Charleston battalion, sprang
-upon the parapet, raised and refastened the flag. Seeing
-the flag fall, Capt. R. H. Barnwell, of the engineers,
-seized a battle-flag and planted it on the ramparts.
-Again the flag was shot away, and Private Gilliland,
-Charleston battalion, immediately raised and restored it
-to its place. Lieut. J. H. Powe, of the First South Carolina
-artillery, so distinguished himself at his gun as to
-be specially and conspicuously mentioned, with Lieutenant
-Waties and Captains Adams, Buckner, Dixon and
-De Pass, for unsurpassed conduct. Lieut.-Col. D. B.
-Harris, chief engineer of the department, came down to
-the fort in the midst of the terrific cannonade. His cool
-and gallant bearing and well-known ability and judgment
-inspired confidence and contributed to the morale of the
-garrison. The signal made by General Gillmore to
-Admiral Dahlgren, fixing twilight as the time of assault,
-was read by the Confederate signal corps and duly transmitted
-to General Beauregard.</p>
-
-<p>Maj. Lewis Butler, Sixty-seventh Ohio, in Colonel
-Putnam's column, was by the side of that officer when
-he was killed. He bore testimony to the care of the Federal
-wounded, saying that General Beauregard's order directed
-"that special care be taken of the wounded captured
-at Wagner, as men who were brave enough to go in there
-deserved the respect of the enemy;" and that "the
-effects, money and papers, belonging to members of the
-Sixty-seventh Ohio who died in Charleston hospital, were
-sent through the lines by flag of truce."</p>
-
-<p>About the 11th of August, during a heavy fire on Wagner,
-a 15-inch shell burst in one of the gun chambers, doing
-much damage, and mortally wounding and killing several
-at the gun. Among the former was First Sergt.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>
-T. H. Tynes, Company A, Lucas' battalion of artillery.
-Capt. John H. Gary, seeing his gallant sergeant fall,
-went at once to him, and was overcome by the sight of
-his terrible wound. "I am dying, Captain, but I am
-glad it is me, and not you." Devoted to his sergeant,
-Gary burst into tears, when Tynes gasped, almost with
-his last breath, "I can be spared; but our country can't
-spare you, Captain." His noble-hearted captain fell at
-the same gun the next day. Gary was an accomplished
-young officer, of the highest promise, beloved and honored
-by his command, and distinguished for his personal
-gallantry.</p>
-
-<p>Speaking of Wagner and its remarkable strength,
-Major Johnson, than whom no more competent judge
-could testify as to the qualities of a defensive work, pays
-this tribute:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Not only had the massive earthwork proved the thoroughness
-of its plan and construction by its wonderful
-endurance, but the batteries had been so well protected
-on the faces of the work as to admit of their being put
-into immediate condition and readiness for action. This
-was due to the thoughtful and energetic measures adopted
-during the day, such as stopping the embrasures with
-sand-bags, and even covering many of the lighter guns on
-the land side so as to prevent them from injury until
-they were needed. Most of all, the care taken to preserve
-the magazine from danger was now to be proved and
-rewarded.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Davis, at that time colonel of the
-One Hundred and Fourth Pennsylvania, and in Gillmore's
-command, says of Wagner in "Annals of the
-War," Philadelphia Times, 1879: "This was one of the
-strongest earthworks ever built, and gave evidence of the
-highest order of engineering ability."</p>
-
-<p>After the signal defeat of this last attempt, July 18th,
-to carry Battery Wagner by storm, General Gillmore
-proceeded to lay siege to the fort, and approached by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>
-regular sap.<a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a> The limits of this history will not permit
-a detailed account of this most interesting period of the
-history of Battery Wagner and Fort Sumter. In Major
-Johnson's book the full record will be found, and in the
-reports and correspondence published by act of Congress,
-the history and progress of the siege are related in every
-particular.</p>
-
-<p>The following incidents embracing a period of fifty days
-are given from the records: On July 20th the fort was
-subjected to a combined attack by the batteries on land
-and water, and on the 23d, the second parallel was opened
-within 870 yards of the fort. Another attack from the
-fleet and the batteries followed on the 24th, and for five
-hours the fort was assaulted by the bombardment. During
-this period Wagner, Gregg and the batteries from
-James island fired incessantly on the enemy's working
-parties. Daily for the remainder of the month of July,
-the fleet assaulted the fort, and the land batteries fired
-throughout the night. On August 10th the third parallel
-was established, 540 yards distant. During this night
-Wagner, Sumter and the James island batteries drove off
-the enemy's working parties. The heavy guns of the
-enemy being advanced, he opened breaching batteries on
-the gorge wall of Sumter, firing over Wagner, and the
-fleet engaged Fort Sumter.</p>
-
-<p>Covering the period August 16th to 26th, Major Johnson
-makes the notes following:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>August 16th. Engineers' working force, 350 to 450,
-having been engaged day and night for six weeks, has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>
-converted the two faces of Sumter nearest to Morris island
-into a compact redan of sand, encased with brick, having
-a height of 40 feet and general thickness of 25 feet, with
-portions of the gorge 35 to 40 feet thick. Upward of
-twenty guns have been removed from the armament
-since July, leaving but thirty-eight for the present service
-of the fort.</p>
-
-<p>August 17th. First day of the great bombardment of
-Fort Sumter; 948 shot from eleven guns on Morris island
-and from the fleet. Wagner and Gregg under fire from
-the land batteries and fourteen vessels. Wagner fought
-the fleet with three guns for more than an hour. Capt.
-J. M. Wampler, of the engineers, was killed at Wagner.</p>
-
-<p>August 18th. Fourteen guns from Morris island firing
-on Sumter; three ironclads, five gunboats, and siege
-batteries on Wagner.</p>
-
-<p>August 19th. The Ironsides fires on Wagner all day
-and fifteen guns from breaching batteries on Sumter.
-Working parties stopped by Wagner's picket fire from the
-ridge in front.</p>
-
-<p>August 20th. Eighteen guns fire on Sumter, one
-being a 300-pounder Parrott rifle; range from 3,447 to
-4,290 yards. Twenty-five thousand pounds of powder
-removed from the fort. Wagner shelled all day by fleet,
-Ironsides and four gunboats. Marsh battery (between
-Morris and James islands), designed to fire upon Charleston
-at 7,000 yards, completed by the enemy.</p>
-
-<p>August 21st. More powder (9,700 pounds) removed
-from Sumter. General Gillmore demands the surrender
-of Fort Sumter with the immediate evacuation of Morris
-island. Assault made on "the ridge" in front of Wagner
-and repulsed. General Gillmore on Morris island, in his
-demand for Sumter and the evacuation of the island,
-gave General Beauregard four hours to answer, failing in
-that time to receive his reply he threatened to fire upon
-the city, and did so, its sleeping inhabitants having no
-notice whatever. This act of uncivilized warfare was
-properly rebuked by General Beauregard, and due time
-was allowed for the removal of women and children, and
-the hospitals, with their sick and wounded.</p>
-
-<p>August 22d. Sixth day for Sumter. Only four guns
-left in serviceable condition. Main flagstaff falling, colors
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>were flown from the crest of the gorge. A night
-attack by five monitors, firing about fifty shells in the
-direction of the western magazines, was serious. The
-fort replied with two guns, firing six shots, the last fired
-from its walls. The monitors drew a heavy fire on themselves
-from Fort Moultrie. The rear-admiral, desiring
-to "force the obstructions," prepared three or four times
-to do so, but never reached them. Casualties, 5 wounded.</p>
-
-<p>August 23d. Seventh day. Sumter soon reduced to
-one gun (Keokuk's) in good condition, and two guns
-partly serviceable. Work pressed to secure magazine
-from danger of another attack by monitors firing in
-reverse. Flagstaff twice shot away; more powder
-shipped; casualties, 6 wounded. The fort is breached
-and demolished by seven days' firing (total, 5,009 rounds)
-at the close of the first period of the great bombardment.</p>
-
-<p>August 24th. Council of defense held by the chief
-engineers and colonel commanding. The second period
-opens with only one-fourth of the daily rate of firing
-hitherto received. General Gillmore urges upon the rear-admiral
-the scheme of cutting off communications from
-Morris island by picket-boats off Cummings point. Second
-failure to carry "the ridge" in front of Wagner (25th).</p>
-
-<p>August 27th to 29th. Capture of "the ridge" and pickets
-of Morris island by Union charge (26th). Three
-days of nearly suspended firing on Sumter.</p>
-
-<p>August 30th. Heavy shelling of Fort Sumter from
-the breaching batteries; casualties, 5; damages caused
-by the 10-inch rifle (300-pounder) very severe. Recovery
-of guns by night from the ruins, and shipment to city by
-gang under Asst. Eng. J. Fraser Mathewes. This night,
-transport steamer Sumter with troops, fired upon by mistake
-and sunk by Fort Moultrie.</p>
-
-<p>August 31st. Fort Sumter received only fifty-six shots.
-Fort Moultrie engaged with four monitors for four hours,
-suffering no damage. Maj.-Gen. J. F. Gilmer announced
-as second in command at Charleston.</p>
-
-<p>September 1st. Mortar firing on Wagner disabled four
-guns. Fort Sumter suffers again from the heavy Parrotts,
-382 shots, and in the night from the ironclad squadron,
-245 shots, crumbling the walls and threatening the
-magazine as before; casualties, 4; the fort had not a gun
-to reply. This attack of the ironclads ends the second
-period of the first great bombardment. The work of
-saving guns from the ruins and removing them to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>
-inner harbor began on the night of August 27th, and proceeded
-regularly from this date forward.</p>
-
-<p>September 2d. Desultory fire on Fort Sumter. The
-sap approaches within 80 yards of Wagner.</p>
-
-<p>September 3d and 4th. Wagner under fire and returning
-it, assisted by Gregg and the James island guns. On
-the night of the 4th, Major Elliott relieved Colonel Rhett
-in command of Fort Sumter. Failure, same night, of
-the plan to assault Cummings point (Battery Gregg).</p>
-
-<p>September 5th. Slow fire from batteries and New
-Ironsides on Wagner. The assault on Battery Gregg,
-Cummings point, made and repulsed on the night of 5th.</p>
-
-<p>September 6th. Head of sap opposite the ditch (east)
-of Wagner.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>This was the last day of Wagner's defense, and the
-fifty-eighth day of the attack by land and sea. The sap
-had progressed on the sea face so far as to enable a large
-force to move on that flank and gain the rear of the fort,
-while the whole front was covered by the last parallel
-within 50 yards of the fort. The fire of the fleet and
-mortar fire from the trenches, with incessant fire along the
-parapet by the land batteries, made it fatal work for most
-of the fort's sharpshooters, and the gun detachments.</p>
-
-<p>The garrison of the fort at this memorable period was
-as follows: Col. Lawrence M. Keitt, commanding;
-Maj. H. Bryan, adjutant-general; Capt. Thomas M.
-Huguenin, First South Carolina infantry (artillery),
-chief of artillery; Capt. F. D. Lee and Lieut. R. M.
-Stiles, engineers; Lieut. Edmund Mazyck, ordnance
-officer. The artillery: Captain Kanapaux's company,
-Lafayette South Carolina artillery; Company A, First
-South Carolina infantry (artillery), Lieut. J. L. Wardlaw;
-Company A, Second South Carolina artillery, Capt.
-W. M. Hunter; Company E, Palmetto battalion artillery,
-Capt. J. D. Johnson. The infantry: Twenty-fifth South
-Carolina, Lieut.-Col. John G. Pressley; Twenty-seventh
-Georgia, Maj. James Gardner; Twenty-eighth Georgia,
-Capt. W. P. Crawford. The total for duty was less than
-900 men and officers, infantry and artillery.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>During the day of the 6th, about 100 casualties were
-reported by Colonel Keitt. On this day Colonel Keitt,
-after consulting his engineers, reported to General Ripley
-the situation at the fort as desperate and recommended
-its evacuation, and added: "If our sacrifice be of benefit,
-I am ready. Let it be said so, and I will storm the
-enemy's works at once.... Before day dawns we should
-assault him if we remain here. Answer positively and
-at once." This dispatch was sent at 3:15 p. m., and at
-5 o'clock General Ripley signaled Colonel Keitt to
-prepare to leave the fort at night. The evacuation was
-successfully accomplished, the rear guard leaving Cummings
-point at 1:30 a. m. on the 7th. The infantry having
-left the fort by midnight, its command was turned
-over to the rear guard, under Captain Huguenin, 25 men,
-Company A, First South Carolina infantry (artillery),
-10 men, Twenty-fifth South Carolina, under Lieuts. F. B.
-Brown, R. M. Taft and James A. Ross. Capt. C. C.
-Pinckney, ordnance officer of the First district, Lieut.
-Edmund Mazyck, ordnance officer of Wagner, were also
-present and assisting Captain Huguenin.</p>
-
-<p>At 12:30 the rear guard was withdrawn from the parapet
-and marched out of the fort for Cummings point.
-Huguenin, Pinckney, Mazyck, Ross and Ordnance Sergeant
-Leathe alone remained to lay the slow match
-which had been carefully prepared. Captain Huguenin
-reports: "In five minutes the train was fixed." Captain
-Pinckney reports regarding the spiking of the guns:
-"The vents of most of the pieces were greatly enlarged.
-In most cases the spikes dropped in loosely, and we were
-obliged to use two or three of them. We could have
-remedied this by driving them in and hammering the
-edges over the orifice, but absolute quiet was obviously
-necessary." The 10-inch columbiad was prepared for
-bursting. Ross took the lanyard and Huguenin gave the
-order: "The last gun from Battery Wagner, fire!"
-The primer failed! Another failed! A cartridge from a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>
-Whitworth rifle was opened and the vent primed, but from
-some unknown cause the piece could not be fired. The
-fire from the parapet having ceased, and the enemy
-being just under the fort, Captain Huguenin lit the slow
-match to the magazine. The fuse burned brightly and
-the officers left the fort. But no explosion followed!
-The fort was under the fire of mortars, and doubtless a
-bursting shell cut, or put out the fuse; and the disabled
-fortress remained for the enemy's inspection.</p>
-
-<p>At Battery Gregg, Capt. H. R. Lesesne successfully
-spiked his two 10-inch guns, spiked and threw overboard
-the other pieces, and fired the magazine. The
-transportation for the garrisons of Wagner and Gregg was
-skillfully collected at Cummings point and managed with
-perfect order by Lieut.-Col. O. M. Dantzler, Twentieth
-South Carolina.</p>
-
-<p>The Confederate ironclads Palmetto State and Chicora
-sent their boats to assist in taking off the command of
-Colonel Keitt. The enemy's guard-boats from the rear
-of Morris island were very active and attacked the transport
-furiously, at long range. Overtaking two small
-boats, carrying some forty-odd men, under Lieutenant
-Hasker of the Confederate navy, they took both boats,
-and thus the Federal navy secured the only prisoners
-taken during the evacuation.</p>
-
-<p>Referring to Major Johnson's journal of August 21st,
-25th and 26th, and September 5th, mention is there made
-of attacks on "the ridge" in front of Wagner, and on Battery
-Gregg. These events will now be noticed more in
-detail. On the 21st, a force of the enemy charged the
-ridge and were repulsed, but established their line
-behind sand hillocks within 20 yards of the picket line.
-Lieutenant-Colonel Dantzler, with the Twentieth South
-Carolina, reinforced the pickets, crossed the ridge, and
-drove back the force in the hillocks, re-establishing the
-vidette stations and inflicting severe punishment on the
-intruders. General Hagood, commanding at the time at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>
-Battery Wagner, reported the gallant and zealous service
-of Colonel Dantzler, and the splendid conduct of his
-command on this occasion.</p>
-
-<p>On the 25th, the attack on the ridge was repeated with
-more determination and was repulsed with heavy loss to
-the assailants, and 25 casualties on the part of the defense.
-The fire of Wagner's picket line from the ridge
-had been so faithful and so effective that Gillmore's chief
-engineer reported that the sap could not advance unless
-it was silenced. "The engineer officers of the sap
-express the earnest wish that the enemy be driven out of
-the ridge with the bayonet."</p>
-
-<p>On the 26th, General Gillmore "ordered General Terry
-to take and hold the ridge, and placed the resources of
-the command at his disposal for that purpose." On the
-evening of the 26th a Federal brigade charged and carried
-the coveted prize, capturing 67 prisoners, the larger
-part of the force holding the ridge. The engineer in
-charge of the sap remarked upon the position: "Rude
-rifle-pits in the excellent natural cover afforded by the
-ridge, were found, and sand-bags of a superior quality
-had been freely used for loopholes and traverses."</p>
-
-<p>On September 5th, the signals between General Gillmore
-and Admiral Dahlgren apprised General Ripley of
-an intended boat attack by way of Vincent's creek on
-Battery Gregg, to be made that night. Gregg was accordingly
-ready for it. It came about 1:30 o'clock on
-the morning of the 6th, and is reported by Captain
-Lesesne as follows:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>I ordered the guns trained on the most probable point
-of attack, double loaded with canister, one 10-inch gun
-bearing on the beach in front and one on the extreme
-point in rear. Two 12-pounder howitzers were placed
-on the beach to the right of the work (under Lieut. E. W.
-Macbeth, First regular infantry) from the right of Battery
-Gregg to the beach. The artillery was supported by
-Major Gardner, commanding the Twenty-seventh Georgia.
-The enemy advanced from the point in about twenty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>
-boats; when within 100 yards of the beach I opened
-upon them with the 10-inch gun, followed by the howitzers.
-The infantry commenced firing shortly afterward.
-The enemy returned the fire with their boat howitzers
-and musketry. A few succeeded in landing but quickly
-returned to their boats. After the fire had been kept up
-for about fifteen minutes the whole force retreated. Our
-casualties were 1 man mortally and 5 slightly wounded.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>General Gillmore signaled to Admiral Dahlgren, who
-had furnished the boats and crews, that he found Gregg
-prepared for the attack and had failed.</p>
-
-<p>During the siege of Wagner, General Gillmore had
-established a picket post at the mouth of Vincent's
-creek, on the James island side. Lieut.-Com. A. F.
-Warley, of the Chicora, with a launch and crew, and
-Capt. M. H. Sellers, with a detachment of the Twenty-fifth
-South Carolina in boats, the whole under the guidance
-of J. Fraser Mathewes, attacked and captured this
-picket on the 4th of August, Captain Sellers losing one
-of his gallant followers. The night following, Lieut.
-Philip Porcher, on the unarmed steamer Juno, with a
-crew armed with rifles, was out along Morris island
-reconnoitering the fleet. Encountering an armed launch
-of the frigate Wabash, Porcher ran her down, attacked
-her crew with his rifles and received her surrender, with
-most of the crew. The launch was turned over to Commodore
-Tucker for his use in the harbor.</p>
-
-<p>The account of the defense of Battery Wagner may
-well be concluded with the following extract from Major
-Johnson's work:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>The hardships of defense in Wagner were certainly
-greater while they lasted than those endured in Sumter.... After
-the 17th of August, when the breaching batteries
-of Morris island were opened on Sumter and its
-demolition assured, the holding longer of the northern
-end of the island might appear to have been unnecessary.
-General Gillmore says truly: "Neither Fort Wagner nor
-Battery Gregg possessed any special importance as a
-defense against the passage of the ironclad fleet. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>
-were simply outposts of Fort Sumter. Fort Wagner in
-particular was specially designed to prevent the erection
-of breaching batteries against that fort. It was valueless
-to the enemy if it failed to accomplish that end, for
-the fleet in entering was not obliged to go within effective
-range of its guns." Why, then, was it held? The answer
-is, General Beauregard estimated it, if no longer an outpost
-of Fort Sumter, as indeed an outpost of the city of
-Charleston. He held it long enough to enable him to
-gain three weeks in perfecting the defenses of James
-island and the inner harbor.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The following dispatches between General Gillmore
-and Admiral Dahlgren, sent during the period July 22d
-to September 2d, and read by the Confederate signal
-corps, will show from the enemy's point of view how the
-conduct of Wagner was regarded, and how her fire damaged
-her adversaries:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>July 22d. Dahlgren: We agree that a third assault
-of Fort Wagner cannot be made at the present time. I
-have made two that were unsuccessful and do not feel
-authorized to risk a third just now.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 16th. Dahlgren: I shall open on Fort Sumter
-at daylight. Can you commence on Wagner as early as
-that?</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 16th. Gillmore: The monitors will commence
-to move at six and will open soon after. If it is an
-object to you, I will open fire earlier, but the tide is very
-bad before 6 o'clock for the monitors.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 16th. Dahlgren: If I find the fire from Wagner
-too hot, I will stop firing from my advanced batteries until
-you get the monitors into action against Wagner.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 17th. Dahlgren: What do you think of the
-morning's work?</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 17th. Gillmore: Sumter seems greatly damaged.
-What do you think?</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 17th. Dahlgren: I am satisfied with the firing
-thus far. The gorge wall is covered with shot holes.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 19th. Dahlgren: I am now pushing my approaches
-to Fort Wagner, and need cover against sorties.
-I think I can destroy the traverse and dismount the heavy
-gun on the sea front of Wagner with the assistance of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>
-powerful fire from the New Ironsides. If that big gun
-were out of the way, could a couple of monitors be within
-400 or 500 yards of Wagner all the time, night and day?
-A deserter says there are at least twenty Quaker guns on
-the parapet of Sumter.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 19th. Gillmore: I am going in with the monitors
-to feel of Sumter. If the enemy's fire is heavy,
-please get your batteries in action.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 21st. Dahlgren: The enemy's sharpshooters
-are annoying our advanced batteries seriously. Can you
-have it stopped?</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 21st. Gillmore: I will try to do so.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 21st. Dahlgren: The fire of Fort Wagner is
-very galling. Cannot your monitors keep it down?</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 21st. Dahlgren: My approaches are suspended
-on account of the sharpshooters on Fort Wagner. Can
-you keep down that fire?</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 21st. Gillmore: I am going in with the ironclads
-to Sumter, and shall open about 11:30 o'clock.
-Please give the necessary directions in order that I may
-not be fired into.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 22d. Gillmore: I have just returned from
-above. The Passaic, which was some distance in advance,
-got ashore. It took so much time to get her off,
-that when I was informed of the fact I would have had
-but little time to make the attack before daylight, so it
-was unavoidably postponed for to-night.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 22d. Dahlgren: I received your dispatch stating
-that your attack is postponed until to-night. I think
-with our batteries in operation against Sumter she cannot
-fire a gun at you even in the daytime, if she has any
-to fire, which I doubt.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 22d. Gillmore: It is not of Sumter that I am
-apprehensive, but of Moultrie and adjacent forts; but
-most all of Sumter's have been sent to Moultrie, which
-makes no difference in the fire. This I am inclined to
-endure rather than have a monitor ashore to defend or
-destroy, which would change the whole course of operations.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 22d. Gillmore: Wagner is firing rapidly. I
-fear she will dismount some of our guns.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Turner</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 22d. Dahlgren: Wagner is firing very rapidly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>
-There is great danger of dismounting our guns. What
-can you do to stop it?</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 22d. Gillmore: I will send up some monitors
-at once.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 22d. Turner: Can you not keep down Wagner's
-fire with mortars, 30-pounders, Parrotts and sharpshooters?</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 22d. Gillmore: Is the fire of the ironclads
-effectual in silencing the sharpshooters at Fort Wagner?</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 22d. Dahlgren: Between the gunboats and
-our batteries, Wagner's fire has been considerably kept
-under.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 22d. Dahlgren: Are you going to attack to-night?</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 22d. Gillmore: Yes, if the weather will permit.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 23d. Dahlgren: What did you ascertain as to
-the condition of Sumter?</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 23d. Gillmore: It was so foggy that but little
-could be ascertained. We received a very heavy fire from
-Moultrie. The admiral is now asleep.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">O. C. Badger</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 23d. Badger: Did you receive any fire from
-Fort Sumter?</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 23d. Gillmore: She fired two or three times
-only, when we first opened.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Badger</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 26th. Gillmore: Would it be convenient for
-you to open a heavy fire on Sumter, sustaining it until
-nightfall?</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 26th. Dahlgren: I can open a pretty strong
-fire on Sumter, if you deem it necessary. One of my
-8-inch guns is burst, and others are nearly expended.
-Do you think Sumter has any serviceable guns? My calcium
-lights can operate to-night on Sumter and the harbor,
-unless you wish otherwise, and we can arrange for
-investing Morris island.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 26th. Gillmore: I am going to operate on the
-obstructions and a portion of my men will be without
-cover. I do not fear heavy guns from Sumter, but wish
-to keep down the fire of small guns. Your fire will help
-me very much. I am sorry that your guns are giving
-out.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 26th. Dahlgren: I shall be able, I think, to
-light up the waters between Fort Sumter and Cummings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>
-point, so that no small boats can approach the latter
-without being seen by your picket boats.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 26th. Turner: Open all the guns in the left
-batteries on Sumter and keep them going through the
-day.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 26th. Gillmore: To-night I shall need all the
-darkness I can get. If you light up you will ruin me.
-What I did want was the active fire of your batteries this
-afternoon on Sumter.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 27th. Dahlgren: Can I take from your vessel
-another 8-inch gun and a 100-pounder? I have burst
-three 8-inch guns in all. We took 68 prisoners, including
-2 officers, and gained 100 yards toward Wagner yesterday.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 27th. Gillmore: You can take the guns with
-pleasure. My attempt to pass the forts last night was
-frustrated by the bad weather, but chiefly by the setting
-in of a strong flood tide.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 27th. Dahlgren: Can you spare me some 200-pounder
-shells? My supply is very low. A constant fire
-on Sumter is more than my guns can stand very long.
-I have lost three 200-pounders.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 29th. Gillmore: Much obliged. All your fire
-on Sumter materially lessened the great risk I incur.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>August 29th. Gillmore: I will let you have either
-guns or projectiles, as many as you wish, if you will
-inform me how much you require.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>September 1st. Gillmore: We have dismounted two
-guns on Sumter and injured one this a. m. But two
-remain. We are firing with great accuracy.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Lookout</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>September 1st. Gillmore: I am glad the batteries are
-doing good execution. I hope you will give me the full
-benefit of your fire, as I intend to be in action to-night,
-if nothing prevents. I would advise great care in handling
-the hand grenades, as one of my men was killed
-and two wounded by a very ordinary accident.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>September 2d. Gillmore: I think your fire on Sumter
-may be omitted to-day. Have just returned from above
-and am trying to get a little rest. I do not know what
-damage our fire did Sumter. My chief of staff wounded;
-his leg broken.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Dahlgren</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>September 2d Adams: I wish to know if Sumter
-fired at the monitors last night while they were in action.
-Do not disturb the admiral if he is asleep, but please get
-me the information, as it will determine whether I continue
-firing on Sumter to-day.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">Gillmore</span>.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>September 2d. Gillmore: Not to my knowledge.</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> In his final report he said: "The formidable strength
-of Fort Wagner induced a modification of the plan of operations,
-or rather a change in the order previously determined upon. The
-demolition of Fort Sumter was the object in view as preliminary to
-the entrance of the ironclads.... To save valuable time, it was
-determined to attempt the demolition of Sumter from ground already in
-our possession, so that the ironclads could enter upon the execution of
-their part of the programme, ... and arrangements were at once
-commenced, and the necessary orders given to place the breaching
-guns in position. Arrangements were also made to press the siege
-of Fort Wagner by regular approaches."</p></div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN&mdash;GALLANT SERVICE OF
-PERRIN'S AND KERSHAW'S BRIGADES&mdash;HAMPTON'S
-CAVALRY AT BRANDY STATION.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">The</span> spring had gone and summer had opened in
-Virginia, when, seeing no indications of aggressive
-movement on the part of the Federal army lying
-opposite him on the Rappahannock, General Lee determined
-to draw it from his Fredericksburg base and compel
-it to follow his movements or attack him in position.
-General Lee's plan involved the movement of his army
-by its left to Orange and Culpeper, the crossing of the
-Blue ridge into the Shenandoah valley, the crossing of
-the Potomac, and the march of his whole force directly
-on Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania.</p>
-
-<p>The army of Northern Virginia was now organized in
-three corps, commanded by Lieutenant-Generals Longstreet,
-Ewell and A. P. Hill. Longstreet's division commanders
-were McLaws, Pickett and Hood; Ewell's,
-Early, Rodes and Johnson; A. P. Hill's, Anderson,
-Heth and Pender. Still in the division of the gallant
-McLaws, under Longstreet, associated with Barksdale's
-Mississippians and Semmes' and Wofford's Georgians,
-was the South Carolina brigade of Gen. J. B. Kershaw.
-Also in the First corps were the batteries of Capt. Hugh
-R. Garden (Palmetto) and Captain Bachman's German
-artillery, with Hood's division, and the Brooks (Rhett's)
-battery, Lieut. S. C. Gilbert, in Alexander's battalion of
-Walton's reserve artillery. Gen. Micah Jenkins' South
-Carolina brigade, of Pickett's division, Longstreet's
-corps, was detached for special duty on the Blackwater,
-in southeast Virginia, under Maj.-Gen. D. H. Hill. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>
-the Third army corps (A. P. Hill's), South Carolina was
-represented by McGowan's brigade, Hill's light division&mdash;North
-Carolinians, South Carolinians and Georgians&mdash;now
-being commanded by Pender, and the South Carolina
-brigade by Col. Abner Perrin. Maj. C. W. McCreary
-commanded the First regiment, Capt. W. M. Hadden
-the First rifles, Capt. J. L. Miller the Twelfth, Lieut.-Col.
-B. T. Brockman the Thirteenth, and Lieut.-Col.
-J. N. Brown the Fourteenth. With the Third corps also
-was the Pee Dee artillery, Lieut. W. E. Zimmerman.
-In the cavalry corps of Maj.-Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, Brig.-Gen.
-Wade Hampton commanded his brigade, including
-the First and Second South Carolina cavalry, and Capt.
-J. F. Hart's South Carolina battery was part of the horse
-artillery under Major Beckham.</p>
-
-<p>Thus it will be seen that there were two infantry brigades,
-five batteries, and two cavalry regiments of South
-Carolina troops in the army of General Lee on this march
-into Pennsylvania. Evans' and Gist's brigades were in
-Mississippi with General Johnston, and Manigault's
-brigade was with General Bragg's army at Chattanooga.
-Attached to those commands or serving in the West, were
-the batteries of Captains Ferguson, Culpeper, Waties and
-Macbeth. Most of the South Carolina troops of all arms
-were engaged in the defense of Charleston and the coast
-of the State, then being attacked by a powerful fleet and
-a Federal army.</p>
-
-<p>On June 7th the corps of Longstreet and Ewell, with
-the main body of the cavalry under Stuart, were encamped
-around Culpeper Court House; Hill's corps
-being in position at Fredericksburg in front of General
-Hooker. The latter, vaguely aware of a campaign at
-hand, sent his cavalry, under General Pleasanton, up the
-Rappahannock to gain information. Pleasanton crossed
-his cavalry, supported by infantry and artillery, at Kelly's
-and Beverly fords, and advanced upon Brandy Station,
-one column approaching that railroad station from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>
-northeast (Beverly ford), the other from the southeast
-(Kelly's ford). The road from Beverly ford, before
-reaching the station, passes over a high ridge on which
-is the hamlet of Fleetwood. On the morning of June
-9th, Jones' cavalry brigade was covering Beverly ford,
-and Robertson's, Kelly's ford. The Federal columns
-drove off the pickets at the two fords and marched
-directly to the attack. Before Robertson's brigade had
-assembled, General Stuart sent the First South Carolina,
-Col. John L. Black, down the Kelly's Ford road to check
-the advance until Robertson could take position. This
-duty was well done by the First, until relieved by Robertson,
-when the regiment went into battle on the Beverly
-road with Hampton. As soon as the firing in front was
-heard, General Hampton mounted his brigade and moved
-from his camp rapidly through the station and over the
-Fleetwood ridge to support Jones on the Beverly Ford road,
-leaving the Second South Carolina, Col. M. C. Butler, to
-guard the station. Throwing his brigade immediately
-into action on the right of General Jones, and in support,
-the division, after severe fighting, drove the column of
-attack back. At this juncture the Federal force which
-moved up the Kelly's Ford road had reached the railroad
-and was taking possession of the Fleetwood ridge in rear
-of the engagement on the Beverly Ford road. General
-Stuart promptly ordered his brigades to concentrate upon
-this, the main attacking force, and the battle followed
-for the possession of the ridge. The brigades of Hampton,
-Jones and W. H. F. Lee by repeated charges, front
-and flank, swept the hill, captured the artillery which
-had been placed on its summit, and drove the enemy in
-full retreat for the river. His strong infantry and artillery
-support checked the pursuit and covered his crossing.
-The First South Carolina lost 3 killed and 9 wounded,
-among the latter the gallant Captains Robin Ap C. Jones
-and J. R. P. Fox.</p>
-
-<p>Meanwhile the Second South Carolina had been fight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>ing,
-single-handed, an unequal battle on the road running
-from the station to Stevensburg, 5 or 6 miles south, and
-beyond that place on the road leading to Kelly's ford.
-A column of cavalry, with artillery, had advanced from
-Kelly's toward Stevensburg with the evident intention
-of moving up from that place to the support of the
-attack at Fleetwood, and if it had reached the field of
-battle in the rear of Stuart, might have turned the day in
-Pleasanton's favor. But, being advised of this menacing
-movement, General Stuart sent Colonel Butler's regiment,
-220 strong, down the Stevensburg road to meet
-and check it. Leading the advance of Butler's regiment,
-Lieut.-Col. Frank Hampton met and drove back the Federal
-advance beyond Stevensburg. Then Butler formed
-his command across and to the left of the road at Doggett's
-house, about 1½ miles beyond Stevensburg,
-and stood ready to dispute the advance of the main
-body of the enemy. Lieutenant-Colonel Hampton was
-charged with the defense of the road, with a few sharpshooters
-and one company, Capt. T. H. Clark's. Here
-he held the right for a half hour, while Butler and Major
-Lipscomb resisted the attack in the center and on the
-left, the line of defense being nearly a mile in length.</p>
-
-<p>Massing his squadrons, the enemy charged the right,
-and to break the force of the onset, Lieutenant-Colonel
-Hampton, with 36 men, dashed forward at the head of
-his column. He fell mortally wounded, and the onrushing
-squadrons scattered his little band. Butler retired
-his center and left up the Brandy Station road and took
-post on an eminence at Beckham's house, where his command
-was reinforced by a squadron from the Fourth
-Virginia, sent by General Stuart and led by Capt. W. D.
-Farley of his staff. While holding this position a shell
-from one of the enemy's batteries passed through Colonel
-Butler's horse, shattered his leg below the knee, and
-mortally wounded the gallant Farley. The artillery fire
-was sweeping the road and the hill, and the Federal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>
-squadrons were forming to charge, when the men offered
-to bear Farley off. Smiling, with grateful thanks, he
-told them to stand to their rifles, and to carry Butler out
-of the fire. Then, with expressions of resignation to his
-fate and devotion to his country, he expired on the field.
-Major Lipscomb took command and drew off slowly
-toward Brandy Station. But the battle had been won for
-the Confederates at Fleetwood, and Lipscomb soon had
-opportunity to advance and drive the Federals before him
-in the general retreat, until he posted his pickets at the
-river. In this famous cavalry battle Stuart captured 375
-prisoners, 3 pieces of artillery and several colors.</p>
-
-<p>A few days later, being satisfied that General Lee was
-beyond his right flank in force, Hooker began moving
-his army to keep between Lee and Washington. Meanwhile
-Ewell marched upon Milroy at Winchester in the
-Valley, attacked and captured 4,000 prisoners and 28
-pieces of artillery, and cleared the Valley for Lee's
-advance.</p>
-
-<p>General Lee now ordered up A. P. Hill's corps to join
-in the march for the Potomac. Kershaw's brigade, with
-McLaws, marched to Sperryville on the 16th, thence to
-Ashby's gap, where Rice's battalion rejoined the command,
-crossed the Shenandoah at Berry's ford on the
-20th, recrossed and formed line of battle to meet a threatened
-attack on the 21st, and then continuing, crossed the
-Potomac on the 26th and encamped near Williamsport.
-Reaching Chambersburg, Pa., on the 28th of June, they
-remained there until the 30th, then marching to Fayetteville.
-McGowan's brigade, with A. P. Hill, also occupied
-a position near Fayetteville on the 29th. Stuart's
-cavalry, moving on Longstreet's right flank, left General
-Hampton on the Rappahannock to watch the enemy. On
-the 17th, Fitzhugh Lee's brigade made a splendid fight at
-Aldie, but Pleasanton occupied that place with a large
-force, and Stuart called Hampton and his other scattered
-commands together at Middleburg. Here he was at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>tacked
-by cavalry, infantry and artillery on the 21st.
-Hampton and Jones received the attack gallantly, but
-were compelled to retire. Here, said General Stuart in
-his report, "one of the pieces of Captain Hart's battery
-of horse artillery had the axle broken by one of the
-enemy's shot, and the piece had to be abandoned, which
-is the first piece of my horse artillery that has ever
-fallen into the enemy's hands. Its full value was paid
-in the slaughter it made in the enemy's ranks, and it
-was well sold." The fight was renewed at Upperville,
-before Ashby's gap, and there, said Stuart, "General
-Hampton's brigade participated largely and in a brilliant
-manner." On the night of the 24th, Stuart's brigades rendezvoused
-secretly near Salem Depot, and started toward
-Washington, encountering Hancock's corps marching
-north, at Gum Spring. When Hancock had passed they
-moved to Fairfax Station, where Hampton's advance
-had a brisk fight on the 27th. Stuart was now between
-the Federal army and Washington, and Hampton, in
-advance, crossed the Potomac near Dranesville, and on
-the 28th started northward. At Rockville a Federal
-army train, about 8 miles long, was captured, and the
-subsequent movements of the cavalry were embarrassed
-by the attempt to convoy the train to Lee's army.</p>
-
-<p>Ewell, meanwhile, taking a more easterly route than
-Longstreet and Hill, on the 27th camped at Carlisle,
-Early's division of his corps marching to York, and menacing
-the Pennsylvania capital. General Hooker did not
-cross the Potomac until the 25th and 26th, and on the 28th
-General Meade was placed in command of the Federal
-army.</p>
-
-<p>On the 28th, General Lee learned from a scout that the
-Federal army was marching to Frederick and was in part
-located at the base of South mountain, and he changed
-his design of marching up the valley to Harrisburg and
-ordered Hill eastward toward Gettysburg. Heth took
-the lead, and the South Carolinians, with Pender, reached<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>
-Cashtown, 8 miles from Gettysburg, on the last day of
-June.</p>
-
-<p>On that day both Meade and Lee were marching unconsciously
-to the point at which they were to fight the great
-and decisive battle of the year, if not of the war. It is
-interesting to note that the Southern general was concentrating
-from the north and the Northern general from
-the south. Ewell's corps was approaching the battlefield
-from Carlisle and York, and Hill's from Chambersburg.
-Before the close of the day Hill learned that Pettigrew's
-North Carolinians, of Heth's division, in advance near
-Gettysburg, had met a strong cavalry force, before which
-they withdrew without battle.</p>
-
-<p>Early on the morning of July 1st, General Hill pushed
-Heth's division forward, followed closely by Pender's.
-With Heth was the Pee Dee artillery, in Pegram's
-battalion; with Pender, the battalion of McIntosh. About
-10 a. m. Heth met Buford's Federal cavalry and drove it
-back across Willoughby run, where the cavalry was
-promptly supported by the First corps of Meade's army,
-three divisions, under General Reynolds. General Hill
-deployed Heth's division on the right and left of the road,
-Pender's in support, and the battle became severe.</p>
-
-<p>Pushing his battle forward, Hill was checked at the
-wooded ridge known as Seminary hill, where the First
-corps with artillery was strongly posted. Putting his
-artillery in position Heth gallantly charged the heights
-with his four brigades, and made so strong a battle that
-General Howard, with part of the Eleventh corps, reinforced
-the line of the First. At this juncture Ewell's two
-divisions came in on Hill's left, and the latter ordered
-Pender forward to relieve Heth. Ewell's line was at
-right angles to that of Hill's, and both lines now swept
-onward with irresistible force. Pender's advance was
-with Thomas' Georgians on the left of the road, and
-Lane, Scales and Perrin (McGowan's brigade) on the
-right. The combined assault of Pender and Ewell's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>
-divisions swept the hill and routed the two Federal corps,
-driving them through the streets, capturing 5,000 prisoners,
-exclusive of the wounded, several colors and 3 pieces
-of artillery.</p>
-
-<p>Reporting the advance of Pender, General Hill said:
-"The rout of the enemy was complete, Perrin's brigade
-taking position after position of the enemy and driving
-him through the town of Gettysburg." This special
-mention by the corps commander of McGowan's veterans,
-under Perrin, was well deserved. Never was a brigade
-better handled in battle, and never did regiments
-respond more steadily to every order for advance in
-direct charge, or change of front under fire. The Fourteenth,
-under Lieut.-Col. J. N. Brown and Maj. Edward
-Croft, and the First, under Maj. C. W. McCreary, on
-the right of the brigade; and the Twelfth, under Col.
-J. L. Miller, and the Thirteenth, under Lieut.-Col. B. T.
-Brockman, on the left, stormed the stone fences on either
-side of the Lutheran college on Seminary hill and routed
-their foe from this strong position, capturing hundreds of
-prisoners, 2 field pieces and a number of caissons, and
-following the routed columns through the town of Gettysburg.
-The colors of the First South Carolina were
-the first Confederate standard raised in the town as Hill's
-troops were entering it. Late in the afternoon, when
-Perrin drew up his brigade for rest on the south of the
-town, a battery which had been driven before Perrin
-took position on Cemetery hill and fired the first shot
-from that memorable eminence at the South Carolina
-brigade. Colonel Perrin reported this fact, and stated
-that he had watched the battery on its retreat as it was
-pursued through the town, and saw it take position on
-the hill. But the loss of the brigade did not fall short of
-500. Every one of the color sergeants taken into the
-fight was killed in front of his regiment.</p>
-
-<p>Perrin was in position in front of Cemetery hill on the
-2d, the Federal sharpshooters in his front on the Emmits<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>burg
-road. In the afternoon he was ordered by General
-Pender to push his skirmishers to the road. Capt. William
-T. Haskell, of the First regiment, commanding a
-select battalion of sharpshooters, was intrusted with this
-duty, and Major McCreary led the First regiment, now
-only about 100 strong, in Haskell's support. The gallant
-Haskell threw his sharpshooters against the Federal skirmishers,
-captured the road and drove his opponents up
-the slope and under their guns. While putting his men
-in favorable positions on the road, Haskell received a
-mortal wound and expired on the field. His fall was
-felt to be a serious loss to the whole brigade. South
-Carolina gave no better, purer, nobler man as a sacrifice
-to the cause of Southern independence at Gettysburg.</p>
-
-<p>Perrin held the skirmish line Haskell had won, and on
-the 3d threw forward the Fourteenth to maintain it
-against a strong attack. His sharpshooters from the
-road commanded the cannoneers on the hill, and a desperate
-effort was made to drive them off the road. In
-the fight of the Fourteenth regiment to sustain the sharpshooters,
-Lieutenant-Colonel Brown and Major Croft were
-severely wounded. The skirmish line was held until the
-massing of artillery and infantry on the crest made it no
-longer tenable.</p>
-
-<p>The total loss in McGowan's brigade at Gettysburg
-was 100 killed and 477 wounded. Including the loss on
-the retreat, the total was 654. Orr's Rifles, left to guard
-the trains, did not participate in the battle of the 1st, or
-the affairs of the 2d and 3d, and lost but few men. The
-heaviest casualties fell on the Fourteenth, two-thirds of
-its men being killed or wounded in the three days'
-engagements. Colonel Perrin mentioned particularly
-the conduct of the following officers: Major Croft, of the
-Fourteenth; Maj. I. F. Hunt, of the Thirteenth; Maj.
-E. F. Bookter, of the Twelfth; Capts. W. P. Shooter,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>
-T. P. Alston and A. P. Butler, of the First; Capts. James
-Boatwright and E. Cowan, of the Fourteenth, and Capt.
-Frank Clyburn, of the Twelfth.</p>
-
-<p>Among the gallant dead were Lieut. A. W. Poag, of
-the Twelfth; Capt. W. P. Conner and Lieuts. W. C. McNinch
-and D. M. Leitzsey, of the Thirteenth; and Lieutenant
-Crooker, of the Fourteenth. Lieut. J. F. J. Caldwell,
-of the First, whose graphic and instructive history
-of the brigade has aided the writer materially, was
-among a host of wounded line officers.</p>
-
-<p>The break of day on the 2d revealed the army of General
-Meade in line of battle on the heights south of Gettysburg,
-running north and south with the Emmitsburg
-road in his front. General Lee thus described his position:
-"The enemy occupied a strong position, with his
-right upon two commanding elevations adjacent to each
-other, one southeast (Culp's hill), and the other (Cemetery
-hill) immediately south of the town which lay at its
-base. His line extended thence upon the high ground
-along the Emmitsburg road, with a steep ridge in rear,
-which was also occupied. This ridge was difficult of
-ascent, particularly the two hills above mentioned as
-forming its northern extremity, and a third at the other
-end (Little Round Top) on which the enemy's left rested.
-Numerous stone and rail fences along the slope served to
-afford protection to his troops and impede our advance.
-In his front the ground was undulating and generally open
-for about three-quarters of a mile."</p>
-
-<p>Immediately south of the Federal left, as described by
-General Lee, was a still higher hill, known as Round
-Top, which commanded the whole left of the Federal
-position, and was not occupied early on the morning of
-the 2d. To attack a superior force in a position so
-strong presented a difficult problem for solution, and gave
-the Confederate general serious pause. He had Ewell's
-corps on his left, confronting Culp's and Cemetery hills,
-and facing southwest and south; and Hill's corps on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>
-right facing east. McLaws' and Hood's divisions of
-Longstreet's corps camped within 4 miles of the battlefield
-on the night of the 1st, left camp at sunrise on the
-2d, and marched to the right of Hill's corps. The Third
-division of Longstreet's corps (Pickett's) was left to
-guard the trains at Chambersburg, and did not reach the
-vicinity of Gettysburg until the afternoon of the 2d.
-General Longstreet received his definite orders for position
-and attack about 11 o'clock, and by 3:30 p. m. McLaws
-was in position opposite the enemy's advanced
-position at the peach orchard, with Hood on his right
-facing the Round Tops. General Lee's order of attack
-directed that his right (Hood and McLaws), strongly supported
-by artillery, should envelop and drive in the Federal
-left; that simultaneously with this attack against the
-Federal left, the Confederate left should storm Culp's
-and Cemetery hills; and the Confederate center at the
-same time should so threaten the Federal center as to
-prevent reinforcements to either Federal wing. General
-Lee's plan of battle contemplated prompt movement,
-and concert of action along his entire line. If these conditions,
-essential to the success of the plan, had been
-given in its execution, the writer believes that the battle
-of Gettysburg would have been won by General Lee on
-July 2d by a victory as complete as Chancellorsville.
-They were not given and the plan failed.</p>
-
-<p>The actual fighting of the separate assaults was gallant
-and heroic, and the resistance both steady and aggressive;
-the Federal position along his main line being
-unmoved by the assaults. On the Confederate right two
-divisions of Longstreet's corps made the advance at 4 p.
-m. (Hood's and McLaws'), supported by four of the five
-brigades of Anderson's division from the center. Hood
-on the extreme right, next McLaws, and then Anderson,
-were fighting forward and struggling to storm the last<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>
-position of the Federal army on the heights, but these
-divisions were fighting it out without the simultaneous
-battle which Lee had ordered on the left.</p>
-
-<p>They had carried the stone walls and numerous hills
-and woods, the peach orchard, the great wheat-field and
-rocky bluffs in their front, and were on the slopes of the
-Round Tops and the heights north of them, but still the
-battle had not opened on the left. There was not a man
-to reinforce Longstreet's line, and the enemy in his front
-was reinforced by both infantry and artillery. Hours
-passed (General Lee said two, General Longstreet four
-and Gen. Edward Johnson said it was dark) before General
-Ewell's left division moved to the attack on Culp's
-hill, which, after some time, perhaps another hour, was
-followed by the attack on the north face of Cemetery
-hill. Edward Johnson's division made the attack on
-Culp's hill and Early's division on Cemetery hill. The
-Third division of Ewell's corps (Rodes') did not attack at
-all. Anderson's (of Hill's corps) was the only one of the
-three center divisions that attacked from the center.</p>
-
-<p>It is evident from these statements, which are made
-from a careful study of the official reports, that the prime
-conditions of success, concert of action and simultaneous
-movement, were not given the plan of the commanding
-general. Edward Johnson's three brigades did not begin
-the actual attack on Culp's hill until dusk, according to
-his own and General Ewell's statements. General Early,
-with two of his four brigades, Hays' and Hoke's, attacked
-Cemetery hill still later. These two brigades carried the
-height and actually took the enemy's batteries, but were
-unable without support to hold what they had gained.
-It is in the report of Rodes, who did not advance at all,
-on account of darkness, that particular mention is made
-of his having observed the enemy on Cemetery hill, during
-the afternoon, withdrawing artillery and infantry to
-reinforce against the attack then in progress on the Confederate
-right. The troops of the Federal army in posi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>tion
-at Culp's and Cemetery hills were those beaten and
-routed on the 1st, and considering the success gained by
-the brigades of Hays and Avery, there can be no reasonable
-doubt that with the immediate support of Rodes,
-the attack being made at the earlier hour ordered, Cemetery
-hill would have fallen, and with its fall the Confederate
-left and center would have driven the Federal right
-in confusion and Gettysburg would have been added to the
-long list of General Lee's great victories. The Comte de
-Paris, in his review of Gettysburg, has truly said, that
-"the way in which the fights of the 2d of July were
-directed does not show the same co-ordination which
-insured the success of the Southern arms at Gaines'
-Mill and Chancellorsville."</p>
-
-<p>But it is time that our attention was directed to the
-South Carolina brigade, under Kershaw, operating with
-McLaws, in Longstreet's attack, and the batteries of
-Bachman and Garden, operating with Hood, on the
-extreme right of Longstreet's battle.</p>
-
-<p>Kershaw formed the right of McLaws' division and
-Barksdale his left, Semmes behind Kershaw and Wofford
-behind Barksdale. In front of Barksdale was the peach
-orchard, 500 yards distant and in front of Kershaw and
-on a line with the orchard a stone house, stone barn and
-stone fence. The peach orchard was on an eminence,
-and was held by infantry and a battery. Beyond the
-stone house was another eminence, defended by a battery,
-and beyond this battery a stony hill, wooded and rough.
-This stony hill was in front of Kershaw's center, and
-beyond the hill opened the great wheat-field which
-spread forward to the slopes of the Federal main position.
-Barksdale moved against the orchard and Kershaw against
-the stony hill and the battery in front of it. Before moving
-General Kershaw had detached the Fifteenth South
-Carolina, Colonel De Saussure, to support a battery
-between his right and Hood's left.</p>
-
-<p>Marching forward under the fire of canister from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>
-battery in his front, and the infantry fire from the south
-side of the peach orchard, the Carolina brigade swept
-past the battery and reached the hill, Barksdale clearing
-the orchard and its battery on Kershaw's left. Taking
-possession of the rocky hill, the enemy at once advanced
-upon it over the wheat-field in two lines of battle.</p>
-
-<p>As the brigade stood on the rocky hill to receive the
-advance, the regiments were ranged, from right to left:
-The Seventh, Colonel Aiken; Third, Maj. R. C. Maffett;
-Second, Colonel Kennedy; Third battalion, Lieut.-Col.
-W. G. Rice; Eighth, Colonel Henagan. The Fifteenth,
-Colonel DeSaussure, was still in battle in support of artillery
-between Kershaw and Hood. Here, at the rocky
-hill, was the battle ground of the brigade. The Eighth,
-Third battalion and Second held their ground and beat
-back the attacks coming again and again against them.
-Moving around Kershaw's right, before Semmes could
-come to his support, a large force assaulted the Seventh
-and pushed back its right. The Third held its ground
-until the Seventh was crowded back at right angles, and
-then changed its front to support the Seventh. A part
-of Semmes' brigade came up, but the enemy were so far
-in rear of Kershaw's right as to cut off the support.
-Surrounding his right, the attacking force drove back the
-Seventh, and the battle on Kershaw's right was with the
-Third and Seventh and one of Semmes' regiments at
-close quarters among the rocks and trees of the hill-crest
-and sides.</p>
-
-<p>Meanwhile the left was holding fast. On came Wofford
-toward the conflict, and on the right Semmes' other regiments
-and the Fifteenth South Carolina. Sweeping up
-to the battle everything gave way before the charge, and
-joining Wofford and Semmes, Kershaw's line moved forward,
-the advance sweeping the whole wheat-field and
-beyond to the foot of the mountain. Night came on, and
-the brigades of McLaws were put on the hill along the
-positions gained by the battle.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>General Kershaw's losses were severe and grievous.
-The brave and able Colonel De Saussure, of the Fifteenth,
-and Major McLeod, of the Eighth, gallant in fight and
-estimable in life, had both fallen; Colonel De Saussure
-killed on the field and Major McLeod mortally wounded.
-Among the wounded were Colonel Kennedy of the Second,
-Lieut.-Col. Elbert Bland of the Seventh, and Maj.
-D. B. Miller of the Third battalion. The writer regrets
-that he can find no list of the line officers killed and
-wounded in the brigade at Gettysburg. The brigade lost
-115 killed, 483 wounded and 32 missing, making a total
-of 630. Bachman's and Garden's batteries with Hood's
-right, and Rhett's battery, under Lieutenant Gilbert,
-were in action during the day, but there are no reports
-at hand of their casualties.</p>
-
-<p>If the problem presented to the mind of General Lee
-on the morning of the 2d, as he saw his army, inferior in
-numbers and equipment, confronted by the army of General
-Meade on the heights of Gettysburg, was one which
-gave him the deepest concern, how much more serious
-was the situation on the morning of the 3d! General
-Longstreet's battle on the right had driven the Federal
-left to the crests, and the Confederate infantry and artillery
-of that wing were occupying the positions which the
-Federal forces had held on the morning of the 2d. But
-now the Federal army was intrenched on those heights,
-with the Round Tops bristling with artillery and Cemetery
-hill and Culp's hill crowned by batteries, seven corps
-behind breastworks of stone or earth, and the slopes in
-front guarded by advanced lines lying behind fences or
-covered in the woods.</p>
-
-<p>There is no record of a council of war. Longstreet,
-second in command, continued to favor a movement
-around the Federal left; but General Lee disapproved,
-and resolutely determined to attack the Federal citadel,
-confident that the men who had swept Hooker's army
-from the heights of Chancellorsville, if properly sup<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>ported,
-could carry victory to the heights of Gettysburg.</p>
-
-<p>He selected the Federal left center as the point of attack;
-ordered, as on the 2d, concert of action from both
-wings of his army, and organized his assaulting column of
-15,000 men. Stuart's cavalry had come up on his left and
-confronted the main body of Meade's cavalry. The situation
-on his extreme right was more serious than the Confederate
-general realized. This is evident from the
-reports. The Round Tops were unassailable by the
-force at Longstreet's command, and a division of cavalry,
-Farnsworth's and Merritt's brigades, was in position
-on the right rear, confronted by a single regiment, the
-First South Carolina cavalry, Bachman's South Carolina
-battery, and three regiments of Anderson's Georgia brigade.
-Anderson's regiments were at right angles to
-Longstreet's line, and Colonel Black's cavalry was on
-Anderson's right flank. Black had only about 100 men
-in his regiment. In Longstreet's immediate front the
-situation was such that there was nothing to do but stand
-on the defensive. He was weaker in numbers on the 3d
-than he was on the morning of the 2d, and his enemy was
-stronger by reinforcements and the occupation of the
-greater of the two Round Tops. If, however, the
-assaulting column of 15,000 could break the center, the
-wings of General Meade's army would be so shaken that
-both Longstreet and Ewell could attack with good hope
-of success, and Lee was fixed in his purpose.</p>
-
-<p>The column of attack was made up of the divisions of
-Pickett and Pettigrew (Heth's), to be supported by Wilcox
-and the brigades of Lane and Scales under Trimble.</p>
-
-<p>All the available artillery of Hill's and Longstreet's
-corps was put in position by Col. E. P. Alexander, and
-at 1 o'clock General Longstreet ordered the batteries to
-open. For two hours more than 200 cannon were in
-action across the plain against Federal and Confederate.
-At 3 the assaulting column moved out from cover and
-down toward the Emmitsburg road, which ran between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>
-the two armies, and at the point of attack was held by
-the Federal pickets. The Confederate batteries had
-ceased firing and could give no more support, for their
-ammunition was nearly exhausted, no supply near at
-hand, and it was essential to reserve the supply in the
-chests.</p>
-
-<p>All the reports of the advance concur in the statement
-that the troops moved over the field and into the fire of
-the enemy's batteries in beautiful order. Coming under
-the canister fire of the batteries on the crest, the ranks
-began rapidly to thin and officers to fall, but the advance
-was steady. General Trimble, riding with his line, then
-100 yards in rear of Pettigrew, said: "Notwithstanding
-the losses as we advanced, the men marched with the
-deliberation and accuracy of men on drill. I observed
-the same in Pettigrew's line."</p>
-
-<p>The enemy's batteries were on the crest. Below them
-30 or 40 yards on the slope, and running almost parallel
-with the crest, was a stone wall, breast high. Behind
-this wall lay the Federal first line. Below this line, some
-hundred yards, concealed in the undergrowth, lay his
-advance line. Beyond it, at the road, ran his picket line.
-Meeting the pickets, they were immediately driven in,
-and Garnett and Kemper marched against the advance
-line in the undergrowth. The resistance was slight,
-prisoners were made, and the attack so vigorous and
-dashing that the Federal line was driven in rout. But
-the enemy's batteries opened with redoubled activity, and
-the fire from the stone wall was galling. A battery on
-Little Round Top, enfilading the front of the stone wall,
-and another from Cemetery hill, plunged their shell into
-the ranks of Kemper and Garnett and raked the advancing
-line of Armistead as it moved up in support.</p>
-
-<p>Garnett led his brigade forward against the stone wall
-and got in advance, and arrived within 50 yards, where
-the fire was so severe that it checked his onset and he
-sent back to hurry up Kemper and Armistead. Both<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>
-these brigades were struggling through the withering
-fire, and in a few moments were abreast with Garnett.
-At 25 yards from the wall Garnett was shot from his
-horse. Kemper had fallen and Armistead had been
-killed, but officers and men rushed for the wall and
-planted their standards. The fighting at this line was
-desperate, and hand to hand. But the conflict was too
-unequal to avail the gallant survivors of Garnett and
-Kemper and Armistead. Of the three brigades scarcely
-a picket line was left to grapple with the battle array of
-their foe. The remnant gave up the fight and left the
-field. If Wilcox could have reached the wall with his
-gallant Alabamians, the fight might have been prolonged&mdash;it
-might have been successful. But to reach that stone
-wall Wilcox must march through the fire that shot to
-pieces the brigades of Kemper, Garnett and Armistead.
-General Wilcox says that he reached the foot of the hill;
-that he could not see a man whom he was sent to support;
-that he was subjected to such an artillery fire from
-front and both flanks that he went back in search of a
-battery; that he could find none; that returning to his
-brigade he regarded further advance useless and ordered
-a retreat.</p>
-
-<p>On the left, Pettigrew and Trimble carried their battle
-to the Emmitsburg road and to the advanced line.
-Archer's brigade, on Garnett's immediate left, had 13
-color-bearers shot one after another in gallant efforts to
-plant the colors of his five regiments on the stone wall.
-The direction of the Federal line was oblique to the general
-line of advance. Pettigrew's line was exposed longest
-to the front and flank fire, and at the Emmitsburg
-road he had suffered more severely than Pickett's brigades.
-When Pettigrew was yet 150 yards from the
-Emmitsburg road, says General Trimble, who was about
-that distance in his rear, "They seemed to sink into the
-earth from the tempest of fire poured into them."
-Although wounded, Pettigrew led his line across the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>
-road and against the first line, but his brigades were shattered
-too badly to make organized assault further.
-Archer's brigade on his right fought at the stone wall, as
-did Garnett's and Kemper's and Armistead's, and suffered
-a like repulse. Officers and men from the other brigades
-reached the wall and fought with desperate courage, and
-died beside it, but the division in its organization was
-torn asunder and shot to pieces by the time they reached
-and attacked the first line. Trimble's brigades were as
-helpless for successful assault as Pettigrew; and yet they
-moved on until within pistol shot of the main line. As
-General Trimble followed his line back to Seminary
-ridge, on horseback, under the increased fire of shell,
-grape and musketry, he reported his wonder that any one
-could escape wounds or death. And, indeed, but few did.
-The loss is reported for Garnett, Kemper, Armistead
-and Wilcox, but there is no report given of the particular
-loss of July 3d in Pettigrew's command, or
-Trimble's. The three brigades of Pickett lost their
-brigadiers, nearly every field officer, and nearly or quite
-3,000 men.</p>
-
-<p>With the failure of this attack, the great contest at Gettysburg
-was decided. While it was in progress General
-Stuart, on the rear of General Lee's left, was fighting a
-great cavalry battle with the main body of General
-Meade's cavalry. Stuart had the brigades of Hampton,
-Fitz Lee, Chambliss, W. H. F. Lee and Jenkins. In the
-battle much of the fighting was at close quarters and
-with pistol and saber as the charging lines came together.
-In one of these contacts General Hampton was twice
-severely wounded. On the day previous, his having
-been the first of General Stuart's brigades to reach the
-vicinity of Gettysburg, he was just in time to meet a cavalry
-force moving from Hunterstown directly against
-General Lee's unprotected left. After a sharp engagement
-General Hampton defeated this force, and drove it
-beyond reach. The arrival of Stuart on the 2d was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>
-source of infinite satisfaction to the Confederate commander;
-indeed, if he had not come, the three divisions
-of General Pleasanton would have taken complete possession
-of General Lee's communications, and the battle of
-Gettysburg would have been a still greater disaster to
-the Southern army.</p>
-
-<p>After the defeat of the assaulting column, Meade was
-too cautious to risk his lines against the army that had
-held the heights of Fredericksburg. He stood resolutely
-on the defensive throughout the 4th of July. On that
-night General Lee began his masterly retreat to the
-Potomac, which he crossed in the face of his enemy on
-the morning of the 14th. Ewell's corps forded the river
-at Williamsport, Generals Longstreet and Hill crossed
-by pontoon at Falling Waters, and by 1 p. m. of the 14th
-the Gettysburg campaign was over.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>SOUTH CAROLINIANS AT CHICKAMAUGA&mdash;ORGANIZATION
-OF THE ARMIES&mdash;SOUTH CAROLINIANS ENGAGED&mdash;THEIR
-HEROIC SERVICE AND SACRIFICES.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">The</span> armies of Generals Bragg and Rosecrans,
-which were to fight the battle of Chickamauga on
-the 19th and 20th of September, 1863, were widely
-separated in the early part of August, Bragg at Chattanooga
-and Rosecrans beyond the Cumberland mountains,
-with the Tennessee river rolling between them.</p>
-
-<p>About the middle of August, the Federal general broke
-up his encampments and moved his army across the
-mountains to the Tennessee. Crittenden's corps threatened
-Chattanooga through the gaps in Walden's ridge,
-while Thomas' corps and McCook's moved to Stevenson,
-Bridgeport and the vicinity. Rosecrans established
-his depot at Stevenson and passed his army over the
-river on pontoons, rafts and boats, and boldly crossed
-Sand mountain to Trenton. He was on the flank of General
-Bragg by the 8th of September, and by the 12th had
-crossed Lookout mountain.</p>
-
-<p>Bragg, having left Chattanooga on the 8th, Rosecrans
-sent Crittenden's corps to occupy that place and move on
-the railroad as far as Ringgold, while Thomas and McCook
-took position in McLemore's cove and down as far
-as Alpine. Rosecrans' corps was widely separated and
-his wings were by road, 50 miles or more apart! Meanwhile
-Bragg was on the line of Chickamauga creek, with
-his left at Lafayette and his headquarters at Lee &amp; Gordon's
-mills. General Gist's South Carolina brigade, with
-Ferguson's battery, was guarding his extreme left at
-Rome and supporting the cavalry in that quarter. Crit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>tenden's
-corps at Ringgold and vicinity was at General
-Bragg's mercy. He was only 10 miles from Bragg's
-headquarters, with the Chickamauga between himself
-and Thomas, and by road at least 20 miles from that
-general's support. McCook was fully as far from
-Thomas on the other flank. "It was therefore a matter
-of life and death (says Rosecrans in his report) to effect
-the concentration of the army."</p>
-
-<p>Crittenden marched across Bragg's right, passed the
-Chickamauga and moved down toward Thomas, and McCook
-marched up from Alpine toward that general's
-position in McLemore's cove. Pigeon mountain range
-covered McCook and Thomas; but Crittenden's march
-was open to attack. His corps should have been beaten
-and driven off toward Chattanooga. General Bragg
-clearly saw this and endeavored to strike Crittenden at
-the proper moment, giving explicit orders to that effect.
-These orders were not executed, the opportunity passed,
-and Rosecrans united his corps on the west side of the
-Chickamauga, while Bragg confronted him on the east.
-The great battles of the 19th and 20th of September
-were now imminent. We give the organization of the
-two armies as they were engaged in that memorable
-conflict, omitting those troops which were not in the
-battle; as, for instance, the brigades of Hood's and McLaws'
-divisions, and the artillery of those commands.
-Longstreet had only three brigades in battle on the 19th
-and five on the 20th, the artillery and other commands
-of his corps not having arrived. Among his absent
-brigades was that of Gen. Micah Jenkins, composed of
-South Carolina regiments.</p>
-
-
-<p>BRAGG'S ARMY.</p>
-
-<p>RIGHT WING, LIEUTENANT-GENERAL POLK COMMANDING.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Hill's corps, Lieut.-Gen. D. H. Hill: Cheatham's division, 5 brigades,
-5 batteries; Cleburne's division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries; Breckinridge's
-division, 3 brigades, 4 batteries.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Walker's corps, Maj.-Gen. W. H. T. Walker: Walker's division,
-3 brigades, 2 batteries; Liddell's division, 2 brigades, 2 batteries.</p>
-
-<p>Total of wing, 5 divisions, 16 brigades, 16 batteries.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p>LEFT WING, LIEUTENANT-GENERAL LONGSTREET COMMANDING.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Buckner's corps, Major-General Buckner: Stewart's division,
-4 brigades, 4 batteries; Preston's division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries;
-Johnson's division, 2 brigades, 2 batteries.</p>
-
-<p>Longstreet's corps, Major-General Hood: McLaws' division, 2
-brigades; Hood's division, 3 brigades; Hindman's division, 3 brigades,
-3 batteries; Reserve artillery, 5 batteries.</p>
-
-<p>Total of wing, 6 divisions, 17 brigades, 17 batteries.</p>
-
-<p>Total in both wings, 11 divisions, 33 brigades, 33 batteries.</p>
-
-<p>Corps of cavalry, Major-General Wheeler, operating on Bragg's
-left: Wharton's division, 2 brigades, 1 battery; Martin's division,
-2 brigades, 1 battery.</p>
-
-<p>Corps of cavalry, Major-General Forrest, operating on Bragg's
-right: Armstrong's division, 2 brigades, 2 batteries; Pegram's division,
-2 brigades, 2 batteries.</p>
-
-<p>Total of cavalry, 4 divisions, 8 brigades, 6 batteries.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p>ROSECRANS' ARMY.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Fourteenth corps, Major-General Thomas commanding: Baird's
-division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries; Negley's division, 3 brigades,
-3 batteries; Brannan's division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries; Reynolds'
-division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries.</p>
-
-<p>Twentieth corps, Major-General McCook commanding: Davis'
-division, 3 brigades, 5 batteries; Johnson's division, 3 brigades,
-3 batteries; Sheridan's division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries.</p>
-
-<p>Twenty-first corps, Major-General Crittenden commanding:
-Wood's division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries; Palmer's division, 3 brigades,
-4 batteries; Van Cleve's division, 3 brigades, 3 batteries.</p>
-
-<p>Reserve corps, Major-General Granger commanding: One division,
-3 brigades, 3 batteries.</p>
-
-<p>Total, 11 divisions, 33 brigades, 36 batteries.</p>
-
-<p>Cavalry corps, Brigadier-General Mitchell commanding: 2 divisions,
-5 brigades, 2 batteries.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The number of infantry divisions and brigades, as
-reported, was the same in both armies. Bragg had
-more cavalry in the field than Rosecrans, but in the battle
-of Chickamauga, on his immediate flanks, Wheeler
-had not more than 2,000 and Forrest about the same number.
-It is always difficult to estimate the strength of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>
-armies by counting their divisions, brigades or regiments,
-for the reason that it is impossible in an active campaign
-to keep up the relative proportions of separate corps,
-engaged at different times and often with no option as to
-whether a fresh or a decimated command shall go into
-action. The writer was an officer of General Walker's
-division, and knows that at the battle of Chickamauga,
-on the 20th, that division of three brigades did not number
-3,000 men. General Gist's brigade, to which the
-writer was attached, went into action on the 20th, 980
-strong, one of its regiments (Sixteenth South Carolina)
-and its light battery being absent at Rome.</p>
-
-<p>By studying the field returns of both armies, nearest to
-the opening battle on the 19th (Rosecrans' of September
-10th and Bragg's of August 20th), and making deductions
-for commands on stations or on detached duty, and
-counting in for Bragg's army the two divisions from
-Mississippi (Breckinridge's and Walker's), and Longstreet's
-five brigades and Buckner's troops, and estimating
-losses for both armies up to the battle of the 19th, it
-is believed that Bragg crossed the Chickamauga on the
-18th, 19th and 20th with 45,000, exclusive of his cavalry.
-By the method of estimating the strength of General
-Bragg's army, the writer believes that Rosecrans confronted
-Bragg with 53,000, exclusive of his cavalry.</p>
-
-<p>Before the battle, each general overestimated the
-strength of the other and underestimated his own. On
-September 12th, General Rosecrans believed that "the
-main body of Johnston's army had joined Bragg," and
-that he had been heavily reinforced from Virginia. The
-truth is, that so far as Bragg's reinforcements affected
-the engagements of the armies at Chickamauga, they did
-not add a man more than 10,000 to Bragg's strength, if,
-indeed, they added so many.</p>
-
-<p>The two armies facing each other from opposite sides
-of the Chickamauga, Bragg gave order for battle. Rosecrans'
-left, under Thomas, was at Kelly's house on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>
-Chattanooga road, his right stretching beyond and south
-of Lee &amp; Gordon's mills. The Chattanooga road spoken
-of is the main road from LaFayette to Chattanooga,
-crossing the Chickamauga at Lee &amp; Gordon's mills. Kelly's
-house was opposite Reed's bridge, and south of it, on
-the road, were the houses of Poe, Brotherton, Brock,
-Taylor and Vineyard. Nearly a mile north of Kelly's was
-McDonald's. From McDonald's to Lee &amp; Gordon's mills
-(the road running nearly north and south) was about
-4 miles.</p>
-
-<p>The crossings of the Chickamauga were by fords and
-two bridges, Alexander's and Reed's; the former opposite
-Vineyard's house, and the latter opposite Kelly's.
-Hunt's (or Dalton's) ford came nearest Lee &amp; Gordon's
-mills; then Thedford's, then Alexander's bridge, then
-Byram's ford, then Reed's bridge, and a mile further
-north, Reed's ford. General Bragg's order designated
-the ford or bridge at which the different commands were
-to cross and directed each to attack in front, beginning
-from the Reed bridge crossing and moving against the
-Federal left and rear.</p>
-
-<p>Thomas marched his head of column beyond Kelly's
-house, faced the Chickamauga, and sent one of his divisions
-(Brannan's) to reconnoiter toward Reed's bridge.
-From Kelly's to Reed's bridge was about 2½ miles. At
-Jay's mill, near the bridge, Brannan met Forrest, and
-the battle of the 19th was opened. Forrest pushed Brannan
-back, the latter was reinforced by Baird's division,
-and Walker (marching from Alexander's bridge toward
-Forrest's battle) sent two of his brigades, Ector's and
-Wilson's, to Forrest's support. Brannan and Baird were
-driving Forrest back to Jay's mill when Ector and Wilson
-came up, and then in turn Baird and Brannan were
-driven, artillery and prisoners captured. Thomas now
-reinforced his battle by Reynolds, and McCook sent in
-Johnson's division. Walker, coming up with Liddell's two
-brigades, took command of the battle and attacked vig<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>orously
-with Forrest and his four brigades, driving Reynolds,
-on the Federal right, in rout; but Palmer's division
-sent by Crittenden to reinforce Thomas, met and drove
-Walker back. Meanwhile, Baird and Brannan were
-checking and holding Forrest.</p>
-
-<p>General Bragg sent up Cheatham's division on Walker's
-left, and Thomas moved Brannan from his left to his
-right. Cheatham attacked against the Federal right,
-further reinforced by Van Cleve's division, drove forward
-for a half mile, was checked, his flanks threatened, and
-retired to his first position. The Federal right advanced,
-attacked Cheatham and Walker, and were handsomely
-repulsed; meanwhile Forrest holding fast the right.
-Finally, near night, Cleburne came up in Cheatham's rear
-and forming on his right, attacked and drove for a mile
-the Federal left, capturing three pieces of artillery, several
-stand of colors and 300 or more prisoners. It was
-now past night and the battle on the Confederate right
-was over. Lieutenant-General Polk arrived on the right
-and took command at about 5 p. m. Walker's, Cheatham's,
-Cleburne's and Forrest's battle was from Jay's mill
-(a half mile from Reed's bridge on to the west) toward
-Kelly's house, the line of battle extending for a mile on
-either side of the road from Reed's bridge toward Kelly's.
-Early in the afternoon, Stewart's division in front of
-Vineyard's, and Hood's on his left, vigorously attacked.
-Stewart drove in the Federal center and crossed the Chattanooga
-road, but was repulsed. The battle of Stewart
-and Hood was vigorous and aggressive from the start,
-but was not reinforced and was repulsed from the road.
-Stewart nor Hood had artillery, and neither could hold
-what was gained at and beyond the road.</p>
-
-<p>Thus ended the battle of the 19th. Rosecrans held the
-ridge of the Chattanooga road, formed and strengthened
-his line during the night, and Bragg called his corps commanders
-and gave his orders for the battle of the 20th
-to open at daylight. General Rosecrans remarks of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>
-19th, that "at the close of the day we had present but
-two brigades that had not been squarely and opportunely
-in action, opposed to superior numbers of the
-enemy." On his part, the whole of his infantry, two
-brigades excepted, had been "opportunely and squarely
-in action." On Bragg's part, six divisions of eighteen
-brigades, with Forrest's cavalry, had been "squarely in
-action."</p>
-
-<p>There was but little rest or sleep for soldier or officer
-on the night of the 19th. Rosecrans was felling trees
-along his front, building breastworks of logs and rails,
-and massing his army in line from beyond Kelly's to
-Vineyard's, a distance of 2 miles. Bragg gave his
-right to Lieutenant-General Polk and his left to Lieutenant-General
-Longstreet; the latter did not arrive until
-11 p. m. on the 19th. Forrest was well out on the right,
-in front of McDonald's; Wheeler on the left, at Lee &amp;
-Gordon's mills and beyond. Polk's command was arranged
-from right to left, as follows: Breckinridge,
-Cleburne, with Walker behind the former and Cheatham
-in rear and to the left of the latter. On the left, Lieutenant-General
-Longstreet's wing was organized from
-right to left as follows: Stewart (touching Cleburne),
-Johnson, Hood, McLaws, Hindman and Preston. The
-line of the Confederate battle for most of its entire length
-was in the forest, which made it difficult to handle artillery
-until the openings along the road were gained.</p>
-
-<p>The South Carolina brigades, Kershaw's, Manigault's
-and Gist's, were with the divisions of McLaws, Hindman
-and Walker. Kershaw reached Alexander's bridge from
-Ringgold at midnight and went into camp on the west
-bank at 1 a. m. on the 20th. General McLaws not having
-arrived, General Kershaw was in command of the
-two brigades of the division present, Humphreys' and
-his own.</p>
-
-<p>While Kershaw was marching from Ringgold for
-Alexander's bridge, General Gist was marching from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>
-Catoosa Station for the same point, having arrived from
-Rome with part of the Forty-sixth Georgia, the Twenty-fourth
-South Carolina and the Eighth Georgia battalion;
-the Sixteenth South Carolina and Ferguson's battery
-awaiting transportation at Rome, with the remainder of
-the Forty-sixth Georgia.</p>
-
-<p>General Gist had under his charge an ammunition train
-which delayed his march and prevented his leaving
-Catoosa before 10 p. m. on the 19th. After an all-night
-march Gist crossed Alexander's bridge at sunrise, halted
-a mile beyond, and after a brief rest was directed to the
-right to join Walker, arriving about 9 o'clock. General
-Walker at once assigned Gist to the command of his division
-(Ector, Wilson and Gist), and Gist's brigade was
-commanded by the senior officer, Col. P. H. Colquitt,
-Forty-sixth Georgia. Kershaw marched his own and
-Humphreys' brigades to the left and took position in
-support of Hood. Manigault's brigade, including the
-Tenth and Nineteenth South Carolina, under Colonel
-Pressley, was under fire on the 18th, Pressley losing
-6 men, crossed at Hunt's ford on the afternoon of the
-19th, with its division (Hindman's), and on the 20th was
-in line near the extreme left. Culpeper's South Carolina
-battery was with McNair's brigade, Johnson's division.</p>
-
-<p>The province of the writer does not permit him to do
-more than first sketch the outline of the battle, and then
-more particularly to speak of the action of the South
-Carolina commands. The attack began between 9 and
-10 a. m. by a vigorous assault of Breckinridge's and
-Cleburne's divisions on the extreme left of Rosecrans'
-line, in front of Kelly's. This assault was repulsed.
-Fighting on the right throughout the morning failed to
-carry the Federal left. The battle progressed from right
-to left, the Confederate center and particularly the left
-being more successful. The Federal center and right
-were gradually driven until forced from the road at Poe's,
-Brotherton's and Vineyard's. Rosecrans' line was bent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>
-first into a curve, and then broken into a right angle, the
-angle being about opposite the left of Polk's wing. The
-Federal right found a strong rest at Snodgrass hill, where
-Thomas, now commanding on the field, concentrated
-artillery and all the troops as they were driven from the
-line. This position, assaulted again and again, repulsed
-the assaults and proved the salvation of Rosecrans' army,
-for behind it the Federal divisions retreated on Rossville
-and Chattanooga.</p>
-
-<p>The Federal left held the position at Kelly's until late
-in the afternoon, about 5 o'clock, when General Polk
-ordered his wing forward. The attack carried the position
-for its whole front and Baird's division followed those
-on his right in the retreat behind Snodgrass. This last
-stronghold was abandoned during the early part of the
-night and Bragg's victory was complete.</p>
-
-<p>When the first attack against the Federal left had
-failed, and the divisions of Breckinridge and Cleburne
-were withdrawing, General Gist's brigade, under Colquitt,
-not 1,000 strong, was hurried in to the support of
-Breckinridge's left brigade, that of General Helm. No
-opportunity was given for reconnoitering the woods, and
-the lull in the firing made it uncertain as to the exact
-position of the enemy. Colquitt was ordered to advance
-due west and support Breckinridge, on his left, and his
-left (Helm) was repulsed and retiring in disorder. Meeting
-and passing Helm's men, the little brigade, dressing
-on the center (Eighth Georgia battalion), marched on into
-the great forest. Colquitt's three companies were on the
-right and the Twenty-fourth South Carolina on the left.
-It was now about 11 o'clock. The first attack had been
-made at about 9:30. General Baird, who received the
-attack, fixes the hour at between 8 and 9 a. m. The
-well-known order of General Bragg had directed it to be
-made at daylight.</p>
-
-<p>The attack of Breckinridge and Cleburne, which preceded
-this advance of Colquitt, struck the Federal left<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>
-flank in front of Kelly's house. Baird's division was in
-position here, behind breastworks of logs and rails, the
-timber freshly cut from the abundant forest. The position
-was a quarter of a mile east of the road, in the forest,
-with open fields behind it running to the road and
-surrounding Kelly's house. The breastworks made a
-sharp angle about opposite the right of Polk's brigade
-(on the left of Helm) and ran back northwest to the road.
-From the angle to the road King's brigade of regulars
-was stationed, and on their right Scribner's brigade and
-then Starkweather's. General Baird formed his division
-in two lines, and reported that King's regulars were even
-more concentrated. Three batteries of artillery belonged
-to Baird's division, but that general reported that much of
-it was disabled on the 19th, and that he defended his line
-with but four guns.</p>
-
-<p>Gist's brigade, not 1,000 strong, plunged into the
-woods, without support right or left, to storm the position
-from which Cleburne on its left and Helm in its front,
-were retiring. The gallant Helm had fallen and his brigade,
-supported on its left by Polk, was repulsed, after
-three attempts to storm King's regulars. In a few
-moments the Twenty-fourth South Carolina passed the
-angle in Baird's line unseen in the thick forest, and his
-artillery and infantry opened an enfilade from King's
-front. Promptly as the fire opened, Col. C. H. Stevens
-commanded the Twenty-fourth to change front to the
-left, and was instantly wounded and disabled, his horse
-being shot. Lieutenant-Colonel Capers executed the
-change of front and directed the fire of the Twenty-fourth
-in reply. The gallant adjutant of the Twenty-fourth,
-Lieut. J. C. Palmer, fell pierced through the head. Then
-Maj. J. S. Jones was badly wounded, and in bringing up
-his right to form on the Twenty-fourth and Eighth Georgia,
-Colquitt fell. The assault was ordered, and while
-leading it Lieutenant-Colonel Capers received a serious
-wound in the thigh, his horse was disabled, and the little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>
-brigade was repulsed. Capt. D. F. Hill took command
-of the Twenty-fourth and Lieutenant-Colonel Napier,
-Georgia battalion, took command of Gist's brigade.</p>
-
-<p>In the battle of the afternoon the Twenty-fourth with
-the brigade had better luck. Reinforced by the absent
-companies of the Forty-sixth Georgia to 1,400 strong,
-Napier led the brigade in the glorious battle of the right
-wing and had the happiness to follow the broken and
-routed columns of Baird, Johnson and Palmer, until
-night came to give rest and sleep to men who had enjoyed
-none since leaving Rome on the early morning of
-the 18th.</p>
-
-<p>In the struggle before Baird's position, which lasted
-not more than forty minutes, the Twenty-fourth South
-Carolina lost 169 men and line officers, killed and wounded.
-Colonel Colquitt, an accomplished soldier and gallant
-leader, fell from his horse mortally wounded in front of the
-center of his line. At the moment Colquitt's 980 men were
-sent in to support Breckinridge, Lieutenant-General Hill
-(who gave the order) did not know that Helm and Polk
-were badly repulsed. Learning it, he sent General Gist
-forward with Ector and Wilson's brigades to support
-Colquitt's attack, but before Gist reached Colquitt, his
-attack was over, with the result above described. Indeed,
-the history of Colquitt's attack and repulse is the
-history of the fight of the right wing throughout the
-morning of the 20th. It was not until the afternoon,
-when the whole wing went forward, that victory crowned
-its battle.</p>
-
-<p>In the left wing Manigault and Kershaw were in the
-thick of the fight. Kershaw commanded the two brigades
-of McLaws' division, and after General Hood was wounded,
-he took the direction of his three brigades. Kershaw
-attacked about 11:30 and Manigault shortly after, the former
-in front of the Brock house and the latter just north
-of Vineyard's. Both attacks were successful and crossed
-the Chattanooga road, swinging with the left wing in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>
-grand wheel to the right. In his advance Kershaw
-reached the Dyer house, almost in rear of Brotherton's
-and half a mile beyond the Chattanooga road. Manigault
-reached a point on Kershaw's left and in line with
-his advance, the divisions of Preston, Hindman, Kershaw
-and Hood driving the Federal right to Snodgrass
-and drawing around that point. Here followed the hardest
-and most prolonged struggle of the day. The order
-of the divisions was somewhat broken up, and brigades
-went in wherever they could assist in a charge. About
-5 p. m. Gracie and Kelly, from Preston's; McNair, with
-Culpeper's battery, from Johnson's; Anderson from
-Hindman's, and Law from Hood's, with Kershaw's brigade,
-all directed by Kershaw, moved on the front and
-east of Snodgrass, while Hindman with Manigault's and
-Deas' brigades, Johnson with Gregg's, and Preston
-with Trigg's, attacked the west flank. This, says Kershaw,
-"was one of the heaviest attacks on a single point
-I ever witnessed! The brigades went in in magnificent
-order. For an hour and a half the struggle continued
-with unabated fury. It terminated at sunset." The
-hill was not carried. It was held with splendid courage
-and was defended by all the forces of the center and
-right which could be rallied, and by Steedman's division
-of Granger's reserve corps; the whole put in position by
-General Thomas, now in command of the field, General
-Rosecrans having given up the battle as lost and gone to
-Chattanooga to arrange for the morrow.</p>
-
-<p>As soon as the Confederate right had driven the Federal
-left, Thomas began the retreat of the center behind
-his citadel on Snodgrass, and after night withdrew the
-divisions of Wood, Brannan and Steedman from the hill,
-and the great battle had been fought to its victorious
-end.</p>
-
-<p>The losses had been terrible on both sides. Among
-the Carolina commands some of the choicest spirits had
-fallen. Kershaw lost 488 killed and wounded; Manigault<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>
-539, and the Twenty-fourth South Carolina (Gist's brigade)
-169; a total of 1,196. Lieut.-Col. Elbert Bland,
-Seventh South Carolina, fell at the head of his regiment,
-and a few moments later Maj. John S. Hard, his successor,
-was instantly killed. Capt. J. M. Townsend, commanding
-the Third battalion, Lieut.-Col. Hoole, Eighth
-regiment, and Capt. W. A. Williams, acting major of the
-Third, were killed in the gallant performance of duty.
-Capt. D. R. Huger of General Manigault's staff fell in
-front of Snodgrass hill, and others of that gallant brigade
-sealed their devotion to duty with their heart's blood.</p>
-
-<p>In the report of General Kershaw, the following officers
-are mentioned for gallant and noteworthy conduct:
-Lieutenant-Colonel Bland and Major Hard of the Seventh;
-Captain Townsend of the Third battalion; Col.
-James D. Nance of the Third regiment; Lieut.-Col.
-Franklin Gaillard of the Second; Col. John W. Henagan
-of the Eighth, and Col. Joseph F. Gist of the Fifteenth;
-Capts. C. R. Holmes, H. L. Farley, and W. M. Dwight
-of the brigade staff, and Couriers M. F. Milam, Company
-A, Third battalion, and Rawlins Rivers, Company I, Second
-regiment; both killed carrying General Kershaw's
-orders on the field.</p>
-
-<p>General Gist mentioned Maj. B. B. Smith, Capt. M. P.
-King, and Lieuts. L. M. Butler and J. C. Habersham, of
-his staff, for efficiency and gallant conduct; Col. C. H.
-Stevens and Lieut.-Col. Ellison Capers, Twenty-fourth,
-for the same; and Adjt. J. C. Palmer and Capt. D. F.
-Hill, of the Twenty-fourth, "and other brave and true
-officers" of the same regiment.</p>
-
-<p>General Manigault mentioned the following as "distinguished
-for conduct on the field:" Col. J. F. Pressley
-and Lieut.-Col. Julius T. Porcher of the Tenth; Maj.
-J. L. White and Adjutant Ferrell of the Nineteenth;
-Capt. C. I. Walker, assistant adjutant-general, and Lieut.
-William E. Huger, aide-de-camp. These names are given
-from the reports, but how many are left unmentioned!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>
-The men and officers of the line who carried their colonels
-and lieutenant-colonels and majors and generals forward
-to victory are worthy of lasting honor. South Carolina has
-recorded their names on her roll of faithful and devoted
-soldiers and citizens, and while her archives endure they
-may be read by their descendants as the witness she
-bears to their courage, their patriotism, and their self-sacrificing
-devotion to duty.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>THE SIEGE OF CHARLESTON&mdash;CONTINUED BOMBARDMENT
-OF FORT SUMTER&mdash;DEFENSE MAINTAINED
-BY THE OTHER WORKS&mdash;THE TORPEDO BOATS-BOMBARDMENT
-OF THE CITY&mdash;TRANSFER OF
-TROOPS TO VIRGINIA&mdash;PRISONERS UNDER FIRE-CAMPAIGN
-ON THE STONO.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">On</span> August 24, 1863, General Gillmore, in a communication
-to the general-in-chief of the United
-States armies, said: "I have the honor to report
-the practical demolition of Fort Sumter as the result of
-our seven days' bombardment of that work. Fort Sumter
-is to-day a shapeless and harmless mass of ruins." It
-was on this day that the garrison, under Colonel Rhett, was
-visited by General Ripley and the chief engineers, Colonels
-Gilmer and Harris, and it was determined to hold
-to the last extremity the fort which Gillmore had reduced
-to "a harmless mass of ruins." The men worked night
-after night transferring the contents of the magazines to
-safer places, preparing much of the munitions for shipment
-to the city, and building new works from the débris.
-The east magazines were not damaged.</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Rhett's journal of the 25th has this entry:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Finished securing west magazine from reverse fire;
-began traverses on parade at entrance to passage now
-used for hospital sally port. Magazine and telegraph office
-repaired and filled up with bags.... Restored traverses
-on east barbette. Embrasures on northeast and northwest
-faces in process of being bricked up.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>After this the fire from the Federal batteries on Sumter
-was comparatively light, until the 30th, when 322 shot
-and shell struck outside and 168 inside, doing a great deal
-of damage. Next day, Fort Moultrie by mistake opened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>
-upon the steamer Sumter, carrying two regiments from
-Morris island, disabling the steamer, from which 600 officers
-and men belonging to the Twentieth South Carolina
-and Twenty-third Georgia were saved by boats from Fort
-Sumter and the navy. September 1st was another destructive
-day for Sumter, six monitors and the Ironsides
-aiding in the fire. On September 4th there was not a
-single gun en barbette, and but one smooth-bore 32-pounder
-next the sally port on western face that could
-be fired. Colonel Rhett reported:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>The northeastern and northwestern terre plein have
-fallen in. The western wall has a crack in it extending
-entirely through from parapet to berme. The greater
-portion of the southern wall is down. The upper eastern
-magazine is penetrated; the lower eastern magazine wall
-is cracked. The eastern wall is very nearly shot away;
-a large portion of the wall is down, the ramparts gone,
-and nearly every casemate breached, and the remaining
-wall very thin.... I consider it impracticable to either
-mount or use guns on any part of the parapet, and I
-deem the fort in its present condition unserviceable for
-offensive purposes.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The work of repair went on, however, and on September
-4th the Charleston battalion arrived at the fort, under
-command of Major Elliott, and relieved Colonel Rhett,
-commanding, and Captain Fleming, Company B, detachment
-of First South Carolina artillery and Twenty-seventh
-and Twenty-eighth Georgia volunteers, who had
-endured the first tremendous bombardment. Colonel
-Rhett was put in command of the interior batteries in
-and about the city, with Castle Pinckney and Fort
-Ripley.</p>
-
-<p>As soon as the Federals occupied Battery Wagner, it
-was opened upon by Batteries Simkins and Fort Moultrie
-and the works adjacent. Soon afterward a flag of truce
-was sent to Fort Sumter, with a demand for surrender,
-which was refused by Elliott, though he was utterly
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>unable to maintain an artillery fire. Following this
-refusal, the Ironsides and five monitors came up the
-channel and opened fire upon Sumter and the Sullivan's
-island batteries. At Battery Beauregard, Lieut. E. A.
-Erwin, First regulars, was killed.</p>
-
-<p>On the 8th, the fight with the ironclads was renewed,
-and one shell did fatal work in Fort Moultrie, disabling
-an 8-inch columbiad, exploding a magazine, and killing
-16 and wounding 12 men of Capt. R. Press Smith's
-company of the First regulars. Besides these casualties
-from the explosion there were others, including Capt.
-G. A. Wardlow and Lieut. D. B. De Saussure, wounded.</p>
-
-<p>About 1 o'clock on the morning of the 9th, an attempt
-was made by the Federals to land a force at the foot of
-the ruins of Sumter and carry the position by storm.
-Major Elliott waited until the thirty or forty barges of
-the enemy were within a few yards of the southern and
-eastern faces, when he greeted them with a rattling fire
-of musketry, while hand-grenades and fragments of the
-ruins were thrown over on the advancing foe, completely
-demoralizing him. At the same time the gunboat Chicora,
-Fort Moultrie, the Sullivan's island batteries and
-Fort Johnson, warned by signal, swept the skirts of the
-ruins and the water round about with a fire that nothing
-could survive. Elliott captured 5 boats, 5 stand of
-colors, 12 officers and 109 men. Among the colors captured
-was a worn garrison flag, which, it was believed, was
-the flag lowered in 1861 by Maj. Robert Anderson, and
-hoped to be hoisted again by this storming party.</p>
-
-<p>On the night of August 20th, Capt. J. Carlin, commanding
-a torpedo ram, with a guard on board under
-Lieut. E. S. Fickling, made an attempt to explode a
-torpedo against the New Ironsides. As he ranged up
-alongside, Carlin was hailed, and to the demand for the
-name of his craft, he replied, "The steamer Live
-Yankee." The ironclad was swinging to the ebb, so
-that it was impossible to do the work undertaken, and
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>Carlin's only hope was of escape. In this he was successful,
-although the Ironsides was soon sweeping the
-horizon with her guns. On October 5th, another attempt
-was made to blow up the Ironsides, by Lieut. W. T.
-Glassell, C. S. N., First Assistant Engineer J. H.
-Tombs, Walker Cannon, pilot, and James Sullivan, fireman,
-on board the propeller David, a small submerged
-steamer. The boat approached the ironclad at 9 p. m.
-at full speed, and when hailed, Glassell answered with a
-shot from a double-barreled gun. The boat struck fairly
-under the starboard quarter, and the torpedo was exploded
-about 6½ feet below the surface, but it proved to
-be of too light a charge (70 pounds) to injure the heavy
-plates of the enemy. The David was riddled by the fire
-of small-arms from the Ironsides, and almost swamped
-by the great column of water thrown up by the explosion.
-Although the little craft escaped sinking, the fires
-were put out and the iron ballast thrown among the
-machinery, so that it would not work when the engine
-was reversed. In this critical situation, and believing
-the boat to be sinking, Glassell and Sullivan jumped overboard,
-and swimming in the direction of the enemy's
-vessels were made prisoners. The pilot stuck to the
-boat, and Tombs, after being thrown overboard, swam
-back to it when he saw that their cries of surrender
-were not heeded. The two coolly got up steam under a
-continuous fire and managed to make their way back up
-the channel, escaping two 11-inch shot sent after them,
-passing through the Federal fleet and within three feet
-of one of the monitors. Though unsuccessful, this was
-justly considered one of the most daring exploits of the
-war, and inspired Beauregard to ask for the purchase of
-swift torpedo boats from English builders.</p>
-
-<p>On November 15th, Maj. John Jenkins, Third South
-Carolina cavalry, reported that the enemy had reoccupied
-Seabrook island (John's island) in large force. On
-the following day there was a considerable action between
-the Federal monitors and the Sullivan's island batteries,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>
-Capt. Jacob Valentine commanding at Fort Moultrie,
-Capt. C. H. Rivers at Battery Rutledge, and Maj. W. S.
-Basinger at Battery Marion.</p>
-
-<p>During October the Federals were busy making Batteries
-Wagner and Gregg formidable against the Confederate
-defenses, without much molestation in their work,
-while they maintained the bombardment of the ruins of
-Fort Sumter. The reports of Major Elliott show that 625
-shots were fired at Sumter on the 27th, with particular
-attention to the gorge wall, and on the 29th, 1,039 shots.
-Their effect was to cut away all the arches on the sea
-face, and to make that and the gorge easy of access. It
-was evident that the enemy was preparing for another
-assault from boats. As many shots of all calibers struck
-the fort on the next day, and this destructive torrent of
-rifled shot and shell and mortar shells, from the batteries
-and the monitors, continued for several days. The casualties
-in the fort were comparatively few, the main loss
-being the burying of twelve members of the Washington
-light infantry, Twenty-fifth regiment, and one man of the
-Twelfth Georgia battalion. While they were in position
-for mounting the parapet in case of assault, a Parrott
-shot struck an iron girder of the sea wall, and the roof
-fell in, crushing them.</p>
-
-<p>On November 1st, the southwest angle was the main
-object of the bombardment. The flagstaff was twice
-shot away, and replaced by brave men of the Georgia
-battalion, who were finally compelled to substitute their
-own flag for the riddled garrison flag. On the 4th, Major
-Elliott remarked, regarding the rifled shells: "The
-practice with these projectiles is very beautiful, the adjustment
-of the time fuses being so perfect that the occupants
-of the gorge wall are secure from the effects of the explosion,
-which rarely fails to occur during the passage of
-the shell over the parade." On the 6th the flagstaff was
-again shot away, and replaced by Sergeant Currie and
-Corporal Montgomery of the Twenty-fifth South Caro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>lina.
-On the 12th, again, some of the Georgians had
-the honor of replacing the flag under fire. Hardly a day
-passed without some one being killed and several more
-or less seriously wounded. During the week ending
-November 16th, over 3,000 shots were fired at Sumter,
-and on the night of the 19th a second attempt was made
-to land a force from barges and storm the ruins, but
-Elliott and his men were on guard, and their musketry
-fire prevented the barges from reaching the island. On
-the 24th, Capt. F. H. Harleston, having gone down the
-slope of the sea face to inspect the obstructions against
-storming parties, was mortally wounded by a Parrott
-shell.</p>
-
-<p>On November 28th Elliott reported:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Private James Tupper, shot marker, Charleston battalion,
-seeing yesterday morning that the flag had been
-shot down, walked along the whole extent of the gorge
-wall, on the parapet, and endeavored to raise it. Finding
-that the staff was too short, he procured an additional
-piece of spar, and with the assistance of C. B. Foster
-and Corps. W. C. Buckheister and A. J. Bluett, succeeded
-in splicing and planting the staff, under a very heavy fire
-directed at them. One shot struck the flag from their
-hands. It was a most distinguished display of gallantry.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>About this time the continuous pounding of the ruins
-by the enemy's projectiles had produced a steep slope on
-the exterior of the fort, with very insecure footing, and
-Colonel Elliott, after an examination, had no serious
-fears of an assault. On the 11th, the most fatal calamity
-in the history of the fort occurred&mdash;the explosion of the
-southwest magazine&mdash;a danger of which the heroic
-defenders had been in constant dread. The occupants
-of the adjoining rooms were killed or badly burned, and
-the flames, which instantly caught, spread with fierceness,
-filling the casemates with stifling smoke. As soon
-as the enemy observed the fire, he opened upon the fort
-with rifled shells and mortars. Colonel Elliott was
-slightly wounded, Capt. Edward D. Frost and 10 others
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>were killed, and 40 sustained more or less serious injuries.
-Capt. John Johnson, Lieut. L. A. Harper and Capt.
-M. H. Sellers were distinguished for bravery and coolness
-amid the excitement and danger. The fire was not
-entirely extinguished until a week later.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/fig7.jpg" alt="" />
-<p class="caption center">MAP<br />
-of<br />
-CHARLESTON<small> AND ITS</small> DEFENSES.<br />
-<br />
-Compiled from Surveys of<br />
-PORTIONS OF S<sup><small>T</small></sup> ANDREW'S<small> AND</small> CHRIST C<sup><small>H</small></sup> PARISHES<br />
-<small>BY</small><br />
-<span class="smcap">Lieut.</span> JOHN JOHNSON, C. S. Eng<sup>rs</sup>.<br />
-THE HARBOR, JAMES I<sup><small>D</small></sup>, FOLLY I<sup><small>D</small></sup>, MORRIS I<sup><small>D</small></sup>, SULLLIVAN'S I<sup><small>D</small></sup>, <small>AND</small> LONG I<sup><small>D</small></sup>,<br />
-<br />
-NOV. 1863.
-
-
-</p>
-</div>
-<hr />
-
-<p>On the last of the year the undaunted Elliott recommended
-that he be provided with two iron shields for
-casemate batteries, which he said would render his position
-one of "comparative invulnerability." His report at
-this time showed that since August 12th nearly 27,000
-projectiles had been fired at Sumter, of which 19,808 had
-struck. During the same time 38 men had been killed
-and 142 wounded.</p>
-
-<p>On Christmas day an artillery attack was made upon
-the United States gunboat Marblehead, lying off Legaréville,
-by Col. P. R. Page, but with the assistance of the
-Pawnee the vigorous efforts to capture the vessel were
-repelled.</p>
-
-<p>During all this period Forts Moultrie, Johnson, Simkins,
-Cheves and other batteries, maintained an effective fire
-upon the enemy's works and fleet, and attempts were
-otherwise made to destroy the naval force of the Federals,
-but without success. On October 11th four floating torpedoes
-were set afloat from Fort Sumter with time fuses,
-but they exploded at too great a distance from the fleet.
-On the 15th the submarine boat was lost in an attempt
-to run under the navy receiving ship. As soon as she
-sunk, air bubbles were seen to come to the surface, indicating
-that the manhole was not properly closed. Capt.
-F. L. Hunley and seven men were lost.</p>
-
-<p>In November, the throwing of shells into the city,
-which was commenced August 21st, was resumed with
-more frequency. Mr. T. S. Hale, the observer at St.
-Michael's steeple, reported his post as the enemy's principal
-line of fire, radiating to the northeastward as far as
-St. Philip's church. He counted 27 shots on August 21st
-and the three days following, and 3 on October 27th, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>
-the regular bombardment may be said to have begun on
-November 17th, after which to January 5, 1864, 442 shells
-fell in the city. The shells first thrown were 200-pound
-Parrotts, but later 100-pound projectiles were mainly
-used. Only five deaths resulted, two ladies, two civilians,
-and one slave. A number of buildings were ruined, and
-thousands of persons compelled to leave their homes and
-seek refuge in the upper part of the city or in the interior
-of the State. The heaviest bombardment in 1863 was on
-Christmas day, when 150 shells were fired at the city,
-and a considerable fire caused in the vicinity of St.
-Michael's church. Several citizens, soldiers and firemen
-were wounded.</p>
-
-<p>In December, 1863, a complete system of interior
-defense was perfected at Fort Sumter, by the aid of
-which the garrison, in the event of being driven to take
-refuge in the casemates and bomb-proof, could protect
-itself, while signaling for assistance from the surrounding
-Confederate batteries. Through the heroic efforts of its
-garrison, under eighteen months of constant fire, the
-stronghold was maintained as an effective part of the
-city's defenses. Says Major Johnson:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>From having been a desolate ruin, a shapeless pile of
-shattered walls and casemates, showing here and there
-the guns disabled and half buried in splintered wrecks of
-carriages, its mounds of rubbish fairly reeking with the
-smoke and smell of powder, Fort Sumter under fire was
-transformed within a year into a powerful earthwork,
-impregnable to assault, and even supporting the other
-works at the entrance of Charleston harbor with six guns
-of the heaviest caliber.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The shelling of Charleston continued during January,
-1864, on one day 273 shells being thrown, and in the
-latter part of the month the fire on Sumter was renewed.
-On the 30th the flagstaff was shot down, and replaced by
-Private F. Schafer, of Lucas' battalion, who at the close
-of his work stood on the traverse amid a cloud of smoke
-and dust from bursting shell, waving his hat in triumph.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Early in February, General Beauregard was advised of
-Gillmore's expedition in Florida, threatening the capital
-of that State, and he immediately began forwarding
-troops to that almost defenseless region. Colquitt's
-Georgia brigade was under orders to move, when news
-was received of a Federal advance on John's island,
-doubtless undertaken to detain troops at Charleston, or
-to take advantage of their absence. Gen. Henry A.
-Wise, in command of the Sixth district, reported that the
-enemy landed in force on Kiowah island, the night of
-the 8th, crossed Seabrook island, at the Haulover to
-John's island, driving in the pickets of the advanced
-post held by Maj. John Jenkins, with part of the Sixth
-South Carolina cavalry. Jenkins, though outnumbered,
-made a gallant resistance when attacked on the morning
-of the 9th, and suffered considerable loss, Capt. M. B.
-Humphreys, commanding the cadet cavalry company,
-being severely wounded. Said General Wise:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>With about 150 men composed of the Stono scouts, the
-Rebel troop, the Cadets and Sullivan's cavalry company,
-one section of the Marion artillery, and Captain Jennett's
-company of the Fifty-ninth Virginia infantry, he held
-the whole force of the enemy in check; fought and fell
-back some two or three miles only, and in turn drove
-them back nearly the whole distance by such repeated
-charges all day that he made them fear he was supported,
-and he held his ground manfully until night, when he
-was reinforced by Colonel Tabb with a battalion of the
-Fifty-ninth Virginia and the Marion artillery.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>On the morning of the 10th, Jenkins was reinforced by
-Charles' South Carolina battery and a battalion of the
-Twenty-sixth Virginia, under Col. P. R. Page, who took
-command until General Wise came up and retired the
-forces to a more advantageous position, across the
-Bohicket road. Part of Colquitt's Georgia brigade soon
-arrived, and a strong line was formed. The enemy's
-advance was met by the artillery, before whose effective
-fire the Federals retreated from the field. General Wise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>
-did not order an advance till next morning, when it was
-found that General Schimmelfennig, the Federal commander,
-had abandoned his enterprise and left the island
-under cover of the gunboats. In these operations about
-15 men were killed or wounded in Jenkins' command.
-The Federal loss was about the same. Colquitt's brigade
-was immediately forwarded to Florida. On the morning
-of the 11th, all the harbor batteries bearing on Morris
-island opened a vigorous bombardment, as though preceding
-an attack by infantry, to make a diversion in
-favor of General Wise.</p>
-
-<p>The night of February 17th was made memorable by
-the destruction of the United States sloop-of-war Housatonic.
-This was done by the submarine torpedo boat
-H. L. Hunley, under command of Lieut. George E.
-Dixon, of Alabama. This brave officer and his associates
-left Battery Marshall, on Sullivan's island, that
-night, for their daring deed, and were never again heard
-from. They shared the fate of the vessel they destroyed.</p>
-
-<p>The usual daily round of artillery firing continued in
-the harbor defenses, with little activity on the part of
-the enemy, during the following months, when both
-North and South were preparing for the great struggle
-between the armies in Virginia and Georgia. The guns
-of Fort Sumter, at noon of April 13th, fired a defiant
-salute in honor of the surrender by Major Anderson, and
-provoked a fire in which J. P. Huger, of the signal corps,
-was killed. A day or two later Colonel Elliott was relieved
-in command by Capt. John C. Mitchel, of the First
-artillery. On May 16th, two monitors moved up and
-opened fire on Sumter, but were driven off, seriously
-injured by the Sullivan's island batteries.</p>
-
-<p>Sumter's flagstaff was again shot away on June 20th,
-the Federal gunners at Cummings point hitting the staff
-at the second shot and cutting it in two. Lieut. C. H.
-Claibourne, First regulars, assisted by Sergt. N. F.
-Devereux and Corp. B. Brannon, mounted the gorge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>
-wall and lashed the two pieces of staff together, under a
-rapid fire. The flagstaff was again struck on the 25th,
-and twice shot away on the 26th, the last time being
-replaced by Privates Walter Steele and D. E. Badger.
-In return, a skillful gunner at Fort Johnson brought
-down the Federal flag at Battery Gregg.</p>
-
-<p>With the approach of the May campaigns in Virginia
-and Georgia, heavy drafts were made upon General
-Beauregard's forces. On March 17th, the First and
-Second cavalry were ordered to South Carolina, and the
-Fourth, Colonel Rutledge; Fifth, Colonel Dunovant;
-Sixth, Colonel Aiken; Seventh Georgia, and Millen's
-battalion, and the cavalry companies of Captains Tucker,
-Wallace, Boykin, Trenholm and Magee were ordered
-from General Beauregard's department to Virginia. On
-April 14th, General Evans' brigade, under Gen. W. S.
-Walker, was ordered to Wilmington, N. C. The Eleventh
-and Eighteenth South Carolina, Colquitt's brigade,
-and Company A, siege train, were ordered back from
-Florida. General Beauregard, on the 20th, was assigned
-to command of the department of Southern Virginia and
-North Carolina, and Maj.-Gen. Sam Jones succeeded him
-at Charleston. A week later Hagood's brigade was ordered
-to Virginia. Several Georgia regiments were sent to
-General Johnston at Dalton. On May 3d, both Wise's
-and Colquitt's brigades were ordered to Richmond. On
-the 4th General Jones telegraphed to Johnston, "I am
-sending off my last infantry brigade to Virginia." Under
-this pressure for troops, General Jones requested the
-mayor to organize the fire brigade into companies,
-ordered all the detailed men in his staff departments to
-be organized, and called on the president of the South
-Carolina railroad to muster in his employes for defense
-of the city. Commander Tucker co-operated in this
-effort by organizing a naval battalion. On the 24th
-Colonel Keitt's regiment was started for Richmond.
-Federal troops, also, had been sent to Virginia and Gen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>eral
-Gillmore had been called to that field and replaced
-by General Foster.</p>
-
-<p>While these troops were being ordered from the State,
-the "reserves" were called out by the government at
-Richmond. In a communication to the secretary of war
-on this subject, Governor Bonham pointed out that in
-South Carolina, unlike other States, militia officers and
-magistrates were not exempt and were already in the
-field, and that the taking away of the remaining population
-at home, under eighteen years of age and over forty-five,
-would cause great suffering next year, and in view
-of the loss of upper Georgia, possible starvation.</p>
-
-<p>At the same time there was much change in district commanders,
-one of the most important being the assignment
-of General McLaws to the Third district and Georgia.</p>
-
-<p>On July 31st, the aggregate present in various commands
-under General Jones was as follows: First and
-Fourth districts, Gen. R. S. Ripley, 3,177; Seventh district,
-General Taliaferro, 3,742; Second and Sixth districts,
-Gen. B. H. Robertson, 1,280; Third district and
-district of Georgia, General McLaws, 3,600.</p>
-
-<p>The bombardment of Charleston having continued for
-ten months, on June 13th General Jones addressed the
-following letter to the Federal commander:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Maj.-Gen. J. G. Foster, Commanding United States
-Forces on Coast of South Carolina, C. S.</p>
-
-<p>General: Five generals and 45 field officers of the
-United States army, all of them prisoners of war, have
-been sent to this city for safekeeping. They have been
-turned over to Brigadier-General Ripley, commanding
-the First military district of this department, who will
-see that they are provided with commodious quarters in
-a part of the city occupied by non-combatants, the majority
-of whom are women and children. It is proper,
-however, that I should inform you that it is a part of the
-city which has been for many months exposed day and
-night to the fire of your guns.</p>
-
-<p>
-Very respectfully, your obedient servant,<br />
-<span class="smcap">Sam Jones</span>, Major-General Commanding.<br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>General Foster, replying, said in part:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Many months since Major-General Gillmore, United
-States army, notified General Beauregard, then commanding
-at Charleston, that the city would be bombarded.
-This notice was given, that non-combatants might be removed
-and thus women and children be spared from harm.
-General Beauregard, in a communication to General Gillmore,
-dated August 22, 1863, informed him that the non-combatant
-population of Charleston would be removed with
-all possible celerity.... That city is a depot for military
-supplies. It contains not merely arsenals, but also
-foundries and factories for the manufacture of munitions
-of war. In its shipyards several armed ironclads have
-already been completed, while others are still upon the
-stocks in course of construction. Its wharves and the
-banks of the rivers on both sides are lined with batteries.
-To destroy these means of continuing the war is therefore
-our object and duty.... I have forwarded your
-communication to the President, with the request that
-he will place in my custody an equal number of prisoners
-of the like grades, to be kept by me in positions exposed
-to the fire of your guns as long as you continue the
-course stated in your communication.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>General Halleck, Federal chief of staff, in a letter to
-Foster, June 21st, stated that the secretary of war approved
-his suggestion, and had ordered an equal number
-of Confederate generals and field officers to be forwarded
-to be treated precisely as the Federal prisoners were,
-and with proper precautions to prevent escape, "putting
-them in irons, if necessary, for that purpose." The first
-roll of Confederate prisoners of war made out for this
-purpose was from those confined at Fort Delaware, and
-included Maj.-Gens. Edward Johnson and Franklin
-Gardner, Brig.-Gens. J. J. Archer, G. H. Steuart and
-M. Jeff Thompson, and 46 colonels, lieutenant-colonels
-and majors.</p>
-
-<p>General Jones, on July 1st, proposed to General Foster
-that they should exchange prisoners, if the respective
-governments approved, and enclosed communications
-from Brigadier-Generals Wessells, Seymour, Scammon,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>
-Heckman and Shaler, the Federal general officers in his
-hands, in which they declared that a prompt exchange
-of prisoners, if an exchange were to be made, was called
-for by every consideration of humanity. They also
-asked for the Confederate officers who had arrived at
-Hilton Head, "every kindness and courtesy that could be
-extended them, in acknowledgment of the fact that we
-at this time are as pleasantly and comfortably situated
-as is possible for prisoners of war, receiving from the
-Confederate authorities every privilege that we could
-desire or expect, nor are we unnecessarily exposed to
-fire."</p>
-
-<p>General Foster replied to General Jones that he fully
-reciprocated the desire for an exchange, but added:
-"Before any steps can be taken to effect it, it will be
-necessary to withdraw from exposure to our fire those
-officers now confined in Charleston. I have not yet placed
-your prisoners in a similar position of exposure." To
-this General Jones rejoined that a removal of the prisoners
-would be an implied admission that they were
-unduly exposed, which they had themselves denied.</p>
-
-<p>The Confederate prisoners were placed on Morris
-island, under the fire of the Confederate batteries, the
-number being increased to about 600 officers of all
-grades, and were there held, until in October they and
-the prisoners at Charleston were removed.</p>
-
-<p>General Foster, on June 23d, notified the Federal chief
-of staff that he would begin important operations soon,
-saying: "I propose, first, to destroy the Charleston &amp;
-Savannah railroad, and then to make a sudden attack
-upon some of the defenses of Charleston or of Savannah.
-If I fail in one, I will try the other." On July 1st, he
-sailed from Hilton Head with a force of 5,000 infantry,
-100 cavalry and two sections of artillery. Two brigades,
-under General Hatch, were landed on Seabrook island
-with orders to push to the north end, seize the ferry,
-cross over and destroy the railroad. Another brigade<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>
-was landed at White Point under General Birney, with
-orders to torpedo the railroad track and destroy the
-South Edisto and Ashepoo bridges and the trestle. At
-the same time General Schimmelfennig was to attack on
-James island, a boat expedition of 1,000 men was to
-assault Forts Johnson and Simkins, and the bombardment
-of Fort Sumter was to be renewed with the intention
-of leveling its walls preparatory to storming.</p>
-
-<p>This combined attack was a serious one and taxed the
-heroism of the brave defenders of Charleston, but, as in
-previous emergencies, they were successful in meeting
-the enemy at every point. Birney, Foster said, encountered
-a small force of the enemy with a battery, and
-though Foster helped him with gunboats on Dawho
-creek, he retreated and fell in behind Schimmelfennig on
-the Stono. The latter carried a battery on James island,
-but was shelled out of it by the batteries from Secessionville
-to Fort Pringle. Hatch marched across John's
-island but found it too hot to fight the Confederates concentrated
-at the ferry. Colonel Hoyt, of the boat expedition,
-was compelled to surrender with 5 officers and 132
-men. Such, in effect, was Foster's summing up of results
-on July 7th. On the 12th, he added, that having
-been successful in one respect, forcing the Confederates
-to accumulate a large force to meet him, he had re-embarked
-to give his men a few days' rest, after a loss of
-54 killed and drowned, 133 wounded and 143 missing.
-His rest continued until November.</p>
-
-<p>Gen. W. B. Taliaferro was in command on the Secessionville
-line, which included Forts Johnson, Haskell and
-Pringle, and Batteries Simkins, Wampler, Cheves, etc.,
-whence an active fire had been maintained at the enemy,
-varied at times with skirmishing against Federal demonstrations.
-On July 2d he observed the advance of the
-enemy in force, driving in the cavalry vedettes upon the
-infantry pickets stretching from Rivers' causeway to the
-Stono. There a stubborn resistance was made by Maj.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>
-Edward Manigault, supported by Lieutenant De Lorme's
-light artillery and a detachment of the siege train serving
-as infantry under Lieutenant Spivey. The gallant
-De Lorme, fighting too long against a line of battle, at
-the fourth charge of the enemy lost his guns after they
-had occasioned great loss in the Federal ranks. The
-picket line was withdrawn in range of the batteries, and
-the enemy advanced and intrenched, Taliaferro not having
-force enough to attack, being compelled to weaken
-Fort Johnson to hold his main line. A gunboat came up
-the Stono to cover the Federal flank, but was driven
-back by Battery Pringle. The enemy made one advance
-in force, but met such a warm reception from the artillery
-that no further effort was made that day.</p>
-
-<p>Next morning at daylight the enemy landed from
-barges at Shell point and made the attack on Battery
-Simkins and Fort Johnson. Both were fiercely assaulted
-by the Federals, but, said General Taliaferro, "the gallant
-garrison, under the command of Lieut.-Col. Joseph
-A. Yates, received them with heroic determination, and
-soon staggered and drove them back, when, with a rapid
-charge headed by Lieutenants Waties and Reynolds, 140
-prisoners, including 5 commissioned officers, were taken."
-The participants in this brilliant affair were the companies
-of Lieutenant Waties, Captain Gaillard and Lieutenant
-Cooper, of the First artillery, and of Lieutenants
-Halsey and Raworth, Second artillery. These officers
-and Corporal Crawford were distinguished for gallantry.
-Five barges were captured.</p>
-
-<p>The 3d was opened with an artillery battle along the
-line, and the enemy's monitors and gunboats were seen
-ascending the Stono. Legaréville and other points on
-John's island were occupied, and Taliaferro was led to
-believe that the enemy was engaged in a serious movement,
-on the same line as that adopted by Sir Henry
-Clinton in March, 1780, who occupied John's island,
-crossed the Stono at the site of Fort Pemberton, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span>
-after gaining possession of the Stono, moved from James'
-island to the mainland. Nevertheless the Confederate
-line put on a bold front and Colonel Harrison, with his
-Georgians, advanced and drove back the Federal pickets
-to their original line. For several days afterward artillery
-firing continued along the lines, and attacks upon
-Manigault's picket line. The Federal fleet opened a
-terrific fire on Battery Pringle, disabling several of the
-guns. To relieve the exhausted garrison at the latter
-point, Colonel Rhett was assigned and Major Blanding
-with two companies of the First artillery. Battery Tynes
-was also under fire, but ably defended by Captain Richardson,
-of Lucas' battalion.<a name="FNanchor_G_7" id="FNanchor_G_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_G_7" class="fnanchor">[G]</a></p>
-
-<p>On the 8th Colonel Harrison, with his brigade,
-was sent to the assistance of Gen. B. H. Robertson,
-commanding on John's island. The latter had repulsed
-several assaults, Major Jenkins commanding
-at the front, and after the arrival of the Georgians,
-made an attack in turn, on the morning of the 9th, driving
-the enemy from his first intrenched line to the second,
-beyond Burden's causeway, and occupying the elevated
-ground necessary to the Federals to enfilade Taliaferro's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>
-line on James island. The entire Confederate loss was
-37 killed and 91 wounded.<a name="FNanchor_H_8" id="FNanchor_H_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_H_8" class="fnanchor">[H]</a></p>
-
-<p>While the battle was in progress on John's island, a
-Brooke gun, brought to Battery Pringle, drove the
-enemy's wooden boats down stream. An attempt of the
-enemy to float fire rafts with the tide against the Stono
-bridge was defeated by Lieutenant Smith, with a detachment
-of the naval battalion, who brought them to shore,
-and a second barge attack on Fort Johnson was repulsed,
-the garrison being aided by Le Gardeur's battery and a
-company of marines. On the 11th the enemy disappeared.</p>
-
-<p>In his detailed report, Gen. Sam Jones said: "Officers
-captured concur in representing that the expedition
-was well and carefully considered and planned, and was
-confidently expected to result in the capture of Charleston.
-That it failed is due, under Providence, to the gallantry
-and good conduct of our officers and men." His
-aggregate of losses was 33 killed and 96 wounded.</p>
-
-<p>The part of this campaign which fell upon Fort Sumter
-was a fierce bombardment by day and night, in which
-from July 7th to July 31st inclusive, 7,000 shot and shell
-took effect. On the 7th the flag was cut down three
-times. On the 20th Commandant Mitchel, one of the
-most gallant officers of the artillery service, was mortally
-wounded while making an observation from the highest
-point of the fort. Capt. John Johnson, the faithful engineer-in-chief,
-was severely wounded on the 28th. But
-in spite of this terrific bombardment, and a new sort of
-attack&mdash;floating powder boats to explode in its vicinity&mdash;Sumter
-remained invulnerable. Capt. Thomas A. Hu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>guenin
-succeeded Mitchel in command, and remained in
-charge until on the night of February 17, 1865, he went
-the rounds of the indomitable fortress for the last time,
-and abandoned it to the enemy who had never been able
-to enter its walls while a Confederate soldier remained
-on guard.</p>
-
-<p>Major Jenkins, on August 20th, found it necessary to
-burn the village of Legaréville. The Stono scouts, owners
-of property in the place, volunteered to aid in the
-work, sixteen of the members applying the torches to
-their own dwellings.</p>
-
-<p>On October 5th, Maj.-Gen. W. J. Hardee took command
-of the department, relieving General Jones, whom
-he assigned to command of the State, exclusive of General
-McLaws' district in the southeast.</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_G_7" id="Footnote_G_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_G_7"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> General Taliaferro gave his loss in the campaign at 10
-killed and 25 wounded. He particularly commended the gallantry of the
-men on his advanced line under unremitting fire for eight days and
-nights from the enemy's monitors, gunboats, mortar boats and land
-batteries. These troops were detachments from the First and Second
-artillery, Company B, siege train; First cavalry, First infantry
-(regulars), Kirk's and Peeples' squadrons of cavalry and Harrison's
-and Bonaud's Georgians, the South Carolina officers commanding
-being Major Manigault, Major Blanding, Capts. R. P. Smith, Dickson,
-Warley, Rivers, Witherspoon, Burnet, Humbert, Stallings,
-Kennedy, Porcher Smith and Trezevant. The Stono batteries,
-under Majors Lucas and Blanding, were commanded by Captains
-Hayne, Richardson, Rhett, King, Lieutenants Ogier (specially
-distinguished), Martin, Reveley, Lucas, Ford and Stuart.
-Lieutenant-Colonel Brown at Fort Lamar, and the light batteries under
-Captain Wheaton, did good service, and Colonels Black, Frederick
-and Rhett were faithful and efficient in their duties commanding on
-the east and west and in reserve.</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_H_8" id="Footnote_H_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_H_8"><span class="label">[H]</span></a> General Robertson specially commended, aside from the
-gallant Georgians who led in the charge on the 9th, the Washington,
-Marion, and Inglis batteries, under Colonel Kemper, Major Jenkins,
-Sergeant Jervais and Privates Miller and Bryan of the Stono scouts;
-Private A. J. White, of the Second cavalry, and a portion of the Second
-cavalry under Captain Clark, who defended the right of the line on
-the first day and lost 13 out of 21 engaged. Captain Dean, of the
-same regiment, with 13 men, also participated in this heroic fight.</p></div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>SOUTH CAROLINIANS WITH LONGSTREET AND LEE&mdash;WAUHATCHIE&mdash;MISSIONARY
-RIDGE&mdash;KNOXVILLE&mdash;THE
-VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN OF 1864&mdash;FROM THE WILDERNESS
-TO THE BATTLE OF THE CRATER.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">Following</span> the battle of Chickamauga, Bragg's
-army occupied Lookout mountain and Missionary
-ridge, beleaguering Rosecrans, whose troops soon
-began to suffer for want of food. Longstreet, in command
-on the left, had the important duty of holding
-the river line of communication, and cutting off Rosecrans'
-supplies. Hood's division, at this time, was commanded
-by Brig.-Gen. Micah Jenkins, and Col. John
-Bratton commanded Jenkins' brigade, which joined Longstreet
-after Chickamauga. The First regiment was under
-command of Col. F. W. Kilpatrick; the Second Rifles,
-of Col. Thomas Thompson; the Fifth, of Col. A. Coward;
-the Sixth, of Col. M. W. Gary, and the Palmetto Sharpshooters,
-of Col. Joseph Walker.</p>
-
-<p>In October, 1863, Rosecrans was replaced by Thomas,
-Grant became commander-in-chief in the West, and
-prompt efforts were made by them to relieve Chattanooga.
-On Longstreet's part Law's brigade of Jenkins'
-division was moved down the river below Lookout mountain,
-and on the 25th the brigade observed a force from
-Chattanooga cross the river and seize a strong position,
-where it was soon reinforced by Hooker's corps from
-Virginia. On the 28th Longstreet arranged for a night
-attack upon Geary's division, marching down Lookout
-valley toward Brown's ferry, in which Bratton's division<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>
-was to assail the enemy's rear.<a name="FNanchor_I_9" id="FNanchor_I_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_I_9" class="fnanchor">[I]</a> The South Carolinians
-made a gallant attack, and, Colonel Bratton reported,
-"drove the enemy through their camp, and entirely beyond
-their wagon camp." The brigade became seriously
-engaged, and apparently had prospects of success, if
-supported, but the Federal divisions of Carl Schurz and
-O. O. Howard were close at hand, and Bratton was
-ordered to withdraw. The loss was heavy, 31 killed, 286
-wounded and 39 missing. Colonel Kilpatrick, distinguished
-for gallantry and efficiency, was shot through the
-heart early in the engagement. Capt. James L. Coker,
-of Bratton's staff, was seriously wounded. In an account
-of this combat, Captain Coker has written:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>General Geary's division was attacked by Jenkins'
-South Carolina brigade. No other troops fired a shot at
-Geary's men that night. When the order to retire was
-received, the brigade was withdrawn in good order.
-General Howard [marching to the support of Geary]
-made such progress that Jenkins' brigade was in danger
-of being cut off from the crossing over Lookout creek.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>With this understanding it is interesting to read General
-Geary's report:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>The enemy pressed forward vigorously with a continuous
-line of fire.... The guns of Knap's battery ...
-were served ... with spherical case with short fuses....
-Charge after charge was made, each with redoubled
-effort upon our left, but each time the enemy's lines were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>
-hurled back under the unintermitting fire, both from infantry
-and artillery, that like a wall of flame opposed them.
-Prisoners began to come in, and we discovered that we
-were opposing Hood's division of Longstreet's corps....
-After nearly half an hour's desperate fighting ...
-the enemy extended his attack without cessation of fire on
-the left, to the right of my center, front and left flank....
-The infantry suffered considerably, but dealt destruction
-into the rebel ranks as correspondingly overwhelming
-as were their numbers to those of our own
-Spartan band.... The veteran division of Hood had
-sought to annihilate us.... The enemy was driven from
-the field, after a most desperate struggle of three hours'
-duration.... [Geary reported his total present at about
-2,400, loss 216.]</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Early in November, Longstreet, with the divisions of
-McLaws and Hood (under Jenkins), including the South
-Carolina brigades of Jenkins and Kershaw, and Fickling's
-battery, was ordered up the Tennessee valley to wrest
-Knoxville from Burnside and to divert to that region
-some of the heavy reinforcements Grant was massing
-against Bragg. The South Carolina brigades participated
-in the combats of the advance and the investment of
-Knoxville. Jenkins' brigade bore the brunt of the engagement
-at Lenoir's Station, November 15th, in which
-the gallantry and dash of the skirmishers, said Jenkins,
-were never surpassed. Lieutenant-Colonel Logan, Hampton's
-legion, and Lieutenant-Colonel Wylie, Fifth South
-Carolina, were particularly distinguished. The brigade
-lost 18 killed and 106 wounded.</p>
-
-<p>On November 18th, before Knoxville, General Kershaw's
-brigade was ordered to assault the advance line
-of the enemy occupying breastworks of rails, upon a hill,
-and the Armstrong houses. The charge was brilliant
-and successful. Colonel Nance, of the Third, reported it
-"was the most desperate encounter in which the regiment
-was ever engaged." Among the mortally wounded was
-Lieut. D. S. Moffett. Colonel Kennedy, of the Second,
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>was wounded. Maj. J. F. Gist, the brave and intrepid
-commander of the Fifteenth, was killed by a Federal
-sharpshooter, the command devolving on Capt. J. B.
-Davis. James' battalion lost 27 killed and wounded.
-Part of Kershaw's brigade was in action during the unsuccessful
-assault of November 29th, and both brigades, with
-occasional fighting and continuous suffering for want of
-shoes, clothing and rations, passed the inclement winter
-in rugged east Tennessee.</p>
-
-<p>On November 20th the South Carolina commands with
-Bragg on Missionary ridge were the Tenth and Nineteenth,
-Maj. James L. White (Manigault's brigade); the
-Sixteenth, Colonel McCullough, and Twenty-fourth, Colonel
-Stevens (Gist's brigade), and Ferguson's battery.
-These troops fell back with the army on November 25th,
-and passed the winter of 1863-64 in the vicinity of Dalton.</p>
-
-<p>While their comrades were thus engaged in the West,
-the South Carolinians in the army of Northern Virginia
-were undisturbed except by the Bristoe campaign in
-October, and the Mine Run campaign in November.
-Abner Perrin, promoted to brigadier-general, commanded
-McGowan's brigade; Col. D. H. Hamilton, the
-First regiment; Col. J. L. Miller, the Twelfth; Col. B. T.
-Brockman, the Fourteenth; Col. F. E. Harrison, Orr's
-Rifles. This brigade, with Lane's, Scales' and Thomas'
-formed the division of Maj.-Gen. C. M. Wilcox, A. P.
-Hill's corps. General Hampton, promoted to major-general,
-commanded a division of the cavalry corps, and
-his old brigade, under Brig.-Gen. M. C. Butler, included
-the First and Second South Carolina cavalry, under Colonels
-Black and Lipscomb. Hart's battery was still with
-the cavalry, the Pee Dee artillery with the Third corps,
-Garden's with Maj. J. C. Haskell's battalion of the reserve
-artillery. Butler's cavalry brigade, under Col.
-P. M. B. Young, early in October was distinguished at
-Bethsaida church. "The enemy were drawn up in line to
-meet us," General Stuart reported, "but being gallantly
-charged in flank and rear by the First South Carolina<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>
-cavalry, Lieut.-Col. J. D. Twiggs, broke and fled in confusion."
-Pursuing to James City, Kilpatrick's whole
-division was encountered. During the skirmishing which
-followed, a dash of the enemy at the horse artillery was
-gallantly met and repulsed by 150 sharpshooters under
-Capt. R. Ap C. Jones, First South Carolina cavalry.
-Fighting followed around Brandy Station, and Young's
-brigade made a successful stand at Fleetwood hill on the
-12th. On the 19th, at Haymarket and Buckland mills,
-when Kilpatrick was finally routed with the loss of 250
-prisoners and General Custer's headquarters baggage, the
-First South Carolina gallantly led in the impetuous charge
-of Stuart's troopers. "The rout at Buckland," said
-Stuart, "was the most signal and complete that any cavalry
-has suffered during the war."</p>
-
-<p>When the great Federal army under Grant and Meade
-crossed the Rapidan in May, 1864, Longstreet had his
-corps again in Virginia, with headquarters at Gordonsville.
-Brig.-Gen. J. B. Kershaw was in command of
-McLaws' division, and his brigade was led by Col. John
-W. Henagan. Lieut.-Col. Franklin Gaillard commanded
-the Second, Colonel Nance the Third, Capt. James
-Mitchell the Seventh, Lieut.-Col. E. T. Stackhouse the
-Eighth, Col. John B. Davis the Fifteenth, Capt. B. M.
-Whitener the Third battalion. General Jenkins was in
-command of his brigade, in the division now led by Maj.-Gen.
-C. W. Field, and the First regiment was commanded
-by Col. James R. Hagood, the Second (rifles) by
-Col. Robert E. Bowen, the Fifth by Col. A. Coward, the
-Sixth by Col. John Bratton, the Palmetto Sharpshooters
-by Col. Joseph Walker. General McGowan was again
-in command of his brigade, of Wilcox's division, on the
-Rapidan. The South Carolina cavalry brigade, under Gen.
-M. C. Butler, composed of the Fourth regiment, Col. B.
-Huger Rutledge; Fifth, Col. John Dunovant, and Sixth,
-Col. Hugh K. Aiken, was assigned to General Hampton's
-division. Garden's battery, the Palmetto artillery<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>
-under Captain Fickling, the Pee Dee under Zimmerman,
-and Hart's battery continued in their former assignments.</p>
-
-<p>On the night of May 5, 1864, General Lee telegraphed
-to President Davis:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>The enemy crossed the Rapidan yesterday at Ely's and
-Germanna fords. Two corps of this army moved to oppose
-him&mdash;Ewell's by the old turnpike, and Hill's by the plank
-road.... A strong attack was made upon Ewell, who
-repulsed it.... The enemy subsequently concentrated
-upon General Hill, who, with Heth's and Wilcox's divisions,
-successfully resisted repeated and desperate assaults.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>In this first fight in the Wilderness, May 5th, McGowan's
-brigade was hurried into action, the line being
-formed of the First regiment, Orr's Rifles, Twelfth,
-Thirteenth and Fourteenth, from right to left. In this
-order the brigade made a charge in which the enemy
-were driven through the thickets, and in the onset,
-though suffering heavy losses, it captured a considerable
-number of prisoners, including a brigadier-general.</p>
-
-<p>The attack of the Federals on the 6th fell upon the
-right flank and front of McGowan's brigade, forcing it to
-double up and fall back on Poague's artillery, where it
-was reformed. At this juncture, Kershaw reached the
-field, with the head of Longstreet's corps, and Colonel
-Henagan formed his brigade in line of battle just in
-time to screen the retreating masses of Heth's and Wilcox's
-divisions. "Almost immediately," says Kershaw,
-"the Federals were upon us." He continues:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Ordering Colonel Henagan forward to meet them with
-the right of his command, I threw forward the Second
-South Carolina regiment on the left of the road and
-deployed and pushed forward Brigadier-General Humphreys
-with his brigade, also, on the right of the road.
-This formation was made successfully and in good order
-under the fire of the enemy, who had so far penetrated
-into the interval between Henagan and the road as to
-almost enfilade the Second South Carolina, which was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>
-holding the left of the road, and some batteries which
-were there stationed. Humphreys was pushed forward
-as soon as he got into position, and made for a time
-steady progress.</p>
-
-<p>In the meantime General Bryan's brigade coming up,
-was ordered into position to Henagan's right. That
-officer, in obedience to orders, had pushed forward and
-driven the enemy in his front for some distance through
-the dense thicket which covered the country to the right
-of the plank road; but they being heavily reinforced,
-forced him back to the line which Humphreys had by this
-time reached. Here the enemy held my three brigades
-so obstinately that I placed myself at the head of the
-troops and led in person a charge of the whole command,
-which drove the enemy to and beyond their original line
-and occupied their temporary field works some half mile
-or more in advance. The lines being rectified, and Field's
-division and Wofford's brigade having arrived, a movement
-was organized to attack the enemy in flank from
-our right, while we continued to hold the enemy in front,
-who was at intervals bearing down upon our lines, but
-always without any success. This movement, concealed
-from view by the dense wood, was eminently successful,
-and the enemy was routed and driven pell-mell as far as
-the Brock road, and pursued by General Wofford to some
-distance across the plank road, where he halted within a
-few hundred yards of the Germanna road. Returning
-with General Wofford up the plank road, and learning
-the condition of things in front, we met the lieutenant-general
-commanding, coming to the front almost within
-musket range of the Brock road. Exchanging hasty congratulations
-upon the success of the morning, the lieutenant-general
-rapidly planned and directed an attack to be
-made by Brigadier-General Jenkins and myself upon
-the position of the enemy upon the Brock road before he
-could recover from his disaster. The order to me was to
-break their line and push all to the right of the road
-toward Fredericksburg. Jenkins' brigade was put in
-motion in the plank road, my division in the woods to
-the right. I rode with General Jenkins at the head of his
-command, arranging with him the details of our combined
-attack. We had not advanced as far as the position
-still held by Wofford's brigade when two or three shots
-were fired on the left of the road, and some stragglers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>
-came running in from that direction, and immediately a
-volley was poured into the head of our column from the
-woods on our right, occupied by Mahone's brigade. By
-this volley General Longstreet was prostrated by a fearful
-wound; Brigadier-General Jenkins, Capt. Alfred E.
-Doby, my aide-de-camp, and Orderly Marcus Baum were
-instantly killed.</p>
-
-<p>I have not the particulars of casualties at hand,
-except those in Kershaw's brigade, which were 57 killed,
-239 wounded and 26 missing. Among the losses of that
-brigade were two of the most gallant and accomplished
-field officers of the command&mdash;Col. James D. Nance,
-commanding Third South Carolina regiment, and Lieut.-Col.
-Franklin Gaillard&mdash;both gentlemen of education,
-position and usefulness in civil life and highly distinguished
-in the field. Captain Doby had served with me
-as aide-de-camp from the commencement of the war.
-He distinguished himself upon every battlefield.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Colonel Bowen, in describing the service of his regiment
-(Jenkins' brigade), says:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>General Longstreet did not fall from his horse, but
-rode the length of the regiment (Second rifles), when he
-began to reel, and Lieutenant-Colonel Donnald and
-Sergt. T. J. Bowen caught him and lifted him down
-from his horse. Colonel Bowen formed his regiment
-across the plank road in order to repel an attack in case
-the enemy should return. Just at that time Gen. R. E.
-Lee rode up and ordered Colonel Bowen to form the brigade
-on the right and left of the Second rifles. Colonel
-Coward came up and threw himself, weeping,
-over the dead body of the gallant Jenkins. General
-Anderson was called to take command of the corps and
-Colonel Bratton took command of the brigade. The
-sharpshooters and the Second rifles were then ordered to
-the front and right, and after a half mile's march found
-that the enemy had improved the brief lull in the fight
-by throwing up intrenchments, from behind which they
-opened a terrific fire. The advance regiments held their
-position and suffered a heavy loss, until, as reinforcements
-came up, the enemy fell back.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The return of Colonel Hagood, of Jenkins' brigade&mdash;10
-killed and 82 wounded out of 261&mdash;indicates the losses of
-the troops engaged. The 7th passed without a general<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span>
-engagement, but instead the positions of both armies
-were changed from day to day, and a part of Kershaw's
-command fought with success on the 8th, at one time
-using the bayonet. Repeated and heavy assaults were
-made on Ewell's corps during the 10th, and on the 11th
-the two armies confronted each other at Spottsylvania
-Court House, ready for the awful battle of the 12th of
-May.</p>
-
-<p>The great struggle over the possession of the "bloody
-angle" began just before dawn by the successful sweep
-of the Federal divisions through Gen. Edward Johnson's
-line of intrenchments, thus threatening the overthrow of
-Lee's army. The particulars of this fearful encounter,
-which resulted, after the day's bloody fighting, in the
-defeat of Grant's purpose, will not be given here, but the
-part taken by McGowan's brigade deserves special mention.
-This brigade, stationed far out on the Confederate
-right, was summoned to action about sunrise, May 12th,
-and after a march of two miles to the left, was
-moved at double-quick along Ewell's line. General
-Rodes, seeing them approach, asked: "What troops are
-these?" and was answered, "McGowan's South Carolina
-brigade." "There are no better soldiers in the world,"
-was his inspiring reply. Almost immediately the South
-Carolinians entered the fight, the Twelfth on the right,
-and the First, Thirteenth, the Rifles and the Fourteenth
-extending to the left consecutively. At double-quick and
-with the "rebel yell" they went into the inner line,
-where McGowan was wounded by a minie ball, and compelled
-to yield the command to Colonel Brockman, who
-in turn being quickly disabled by a wound, was succeeded
-by Col. J. N. Brown.</p>
-
-<p>"At that time," says Col. I. F. Hunt, in his account
-of the battle, "the position of the Thirteenth regiment
-was in an open field, and about fifty yards in rear of a
-line of works occupied by Confederate troops (Harris'
-Mississippians), a position where we could do no good,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>
-while subjected to a terrific fire from the enemy, somewhat
-on our right. I saw General Gordon passing, and
-obtained permission to move the regiment to the right.
-He ordered me to take it to the point where the fighting
-was hardest." In moving to the right Colonel Hunt was
-informed that all his seniors had been killed or wounded
-and he took command of the brigade. He found the
-right of the brigade in a short line of reserve works, and
-perceiving that his men must either charge or retreat or
-die where they stood, he ordered a charge, and drove the
-enemy from the salient, or "bloody angle." In occupying
-that work the left of the brigade connected with and
-possibly lapped other troops, but the right was unprotected,
-and as far down the right as Hunt could see, the
-Federals held the opposite side of the works, with the
-captured Confederate guns turned against him. The
-ammunition soon began to give out, and although it appeared
-to be certain death to leave the shelter of the
-works, Privates William Kelly and Chance Evans of the
-First volunteered to, and did bring ammunition from, the
-rear in boxes and tent flies during the entire engagement.
-At 1 p. m., the enemy about ten paces distant, raised a
-white flag, and a general advanced who, when met by
-Hunt, demanded a surrender, which was promptly refused.
-Soon afterward Col. J. N. Brown took command.</p>
-
-<p>The fierceness of this close engagement by McGowan's
-brigade,<a name="FNanchor_J_10" id="FNanchor_J_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_J_10" class="fnanchor">[J]</a> in which Harris' Mississippians bore an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>
-equally gallant part, on the left, was probably not
-exceeded in any war. The firing, when resumed after
-the parley above mentioned, continued incessantly all
-the remainder of the day and far into the night. Just
-before day the brigade was withdrawn without pursuit to
-a position near a part of Longstreet's corps, and there
-rested with their Confederate comrades ready for the
-enemy, who did not choose to advance. In this battle
-the brigade lost 86 killed, 241 wounded and 117 missing.
-Among the missing, it was afterward learned, were a
-large number wounded and left in the trenches and others
-that were killed. Among the casualties were Lieut.-Col.
-W. P. Shooter, of the First, and Col. B. T. Brockman,
-of the Thirteenth, killed; Col. C. W. McCreary, of the
-First, and Lieut.-Col. G. McD. Miller, of the Rifles,
-wounded.</p>
-
-<p>On the same day General Bratton's brigade (Jenkins')
-was in battle on the Brock road, on the right of Kershaw's
-brigade, and the two repulsed a heavy assault.
-Bratton reported that his brigade was about 1,250 strong,
-and lost not more than 15, but the enemy left 500 dead
-in its front. During the night Bratton's brigade covered
-the withdrawal of McGowan's brigade from the bloody
-angle, and without firing a gun, lost 70 men.</p>
-
-<p>On the Cold Harbor line, June 1st, when a strong Confederate
-movement by the right was ordered, a diary of
-the First corps says:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Kershaw puts in his own brigade, supported by another.
-Keitt's big regiment gives way, and in the effort to rally
-it, Keitt is mortally wounded. Pickett is closed into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span>
-right on Kershaw, and the latter on Hoke. Field closes
-in on Pickett. In the afternoon a furious attack is made
-on the left of Hoke and the right of Kershaw, enemy
-penetrating an interval between them.... Kershaw
-brings up the Second and Third South Carolina and regains
-Bryan's lost ground, and captures prisoners and a
-stand of colors.... [On June 3d] Kershaw's salient is
-weak.... The expected battle begins early. Meantime
-the enemy is heavily massed in front of Kershaw's
-salient. Anderson's, Law's and Gregg's divisions are
-there to support Kershaw. Assault after assault is made
-and each time repulsed.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The South Carolina cavalry and horse artillery participated
-in this memorable campaign under Stuart, until
-that famous leader fell at Yellow Tavern, then under
-Hampton. In Hampton's successful battle with Sheridan
-at Trevilian, Butler's South Carolina brigade opened
-the attack and was distinguished throughout. Among
-the wounded was Colonel Aiken, of the Sixth cavalry.
-Before the battle of Nance's Shop, Hampton was joined
-by Brig.-Gen. M. W. Gary, with a brigade including the
-Hampton legion cavalry and Seventh South Carolina cavalry.
-Gary opened the battle at Nance's shop and contributed
-materially to the victory.</p>
-
-<p>Meanwhile other gallant South Carolinians had been
-on duty under General Beauregard, guarding the approaches
-to the Confederate capital, and holding back the
-advance of the Federal army under Gen. Ben Butler.
-These South Carolina commands were Brig.-Gen. Johnson
-Hagood's brigade; Evans' brigade, under Col. Stephen
-Elliott; the Seventh cavalry, Col. W. P. Shingler,
-and Kelly's battery (Chesterfield).</p>
-
-<p>The Twenty-first and part of the Twenty-fifth arrived
-at Port Walthall junction on May 6th, and at once went
-out under Colonel Graham to meet the enemy. They
-were successful in checking the enemy. The whole brigade,
-arriving, was engaged in battle at the junction on
-the 7th, repulsing the enemy, and at Swift Creek on the
-9th. The brigade loss was 177. The brave Lieutenant-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>Colonel
-Dargan fell at the head of his men; Colonel Graham
-was wounded in two places; Lieutenant-Colonel
-Pressley, and Captain Stoney, of the staff, were seriously,
-and Lieutenant-Colonel Blake, Twenty-seventh, and
-Captain Sellers, Twenty-fifth, slightly wounded.</p>
-
-<p>At the battle of Drewry's Bluff, May 16th, according
-to General Beauregard's report, "Hagood and Bushrod
-Johnson were thrown forward and found a heavy force of
-the enemy occupying a salient of the outer line of works....
-Hagood with great vigor and dash drove the enemy
-from the outer lines in his front, capturing a number of
-prisoners, and in conjunction with Johnson, five pieces
-of artillery. He then took position in the works." The
-casualties of the brigade were 433 out of 2,235. Captain
-Brooks, of the Seventh, received three severe wounds.
-Fifty-seven bullet marks were found upon the flag of the
-Seventh battalion after the fight, and in one of its companies
-19 were killed and 46 wounded. It was by such
-heroic fighting that Petersburg and Richmond were held
-in May, 1864.</p>
-
-<p>Brig.-Gen. Stephen Elliott reported a severe fight on
-June 2d, in which the Seventeenth and Twenty-second
-South Carolina were engaged, and the latter regiment
-lost its colonel, O. M. Dantzler, who fell mortally
-wounded while leading a charge.</p>
-
-<p>Grant having transferred his army south of the James,
-Bratton's brigade was sent across to Beauregard's line
-near the Howlett house, on June 16th. Taking position
-on the right, they saw next morning that the enemy was
-still in partial possession of part of Beauregard's line.
-"About the middle of the day the division (Field's) made
-a sort of spontaneous charge," as Bratton put it, "in
-which my skirmish line participated, and recovered the
-line." Next morning, relieved by Pickett, Bratton
-moved to the Petersburg line beyond the Appomattox,
-taking position on the right of where the mine was
-sprung later. Here for several days, during the first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>
-assaults of Grant's army, under incessant fire night and
-day, Bratton's men had their severest tour of duty in all
-the four years. On June 24th they were relieved by
-Elliott's South Carolinians, and took other positions on
-the line until transferred north of the James.</p>
-
-<p>Hagood's brigade served with distinction in the Petersburg
-battles of June 16th to 18th, repelling all assaults.
-Reaching Petersburg from the Drewry's bluff line on the
-night of the 15th, the brigade pushed out at the City
-Point road where the Confederates were being driven
-from the outer intrenchments. Under a fierce shelling
-on the 16th and 17th, many were killed. Captains Hopkins
-and Palmer and Adjutant Gelling, of the Twenty-second,
-were killed by the shells. Lieutenant Allemand
-was mortally wounded. So they fell all through the first
-two months in Virginia, till many of the best and bravest
-were laid to rest.</p>
-
-<p>On the 18th Hagood fought to hold and did hold Hare's
-hill, the scene of Gordon's desperate sally in February,
-1865. Lieutenant Harvey, Seventh battalion, was killed
-that day, and Lieutenant Felder, Twenty-fifth, and Major
-Rion, Seventh battalion, were wounded. The brigade
-lost about 220 in the three days. On the 24th Hagood's
-brigade occupied a single line of intrenchments, on the
-left of the Confederate line, the Twenty-seventh, Twenty-first
-and Eleventh between Appomattox creek and the
-City Point road, the Twenty-fifth and Seventh battalion
-south of the road, facing the enemy, who was intrenched
-in three lines. At dawn the South Carolinians were told
-that a general engagement was ordered, which they were
-to open, after a heavy cannonading of the enemy by the
-batteries north of the Appomattox. The three regiments
-north of the road were to charge and wheel to the
-south, and supported by other brigades, it was hoped to
-roll up the Federal flank and drive them beyond Hare's
-hill. Lieutenant-Colonel Nelson, Seventh battalion,
-was put in command of 400 picked men for the skirmish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span>
-line, a detail which left only 550 men of these regiments
-in the second line. The attack was made, and the
-enemy driven from his rifle-pits and part of the first line
-of intrenchments, but the South Carolinians were too
-few to go further, and their expected support did not
-arrive in time. So the battle failed, but Hagood held
-the Federal rifle-pits all day. The loss in the three regiments
-and Seventh battalion was very heavy, 25 killed,
-73 wounded and 208 whose fate was at the time unknown.
-Lieutenant-Colonel Nelson was missing; Captain Axson,
-Twenty-seventh, was killed; and Lieutenants Huguenin
-and Trim, Twenty-seventh, Chappell, Ford and Vanderford,
-Twenty-first, and Smith, Eleventh, wounded; Captains
-Mulvaney and Buist (wounded) were captured;
-Captain Raysor and Lieutenants Reilly, White and
-Clemens, missing.</p>
-
-<p>On the 29th of July, Bushrod Johnson's division was
-arranged in the works with Ransom's North Carolinians
-on the left, Elliott's South Carolinians next, then Wise's
-Virginians, and Colquitt's Georgians on the right. A
-projecting part of the works known as Pegram's salient
-was occupied by Pegram's battery, with the Eighteenth
-South Carolina on its left and the Twenty-second behind
-it and to the right. To the left of the Eighteenth were
-the Twenty-sixth and Seventeenth, and to the right of
-the Twenty-second was the Twenty-third, all along the
-parapet. A second line of intrenchments, behind, Elliott
-did not have men enough to occupy. Upon these devoted
-South Carolinians in the parapets was to fall a tremendous
-blow, which was expected to open a way for Grant's
-army into Petersburg.</p>
-
-<p>About 4:55 on the morning of July 30th, after a moment's
-appalling rumbling and trembling, the earth burst
-like a volcano beneath them, and great masses were cast
-in the air. Mingled in this horrible eruption which followed
-the explosion of the Federal mine, were the bodies
-of men, who fell nearly all of them lifeless, while scores<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>
-of others were buried as the upheaval settled about the
-great "crater," nearly 100 by 150 feet, and 30 feet deep.
-Five companies of the Twenty-second South Carolina
-were blown up with the left of the battery, and four
-companies of the Eighteenth were thrown in the air or
-buried. The loss of the first regiment was 170; of the
-latter, 43 killed, 43 wounded, and 76 missing&mdash;buried or
-captured. Stunned by the shock of this explosion, both
-Federals and Confederates for a little while made no
-move, but when the torrents of dust had subsided, the
-Federals were seen pouring into the breach, and at the
-same time there was another and more deafening outbreak&mdash;that
-of the Federal artillery, all along the line,
-in a torrent of shot and shell and continuous reverberation,
-surpassing any previous artillery fire in the war.
-But Lee's undaunted veterans held firm.</p>
-
-<p>First to meet the advancing enemy were the Twenty-third
-and Seventeenth South Carolina regiments and the
-survivors of the Eighteenth and Twenty-second. The
-remainder of the division hurried to the firing line, and
-Wright's battery and Major Haskell's mortar batteries
-came into action with terrible effect upon the crowded
-masses of the Federals. General Elliott fell dangerously
-wounded, but his place was taken by Col. F. W. McMaster,
-Seventeenth, and Colonel Smith, Twenty-sixth,
-formed a line to the left and rear of the crater composed
-of his regiment, part of the Seventeenth, and the
-Twenty-fourth North Carolina. The Twenty-third,
-under Captain White, and the remnant of the Twenty-second,
-under Captain Shedd, held the trenches on the
-right. "The South Carolina troops on that side," said
-General Johnson, "succeeded in placing a barricade on
-the side of the hill and planting themselves in it and the
-sunken ways running to the rear, maintained their position
-within 30 yards of the crater for about five hours, during
-which the enemy never drove them a foot to the
-right, though they made several assaults and attempted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>
-several times to form a line in rear of our works, so as to
-move on the flank and rear of this gallant little band. In
-the events of the 30th of July there will perhaps be found
-nothing more heroic or worthy of higher admiration than
-this conduct of the Twenty-second and Twenty-third
-South Carolina regiments."</p>
-
-<p>After Mahone's division came up, Colonel Smith's line
-joined in a charge which cleared the enemy from part of
-the second line of intrenchments, and the final charge
-which resulted in the complete rout of the enemy was
-participated in by the Seventeenth under Major Culp,
-and Captain Shedd's line, which captured three flags and
-many prisoners. "For every buried comrade," General
-Johnson said, the South Carolinians "took a two-fold
-vengeance on the enemy." In the last charge Sergt. J.
-W. Connelly, Twenty-second, captured the colors of the
-First Michigan sharpshooters. The loss of Elliott's South
-Carolinians on that terrible day was 15 officers killed and
-18 wounded; 110 men killed and 204 wounded; 14 officers
-and 337 men missing; total, 698. This was the main
-part of the Confederate loss. The Federal return of
-losses was 4,400.</p>
-
-<p>Grant's demonstrations north of the James, on the old
-Seven Days' battle ground, to draw Lee's forces away
-from the vicinity of the mine explosion, had caused
-Bratton's brigade to be sent across at Drewry's bluff to
-Fussell's mill on the 29th, and thence to New Market
-heights. Kershaw had taken position at Chaffin's bluff
-several days before, and on the 28th, Conner's (Kershaw's)
-and Lane's brigades attempted to dislodge the enemy
-from the Long Bridge road, causing a severe fight.
-Heth's, Field's and Kershaw's divisions were massed
-here; the enemy abandoned the advanced position and
-Kershaw recrossed the James on the 30th.</p>
-
-<p>On July 27th, Hampton was ordered from Drewry's to
-intercept Wilson's cavalry expedition, returning from
-Staunton river bridge to Grant's army. He attacked at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>
-Sappony church, next day, and his thin line held the
-enemy in check all night, 200 of the Holcombe legion
-infantry, under Crawley, in the center. At dawn, the
-whole command, including Butler's brigade, charged,
-drove the enemy from two lines, pursued his scattering
-forces two miles, and captured over 800 prisoners, while
-Fitzhugh Lee was fighting with like success at Reams'
-Station. The gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Crawley was
-severely wounded. This pursuit, General Hampton
-reported, closed the operations begun on June 8th, a
-period of twenty-two days, during which his command,
-poorly fed and without rest, had marched over 400 miles,
-fought six days and one night, captured over 2,000 prisoners,
-and many guns and small-arms, and defeated two
-formidable Federal expeditions, at a loss of 719 men.</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_I_9" id="Footnote_I_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_I_9"><span class="label">[I]</span></a> Col. Robert E. Bowen, then senior captain commanding the
-Second Rifles, in a description of this battle of Wauhatchie, Will's
-Valley, or Lookout Valley, as it is variously called, says that during
-an observation of the Federal movements from the summit of Lookout,
-General Jenkins asked permission to attack and capture "the supply
-train for Rosecrans' army," for which Hooker's troops were mistaken,
-and the attack was made with that understanding, Law's brigade
-being stationed at the river to prevent reinforcements from
-Chattanooga. Captain Bowen commanded the brigade skirmish
-line of six companies, which drove in the Federals, until he found
-them in heavy force in line of battle, when he notified General Jenkins,
-and was ordered to go as far as possible. His men opened fire,
-lying down to load, and the brigade advanced to their line, within a
-hundred yards of the Federals, and there stopped on account of the
-evident strength of the enemy. Captain Bowen was severely
-wounded, and Sergt. G. W. Bradley, a noble soldier, was killed.</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_J_10" id="Footnote_J_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_J_10"><span class="label">[J]</span></a> Colonel Hunt says: "Accident gave the brigade the position
-in front of the salient, and it sustained its reputation by charging,
-retaking and holding it for seventeen hours. No one can describe
-what we endured during that struggle. The trunk of that oak tree
-now on exhibition in Washington tells better than words the heroic
-endurance of the Confederate soldier, and gives a faint idea of the
-storm of minie balls hurled at us. When we took the works, the
-bark on it was intact. It stood near the right center of the salient.
-A little to the left and in front of it stood a hickory tree about eight
-inches in diameter, of which I have never seen any mention. The
-hickory was shot down before night and fell across the works, catching
-some of the men in its branches. Its body and branches were
-chipped into splinters by minie balls.... I saw some very reckless
-acts of individuals, for instance Private W. W. Davenport, of the
-Thirteenth, and a boy of the Twelfth, whose name I cannot recall,
-mounted ammunition boxes, not over ten feet from the hickory, and
-fired over the salient while three or four men loaded guns for them
-until the minie balls almost stripped the clothing from them. During
-the afternoon the enemy's front line would seek protection under
-cover of our works and fire by placing the muzzles of their guns
-below the top logs of the works, while their second line would fire
-over their heads. Frequently our men would seize their muzzles
-and direct their fire to the rear."</p></div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN&mdash;BATTLES AROUND ATLANTA&mdash;JONESBORO&mdash;HOOD'S
-CAMPAIGN IN NORTH
-GEORGIA&mdash;THE DEFENSE OF SHIP'S GAP&mdash;LAST
-CAMPAIGN IN TENNESSEE&mdash;BATTLE OF FRANKLIN.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">Simultaneous</span> with the crossing of the Rapidan
-river in Virginia by the Federal army of Meade,
-Gen. W. T. Sherman, in command of the armies
-of the Cumberland, Tennessee and Ohio, under Thomas,
-McPherson and Schofield, in all about 100,000 strong,
-advanced against the army of Tennessee, then under
-Gen. J. E. Johnston, and occupying the valley and
-mountain strongholds about Dalton, on the railroad from
-Chattanooga to Atlanta. South Carolina was represented
-in each of Johnston's two corps, in Hardee's by the Sixteenth
-regiment, Col. James McCullough, and Twenty-fourth,
-Col. Ellison Capers, in Gist's brigade of W. H. T.
-Walker's division, and Ferguson's battery, Lieut. R. T.
-Beauregard; and in Hood's corps by the Tenth regiment,
-Col. James F. Pressley, and Nineteenth, Lieut.-Col.
-Thomas P. Shaw, in Manigault's brigade of Hindman's
-division. Upon the junction of Polk's forces, Waties'
-battery, with Jackson's cavalry division, increased the
-South Carolina contingent. Brig.-Gen. C. H. Stevens
-commanded a Georgia brigade of Walker's division.</p>
-
-<p>The South Carolinians shared fully in the campaign
-which followed, in the course of which General Johnston
-skillfully withdrew his forces, with inconsiderable loss,
-from one position to another, as each became untenable,
-also firmly holding the enemy for weeks on the New
-Hope church and Kenesaw mountain lines, repulsing
-fierce assaults and permitting Sherman to gain no adva<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>ntages
-except such as were due to the power of flanking
-inevitable to superior numbers.</p>
-
-<p>The official reports of the campaign are meager, and
-afford no particulars of the service of Manigault's brigade.
-Colonel Capers, reporting September 10th, for
-Gist's brigade, said that on May 6th the brigade marched
-out of its winter quarters near Atlanta, and took position
-near Mill Creek gap. Captain Wever's company, of the
-Twenty-fourth, was the first engaged at this point, but
-the brigade was soon transferred to Resaca, to meet the
-Federal flanking column under McPherson. Then crossing
-the river the two regiments were engaged below Resaca
-against the enemy, whose crossing endangered Johnston's
-position. Meanwhile the battle of Resaca came on
-and Walker's division hurried back across the river, the
-Twenty-fourth leading, under fire of the enemy's batteries.
-They took position at the center, but Johnston
-was compelled to withdraw that night. On the 16th
-Hardee's corps was in bivouac on the Rome road, when
-the enemy drove in his pickets and the Federal shells
-began to fall in his camp. Colonel Capers, with his regiment
-and Shaaff's Georgia sharpshooters, was sent to
-re-establish the pickets, and his men were successful in a
-gallant charge, but lost 9 killed and 30 wounded, among
-the latter Capt. T. C. Morgan and Sergt.-Maj. J. B.
-Dotterer.</p>
-
-<p>At Cassville, "the greatest enthusiasm prevailed in our
-ranks as the men and officers saw the army formed for
-battle;" but the order was countermanded, and May
-25th found them in rear of and supporting Stewart's
-division at New Hope church. They were not engaged
-in the battle, but lost several killed and wounded. After
-various changes of position they were formed on June
-19th south and west of Kenesaw mountain. The right of
-the Twenty-fourth touched French's division, which
-occupied the mountain.</p>
-
-<p>The line, which was strongly intrenched, was soon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>
-under the fire of the enemy, who established his intrenched
-line within 300 yards, and maintained such a
-constant fire of small-arms and artillery that the men
-had to keep close behind the works. Maj. C. C. O'Neill,
-of the Sixteenth, was killed on the picket line, which
-gallantly faced the enemy. On the 24th Colonel Capers'
-regiment went forward to assist the pickets in covering
-the brigade front, facing a Federal line of battle. The
-famous assault occurred three days later, and was repulsed
-from the line of the North Carolinians by their
-steady fire, assisted by the raking artillery fire from General
-French's batteries. But the Federals drove in the
-picket line and planted themselves within 100 yards,
-whence they maintained a galling fire of musketry.
-After thirteen days of such fighting at Kenesaw mountain
-the brigade was retired, with the army, the Twenty-fourth
-having lost 57 men. The experience of all the
-South Carolina regiments was similar.</p>
-
-<p>On July 9th Gist's brigade crossed the Chattahoochee.
-"On the 17th," Colonel Capers wrote in his report, "the
-commanding general (Johnston) published an address to
-the army, and announced that he would attack General
-Sherman's army so soon as it should cross the Chattahoochee."</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>I had the honor to read the address to the brigade, and
-to congratulate the command upon the prospect of successful
-battle. The order of battle was received with
-enthusiasm and the most confident spirit prevailed.
-Next day ... the farewell address of General Johnston
-was received and read to the regiment. It is due to truth
-to say that the reception of these orders produced the
-most despondent feelings in my command. The loss of
-the commanding general was felt to be irreparable. Continuing
-the march and passing by his headquarters
-Walker's division passed at the shoulder, the officers
-saluting, and most of the latter and hundreds of the men
-taking off their hats. It had been proposed to halt and
-cheer, but General Johnston, hearing of our intention,
-requested that the troops march by in silence.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>On the 20th, the Federal army having crossed the river
-and become separated in a movement toward the southeast
-of Atlanta, General Hood caused an attack upon
-Thomas on Peachtree creek by Hardee and Stewart
-(Polk's corps), while his corps, under Cheatham, met the
-enemy on the east. In this fight Walker's division made
-a gallant but unsuccessful assault and suffered considerable
-loss. On the 21st the fighting was brisk on the east
-of the city, participated in by Manigault's brigade. Next
-day Hardee made a circuitous march and fell upon the
-enemy's southeastward flank and rear, while Cheatham
-and Stewart attacked in front. In this hard-fought battle
-of July 22d the Federal right was rolled up and severely
-punished, but the Confederate loss was great, including
-General Walker, killed.</p>
-
-<p>Gist's brigade fought in the front line on the Federal
-flank, and Manigault's brigade, in another part of the
-field, charged forward against the works occupied by the
-Federals on the Georgia railroad. Part of the Nineteenth
-regiment entered a large white house to fire from
-the windows, and seeing the enemy breaking, soon the
-men were leaping over the works and capturing prisoners.
-Capt. E. W. Horne reported: "Then mingling with
-men of other regiments, they passed about 150 yards left
-along the works, on the enemy's side of them, to the
-brick house, where they captured other prisoners. Maj.
-James L. White, who was in command of the regiment,
-acted well his part." The brigade was taken back to
-the white house, and formed, and then advanced again
-under the heavy enfilade fire of the batteries that Sherman
-had hurried up to protect his center, and occupied
-the trenches left of the brick house, where Major White
-was severely wounded. The brigade was soon afterward
-withdrawn. The loss of the Nineteenth was 97. The
-Tenth advanced on the right of the Nineteenth, the right
-of the brigade line, and was conspicuous in the fight. It
-was there, where the South Carolinians fought, that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span>
-Illinois batteries of Captain DeGress were captured, and
-the honor of this achievement is claimed by Manigault's
-brigade. After this battle Gist's brigade was transferred
-to Cheatham's division.</p>
-
-<p>On July 27th Stephen D. Lee, who went to Virginia in
-1861 as a South Carolina artillery officer, took command
-of Hood's corps, with the rank of lieutenant-general,
-and on the next day he was ordered to attack the Federal
-right, being extended southward west of the city. In
-this fight Manigault's brigade was again engaged. Capt.
-T. W. Getzen was in command of the Twenty-fourth,
-and after he and Captain Home were wounded, the gallant
-"Adjt. James O. Ferrell reported to General Manigault
-that all his captains were now wounded or killed,
-and the general ordered the adjutant himself to take
-command." The loss of the Twenty-fourth that day was
-53. The Tenth was engaged with like gallantry, its
-commander, Lieut.-Col. C. Irvin Walker, falling painfully
-wounded. Lieuts. G. A. Jennison and W. E.
-Huger, of Manigault's staff, were among the wounded.
-The brigade made repeated assaults, and left dead and
-wounded within a few feet of the Federal intrenchments,
-but the Confederate battle was not successful.</p>
-
-<p>The investment of Atlanta was actively pressed after
-the battles of the latter part of July to the 25th of August,
-1864. During that period the Federal line was firmly
-established on the east, north and west of the city, and
-steadily pushed southwestward. On August 25th, Hood's
-line, west and south of Atlanta, had extended to cover
-East Point, on the Macon railroad, 5 miles distant
-from the city.</p>
-
-<p>Early in August General Hood sent General Wheeler
-with half his cavalry force to operate on Sherman's railroad
-communications with Chattanooga. Satisfied of his
-ability to hold Atlanta and keep open his Macon communications,
-he was equally well satisfied that Wheeler's
-success would compel Sherman to assault or raise the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span>
-siege and recross the Chattahoochee. But Sherman had
-already determined to raise the siege, to intrench one of
-his corps on the Chattahoochee to guard his supplies and
-protect that crossing, and to throw the Federal army
-first on the West Point and then on the Macon road, south
-of Atlanta. After an ineffective cavalry expedition,
-Sherman's movement began on the night of the 25th,
-and by the morning of the 28th nearly his whole army
-was in position on the West Point railroad, tearing up
-the track from East Point to Fairburn. Finishing this
-work of destruction on the 29th, Howard and Thomas
-were ordered to march on the 30th across to the Macon
-road and take possession of General Hood's only remaining
-railroad communications. Howard's destination was
-Jonesboro, 20 miles south of Atlanta.</p>
-
-<p>Meanwhile General Hood had been uncertain as to the
-real character of the Federal general's movements, but
-supposed his main force was actually recrossing the Chattahoochee
-in retreat. Not until the evening of the 30th
-was General Hood convinced that his rear was seriously
-attacked. General Hardee was then ordered to march
-immediately with his own and Lee's corps, and to attack
-and drive across Flint river the force reported to be
-marching for Jonesboro. The head of Hardee's corps
-reached Jonesboro about sunrise, and the last of Lee's
-corps did not arrive before 1 p. m. Howard had crossed
-Flint river with one corps in the afternoon of the 30th,
-and occupied and fortified a ridge of high ground parallel
-with the railroad and between the river and Jonesboro.
-He could just as well have occupied the hamlet of Jonesboro
-and intrenched himself across the coveted railroad
-facing the city of Atlanta, for he had nothing to oppose
-his army but a brigade of cavalry. But he was deceived
-by reports that Jonesboro was occupied by a large force
-of infantry. Before "bedtime" of the 30th, General
-Howard had two corps in position, the Fifteenth east and
-the Sixteenth west of the river. Early on the morning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span>
-of the 31st the Seventeenth corps came up, and his army
-of the Tennessee was ready for battle.</p>
-
-<p>As the troops of Hardee and Lee arrived on the 31st,
-they were quickly put in line of battle facing west, and
-immediately confronting the Fifteenth corps, commanded
-by Gen. John A. Logan. Lee's corps occupied the right,
-the divisions of Patton Anderson (including Manigault's
-brigade) and Stevenson in front, and Clayton's in reserve.
-Hardee's corps, commanded by General Cleburne, occupied
-the left, the divisions of Bate (under J. C. Brown)
-and Cleburne (under Lowrey) in front, and Cheatham's
-(under General Maney, and including Gist's brigade) in
-reserve. General Hardee ordered the attack to begin on
-the extreme left by Lowrey, to be followed up from left
-to right, Lowrey and Brown wheeling to their right and
-Lee attacking directly in front. Lowrey engaged the
-skirmishers in his front at 3 o'clock, and Lee, hearing his
-fire, led his corps forward. Lee was repulsed, but Lowrey
-on the extreme left was brilliantly successful, driving
-the enemy in his front across the river. He established
-his line on the east bank of the river, but the attack having
-failed on his right, he was recalled to his original
-position. Patton Anderson's division was conspicuous in
-the attack of Lee's corps. He was severely wounded and
-his division suffered heavily. Persuaded of the certain
-advance of General Thomas, and interpreting General
-Howard's defensive attitude as indicative of his near
-approach, Hardee wisely decided not to risk another
-assault and also stood on the defensive.</p>
-
-<p>In the attacks, right and left, the brigades of Manigault
-and Gist were each in the line of support to the line
-of attack. Gist's brigade (commanded by Lieut.-Col.
-James McCullough, General Gist being absent wounded)
-was on the extreme left of Cheatham's division, and followed
-Lowrey's advance; but was not actively engaged
-and suffered only 4 casualties. Manigault had a more
-exciting experience. His brigade for this engagement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>
-was assigned to Clayton's division, supporting Anderson
-and Stevenson. General Clayton describes the attack of
-the front line as wanting in dash and persistency. Ordered
-up on its first repulse, Manigault on his left, Holtzclaw
-next, and Gibson on his right, Clayton led his division
-with spirit. Encountering a rail fence, parallel to
-his advance, and the enemy's rifle-pits near it, a large
-part of the division halted at these obstructions to return
-the enemy's fire of musketry and canister which raked
-their ranks. To this circumstance the repulse of the
-division was due. "Never (says General Clayton) was
-a charge begun with such enthusiasm terminated with
-accomplishing so little."</p>
-
-<p>Gibson led the brigade with the Confederate battle-flag
-in his grasp, and lost half his men. Manigault on the
-left was equally unsuccessful. This was the experience
-of each division in the assault with the one exception of
-Cleburne's, led by Lowrey. The whole attack was most
-unsatisfactory and disappointing. The troops went forward
-with spirit, but were soon discouraged and halted
-behind any and every obstruction to reply to the enemy's
-fire. This was fatal to the attack, though much determination
-and courage were shown by fighting from shelter,
-or even in the open. The corps of Hardee and Lee were
-physically unfit for the heroic exertion demanded of
-them on the 31st of August. To expect men who are
-worn out physically and wanting food, to carry intrenchments
-held by equal numbers, is unreasonable. The
-great Jackson failed to push his corps across White Oak
-swamp and join the battle at Frayser's farm, and his
-friend and biographer explains this unusual want of his
-characteristic energy by telling of his absolute physical
-exhaustion. However much we may deplore the disappointing
-results of the battle of the 31st of August, no
-true man, who knew the men who failed there, would
-charge their failure to a lack of spirit or courage.</p>
-
-<p>The situation on the night of the 31st was critical.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span>
-Thomas' two corps were on the railroad in the rear of
-Howard and in supporting distance, and Schofield, with
-another corps, having eluded Hood at East Point, was in
-supporting distance of Thomas, on the railroad at Rough
-and Ready. Thus Sherman had thrown his entire army
-(the Twentieth corps excepted) between General Hood
-and the two corps at Jonesboro, and was hard at work
-breaking up the Macon railroad. Hood was holding on
-to Atlanta with Stewart's corps, and the militia of
-Georgia, the latter under Gen. G. W. Smith. Hearing
-late at night of the 31st, of Howard's success in repelling
-Hardee, Sherman at once ordered everything against
-Jonesboro, while General Hood directed Hardee to return
-Lee's corps to Atlanta, saying: "There are some indications
-that the enemy may make an attempt upon Atlanta
-to-morrow." The execution of this order exposed Lee
-to what seemed almost certain capture, and left Hardee
-to defend the supplies and ordnance trains of the army
-and the very existence of the army itself, against the
-whole of the force of General Sherman. Lee left Hardee
-before day on September 1st. That he succeeded in
-reaching General Hood, with Thomas and Schofield
-directly in his front, is a wonderful comment on the value
-of bypaths and a brilliant testimony to Lee's skill in
-finding them.</p>
-
-<p>Hardee made the best possible disposition of his three
-divisions of infantry, and his small cavalry force, and
-stood behind such a defensive line as he could make. The
-troops worked all night of the 31st, the entire corps being
-in position from the railroad (a deep cut) on the right, to
-a position covered by cavalry on the left, and north of
-the hamlet of Jonesboro, Lowrey on the right, Brown in
-the center and Carter (Anderson) on the left. Gist's
-South Carolina and Georgia brigade was on the extreme
-left flank. The whole line was in one rank. From sunrise,
-Howard was threatening attack, with three corps in
-position, and his artillery commanding every part of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>
-Hardee's line. The Confederates took the shelling
-patiently and worked hard upon their line of defense,
-well aware of the responsibility of their position.</p>
-
-<p>At the railroad on the right the line was turned back,
-almost parallel with the deep railroad cut which passed
-through the ridge, north and south, on which Hardee's
-line was formed. This turn in the line was made to meet
-a fire from the opposite side of the cut, which was densely
-wooded, with a growth of small trees. The cut was too
-deep to be crossed at that point. About 1 o'clock Gist's
-brigade was ordered from the left, and put in position in
-one rank in the wood just described, by the lieutenant-general
-in person, and charged with the defense of the
-right flank. The Second battalion Georgia sharpshooters,
-Maj. R. H. Whiteley, and the Twenty-fourth South Carolina,
-Col. Ellison Capers, occupied the position at the railroad
-cut, and Colonel Capers was specially charged with
-its defense. On the right of the Twenty-fourth was the
-Sixteenth South Carolina and on its right the Forty-sixth
-Georgia. The men climbed up the smaller trees, bent
-them down, cut across the trunks with their pocket knives,
-and made a first-rate abatis of small trees, interlaced,
-covering the front for some distance. A barricade of
-rails, small trees, and timbers brought up from a settlement
-in rear, was quickly made, and these preparations
-saved the right when the attack came.</p>
-
-<p>Early in the afternoon, the Fourteenth corps, of
-Thomas' army, came up and took position between the
-railroad and Howard's left. Still later, at 4 o'clock, the
-Fourth corps came up, and the leading division, Kimball's,
-deployed in front of Gist's brigade. At 5 o'clock
-Newton's division, of the Fourth corps, got into position
-in the woods on Kimball's left, the two divisions far
-overlapping Gist's brigade, and extending a quarter of
-a mile beyond the right flank of Hardee's position. General
-Sherman's plan of attack was to assault with the
-Fourteenth and Fourth corps, and send the Seventeenth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>
-(Blair's) around Hardee's left flank to his rear, on the
-railroad, assured by these combinations of his certain
-capture. Davis brought his corps (Fourteenth) up in
-handsome style, about 4 o'clock, concentrated his assault
-on Lowrey, carried the position on the railroad, and captured
-most of Govan's brigade, with its brigadier-general
-and two 4-gun batteries. The brigade on Govan's
-left, Granbury's, threw back its right and defended itself
-on that flank and in the front. Lowrey and Hardee were
-promptly on the scene. Vaughan's brigade was brought
-up from Cheatham's division, and with the Fifth and
-Fifteenth Arkansas of Govan's brigade, charged the position
-of the enemy in Govan's line, recaptured most of it
-and confined the assaulting force to the position immediately
-on the railroad, from which they fired directly down
-Lowrey's line. Meanwhile the assaults in front were
-unsuccessful.</p>
-
-<p>Simultaneous with the attack of Davis, Kimball's skirmishers
-east of the railroad engaged those of Gist's brigade,
-and at 5 o'clock an assault was made which fell on
-Whiteley's sharpshooters and Capers' regiment. Davis'
-troops on the west side of the cut fired into Whiteley's
-flank, and he withdrew his battalion from the barricade.
-Kimball's troops pushed up and occupied Whiteley's
-position, and drove back the three left companies of the
-Twenty-fourth South Carolina. On the left of his regiment
-Colonel Capers had made a barricade of logs, at
-right angles to the line, as a protection against a fire
-from the west side of the cut. Assisted by the adjutant-general
-of the brigade, Maj. B. B. Smith, and Lieutenant
-Holmes, adjutant of the Twenty-fourth, Colonel
-Capers rallied his companies, which, led by their commanding
-lieutenants, Easterling (Company B), Beckham
-(Company G) and Seigler (Company K), charged the
-barricade, drove Kimball's men out, and reoccupied their
-positions. Turning on the position which the sharpshooters
-had vacated, Major Smith and Lieutenants<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span>
-Easterling and Beckham, with Companies B and K,
-immediately attacked it, and Major Whiteley bringing up
-his battalion in gallant style, the whole left of Gist's brigade
-was re-established and the enemy driven to the bottom
-of the ridge. In this battle the brave Maj. D. F.
-Hill, of the Twenty-fourth, was killed, while directing the
-fire of the left of the regiment. It was now growing
-dark, and the lieutenant-general in person rode up and
-congratulated Colonel Capers on the success of his regiment.
-The commander of the Fourth corps, General
-Stanley, in his report explained his delayed attack as "in
-part owing to the dense undergrowth in front of the
-enemy, and further, to the slow progress the skirmishers
-made in pushing back those of the enemy. Grose and
-Kirby both reported that they could not carry the position
-in their front owing to the perfect entanglement
-made by cutting down the thick undergrowth in front of
-the rail barricade the rebels had hastily thrown up."
-This was the entanglement made by Gist's men with
-their pocket-knives. General Stanley continues: "Newton's
-division had a much longer circuit to make and
-when moved forward the right brigade (Wagner's) found
-no enemy in front [Wagner was far to the right and on
-the rear of Gist's right regiment], but received a fire from
-the rear of their right flank." This was from the right
-of the Forty-sixth Georgia. That regiment and the Sixteenth
-South Carolina kept up a steady fire in their front
-and on their flanks, that of the Sixteenth materially
-assisting the Twenty-fourth in its contest over the left
-barricades.</p>
-
-<p>Night came on and it was unusually dark, so that the
-active fighting ceased. Hardee had stood the shock and
-held his position, with the single exception of Govan's
-brigade front, and that had been in part gallantly restored
-under his eye. About midnight General Hardee had
-successfully left his lines, and by daylight of the 2d he
-was in line of battle at Lovejoy, 5 miles in the rear of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span>
-Jonesboro, with all trains packed and his weary and
-heroic battalions hard at work on a defensive line.</p>
-
-<p>It is of this battle on the 1st and of its results, that
-General Hood reported to Richmond: "Hardee's corps
-was attacked in position at Jonesboro. The result was
-the loss of eight guns and some prisoners. Hardee then
-retired to Lovejoy's Station, where he was joined by
-Stewart's and Lee's corps." No dates were given by
-General Hood. Stewart and Lee did not reach Lovejoy's
-until the evening of the 3d, and Sherman's advance
-was deploying in Hardee's front by sunrise on the 2d.
-A battle was successfully fought all that day by the
-pickets, and again on the 3d, so that when Stewart and
-Lee came up from Atlanta on General Hardee's right
-rear, the Federal line of battle had been held at bay and
-the Confederate commander had only to strengthen a
-well-chosen position by the reinforcement of Lee's and
-Stewart's corps. If the attack of August 31st was disappointing,
-surely the splendid defense of September 1st,
-the successful retreat to Lovejoy's and the defiant resistance
-of a single corps on the 2d and 3d, with the safety
-of the trains, ought to have cheered the heart of the commanding
-general and inspired a gallant soldier's commendation.</p>
-
-<p>Following these events, Sherman retreated to Atlanta,
-Hood concentrated his army at Palmetto, near the Chattahoochee,
-Hardee was supplanted by Cheatham in corps
-command, and General Gist took command of Cheatham's
-division. In Manigault's brigade, of Edward
-Johnson's division, the Tenth South Carolina was under
-command of Lieut.-Col. C. Irvine Walker, the Nineteenth
-of Capt. Thomas W. Getzen. Gist's brigade was commanded
-by Col. Ellison Capers, the Sixteenth regiment
-by Capt. John W. Boling, and the Twenty-fourth by
-Capt. W. C. Griffith.</p>
-
-<p>On September 29, 1864, Cheatham's corps broke camp
-at Palmetto, crossed the Chattahoochee, and marched<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span>
-northward on the west of Atlanta and Sherman's army.
-Gist's brigade camped on the road to Lost mountain on
-the 4th and 5th of October. After a dreadful night of
-storm, they marched through rain and mud on the Dalton
-road, and pushed on for the next three days through Van
-Wert, Cedartown and Cave Springs to Coosaville on the
-Coosa river, on the 9th. Thence marching through the
-beautiful valley of the Armuchee and through Sugar
-valley, they came before Dalton on the 13th at 1 p. m.
-General Hood summoned the fort, which surrendered after
-John C. Brown's division (including Gist's brigade) was
-ordered to carry it by assault.</p>
-
-<p>Leaving Dalton on the afternoon of October 14th,
-Gist's brigade passed Rocky Face, through Mill Creek
-gap, familiar places to the soldiers of that army. After
-camping a night at Villanow, they resumed their march,
-passing Taylor's ridge through Ship's gap, and camped
-in the Chattooga valley. Early next morning, October
-16th, Colonel Capers was ordered to march back with his
-regiment, and hold Ship's gap until ordered to retire. In
-disposing his regiment for the defense of the gap, Colonel
-Capers placed Companies A and F, Captains Steinmeyer
-and Sherard, under Captain Roddey, acting major, about
-a quarter of a mile in advance down the mountain, and
-instructed Roddey to deploy his companies, taking
-advantage of the woods, and to detain the enemy as long
-as he could, falling back on the right and left of the regiment
-when pressed too hard. Colonel Capers, from an
-open place on the ridge, seeing the enemy's columns and
-counting seventeen flags, reported by courier to General
-Gist, who sent him a dispatch to hold the gap as long as
-he could, but not to lose his regiment. It was then
-about 11 o'clock, and Roddey was skirmishing heavily.
-Colonel Capers sent his adjutant-general, Holmes, to
-Roddey. Just as that officer had returned and was talking
-to the colonel, the enemy was heard to raise a shout
-from the direction of both flanks of Roddey's force, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span>
-suddenly the firing ceased. In a few minutes some men of
-Companies A and F, who had escaped capture, came in
-and reported that the enemy had passed around each
-flank of their line, and charging from the rear had cut
-off Roddey and most of his command. Soon after this
-the Federals came up the mountain, and charged the
-Twenty-fourth, which was holding the gap with the right
-and left companies deployed to protect the flanks. The
-well-directed fire of the gallant Carolinians repulsed the
-attack. Learning soon after that a force was moving
-around to get in his rear, Colonel Capers conducted his
-regiment to the rear by the right flank, each company
-firing up to the moment of marching. At the foot of the
-ridge they were relieved by cavalry, and the regiment
-was conducted to the bivouac of the brigade on the Summerville
-road. The Twenty-fourth lost 4 officers and
-about 40 men in this spirited skirmish at Ship's gap.
-Captains Roddey, Steinmeyer and Sherard and Lieutenant
-Gray were captured with about half of the force they
-commanded. It could not be ascertained how many of
-those cut off were killed or wounded. Only 8 were
-wounded in the gap.</p>
-
-<p>On the next day the march of Cheatham's corps was
-continued. On October 18th they crossed the line of
-Georgia and Alabama, and on the 21st halted at Gadsden,
-where they received their mail and drew blankets, clothing
-and shoes, not enough to supply all necessities, but
-to relieve the most needy. Twenty men of the Twenty-fourth
-were absolutely barefooted when they reached
-Gadsden. That evening General Hood communicated
-to the army his purpose to cross the Tennessee and march
-into that State. The route lay through the beautiful
-valley of the Tennessee, desolated by the enemy, and
-Hood addressed a field circular to the army, calling attention
-of the troops to the ruined homes on every hand and
-exhorting officers and men to resolutely vow the redemption
-of Tennessee from the grasp of the foe. It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span>
-noted in the report of the colonel: "The circular was
-received by the Twenty-fourth with a hearty cheer,
-though many of the gallant soldiers who cheered were
-absolutely suffering for clothing and shoes."</p>
-
-<p>The march to the Tennessee, then across that river
-and on to Franklin, was through rain and mud and snow,
-with sometimes not more than three biscuits a day to the
-man. Yet the troops were cheerful and dutiful. Finally,
-on the afternoon of November 30th, they came upon the
-field at Franklin. Cheatham's corps was deployed on
-the left. The divisions were formed in two lines from
-right to left as follows: Cleburne's, Brown's and Bate's.
-In Brown's division, Gist's and Gordon's brigades occupied
-the front and Carter's and Strahl's the rear line.
-Stewart's corps was on the right of the pike. At 4 o'clock
-p. m. the two corps moved down the hills, Brown's division
-marching by the right flank of regiments until they
-had descended the slopes, then forming forward into line.
-As they advanced, the front line of the enemy was
-steadily driven back. Says Colonel Capers in his
-report:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Just before the charge was ordered, the brigade passed
-over an elevation, from which we beheld the magnificent
-spectacle the battlefield presented. Bands were playing,
-general and staff officers and gallant couriers were
-riding in front of and between the lines, a hundred flags
-were waving in the smoke of battle, and bursting shells
-were wreathing the air with great circles of smoke, while
-20,000 brave men were marching in perfect order against
-the foe. The sight inspired every man of the Twenty-fourth
-with the sentiment of duty. As we were pressing
-back the enemy's advance forces, Lieut.-Col. J. S. Jones
-fell mortally wounded in front of the right of the regiment.
-General Gist, attended by Capt. H. D. Garden
-and Lieut. Frank Trenholm of his staff, rode down our
-front, and returning ordered the charge, in concert with
-General Gordon. In passing from the left to the right of
-the regiment, General Gist waved his hat to us, expressed
-his pride and confidence in the Twenty-fourth, and rode
-away in the smoke of the battle, never more to be seen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span>
-by the men he had commanded on so many fields. His
-horse was shot, and dismounting he was leading the right
-of the brigade when he fell pierced through the heart.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Thus died Gen. S. R. Gist, a gallant son of South Carolina,
-who had nobly defended on many a field the cause
-for which he now so heroically yielded up his life. But
-without a halt, his noble brigade pressed on, driving the
-advance force of the enemy pell-mell into a locust abatis,
-where many were captured and sent to the rear. Colonel
-Capers, of the Twenty-fourth, fell wounded just
-before reaching the Union works. Gist's and Gordon's
-brigades charged on, reached the ditch of the main
-works and then mounted the parapet, on which the
-colors of the Twenty-fourth South Carolina were planted,
-and there remained.</p>
-
-<p>Strahl's and Carter's brigades went gallantly to the
-assistance of Gist and Gordon. Though this line was
-torn to pieces by a terrible enfilade fire, by which Strahl
-and his entire staff were killed and Carter mortally
-wounded, there was no backward movement of the line.
-The gallant fellows pressed on to the ditch. Maj. B.
-Burgh Smith, of the brigade staff, who was commanding
-the Sixteenth South Carolina, was now the senior officer
-of the brigade, every superior officer being either killed
-or wounded. About 10:30 p. m. Lieut. James A. Tillman,
-of the Twenty-fourth, led his own company (I) and
-men from other companies of the regiment in a charge
-over the work, and captured the colors of the Ninety-seventh
-Ohio volunteer infantry and some 40 prisoners.
-The whole of Gist's brigade, Carolinians and Georgians,
-held their position against repeated attempts of the Federals
-to regain the works, until about midnight when the
-enemy retired, leaving the Confederates in possession of
-the bloody field of Franklin.<a name="FNanchor_K_11" id="FNanchor_K_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_K_11" class="fnanchor">[K]</a> The Tenth and Nine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span>teenth
-South Carolina, in Manigault's brigade, Edward
-Johnson's division, got into the battle late in the evening,
-but did their duty well.</p>
-
-<p>Gen. Stephen D. Lee reported: "Brigadier-General
-Manigault, commanding a brigade of Alabamians and
-South Carolinians, was severely wounded while gallantly
-leading his troops to the fight, and of his two successors
-in command, Col. T. P. Shaw [Nineteenth South Carolina]
-was killed and Colonel Davis wounded. I have
-never seen greater evidence of gallantry than was displayed
-by this division under command of that admirable
-soldier, Maj.-Gen. Ed. Johnson."</p>
-
-<p>On no battlefield of the war was South Carolina more
-nobly illustrated by her gallant sons. But their valor
-was equaled by their endurance of hardships. "Once
-during the campaign," says Colonel Capers' report, "the
-men received as a ration three ears of corn to each man,
-and frequently we had nothing but cornmeal. But I
-am happy to report that no man deserted the flag of his
-regiment."</p>
-
-<p>The records are meager as to the battle of Nashville.
-In the great disaster that befell the Confederate arms at
-that place and the terrible hardships of the retreat, the
-South Carolinians bore their full share of peril and suffering,
-and maintained the honor of the gallant Palmetto
-State.</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_K_11" id="Footnote_K_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_K_11"><span class="label">[K]</span></a> Colonel Capers, in his report commended Lieutenant Tillman,
-who in turn praised the gallantry of Privates J. P. Blackwell, Anderson
-Walls and J. E. O. Carpenter. "I would also mention specially
-the gallantry of Privates Prewett and Mock, both of whom were
-killed on the line of the enemy. Lieut. W. M. Beckham, acting
-adjutant; Captain Bowers, Lieuts. Claude F. Beaty, Adrian C.
-Appleby, C. D. Easterling, McDaniel, and Andrews were conspicuous
-in the field for their gallant conduct. Private Adam
-Carpenter bore the flag with courage and faithfulness, and
-Color-Corporals Jones and Morgan were both wounded. Lieutenants
-Weeks, Tatum and Millen were severely wounded. I would specially
-commend the gallantry and devotion of the litter corps under Private
-Joseph Breland. They kept up with the regiment and rendered
-prompt assistance to the wounded, several of them being themselves
-wounded on the field." At the close of the battle the ranking officer
-of the brigade was Captain Gillis, of the Forty-sixth Georgia. Of
-the general's staff Capt. H. D. Garden alone remained. When the
-generals and field officers of Gist's brigade were either killed or
-wounded, the company officers led their men in the assault upon the
-enemy's works.</p></div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>THE CLOSING SCENES IN VIRGINIA&mdash;SIEGE OF RICHMOND
-AND PETERSBURG&mdash;FALL OF FORT FISHER&mdash;SOUTH
-CAROLINA COMMANDS AT APPOMATTOX.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap2"><span class="smcap">Here</span> may be resumed the narrative of the services
-of South Carolinians in the army of Northern
-Virginia, as recorded in the fragmentary reports
-and itineraries which are preserved.</p>
-
-<p>The returns of August, 1864, show the following South
-Carolina commands on duty in Virginia:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Elliott's brigade of Bushrod Johnson's division, Col. Fitz William
-McMaster commanding the brigade: Seventeenth regiment, Maj.
-John R. Culp; Eighteenth, Capt. R. H. Glenn; Twenty-second,
-Lieut. T. N. Able; Twenty-third, Capt. H. H. Lesesne; Twenty-sixth,
-Lieut.-Col. J. H. Hudson.</p>
-
-<p>Hagood's brigade of R. F. Hoke's division, Brig.-Gen. Johnson
-Hagood commanding the brigade: Eleventh regiment, Maj. John
-J. Gooding; Twenty-first, Lieut. N. A. Easterling; Twenty-fifth,
-Capt. William B. Gordon; Twenty-seventh, Lieut.-Col. Julius A.
-Blake; Seventh battalion, Maj. James H. Rion.</p>
-
-<p>Bratton's brigade of Field's division, First army corps, Brig.-Gen.
-John Bratton commanding the brigade: First regiment, Col. James
-R. Hagood; Second rifles, Col. Robert E. Bowen; Fifth regiment,
-Col. A. Coward; Sixth regiment, Col. John M. Steedman; Palmetto
-sharpshooters, Col. Joseph Walker.</p>
-
-<p>Kershaw's old brigade of Kershaw's division, First army corps:
-Second regiment, Col. J. D. Kennedy; Third, Col. William D.
-Rutherford; Seventh, Capt. Elijah J. Goggans; Eighth, Col. J. W.
-Henagan; Fifteenth, Col. John B. Davis; Twentieth, Col. Stephen
-M. Boykin; Third battalion, Lieut.-Col. William G. Rice.</p>
-
-<p>McGowan's brigade (Brig.-Gen. Samuel McGowan commanding)
-of Wilcox's division, Third army corps: First regiment, Lieut.-Col.
-Andrew P. Butler; Twelfth, Capt. Robert M. Kerr; Thirteenth,
-Capt. David R. Duncan; Fourteenth, Lieut.-Col. Edward Croft;
-Orr's rifles, Maj. James T. Robertson.</p>
-
-<p>Cavalry brigade of Brig.-Gen. John Dunovant, of Maj.-Gen. M.
-C. Butler's division, cavalry corps, army of Northern Virginia, Maj.-Gen.
-Wade Hampton commanding: Third regiment, Col. Charles
-J. Colcock; Fourth, Col. B. Huger Rutledge; Fifth, Lieut.-Col.
-Robert J. Jeffords; Sixth, Col. Hugh K. Aiken.</p>
-
-<p>Capt. Hugh R. Garden's battery was with Maj. J. C. Haskell's
-battalion; Capt. W. W. Fickling's with Maj. Frank Huger's bat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span>talion
-of the First corps; the Pee Dee artillery, Capt. E. B. Brunson,
-with Pegram's battalion, Third corps; Capt. J. F. Hart's battery
-with Hampton's corps.</p>
-
-<p>The Holcombe legion, Capt A. B. Woodruff, brigade of Gen.
-H. A. Wise, was under General Beauregard's immediate command,
-department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia, as were also
-Elliott's and Hagood's brigades.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Bratton's brigade, which was left in a previous chapter
-at New Market heights, north of the James river, was
-unmolested until the middle of August, when Grant
-ordered an advance in that quarter simultaneous with his
-attempt to gain the Weldon railroad. On the 14th Bratton's
-pickets were driven in, and Captain Beaty, of the
-Sharpshooters, one of the most efficient officers of the
-regiment, fell mortally wounded. Following this, the
-movements of the enemy up the Darbytown and Charles
-City roads necessitated a sliding of the whole division to
-the left. Next morning the situation was more serious.
-The enemy took a part of the line about Fussell's mill,
-and the Fifth regiment and Second rifles were sent down
-to recover that position, a work in which they most effectively
-assisted.<a name="FNanchor_L_12" id="FNanchor_L_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_L_12" class="fnanchor">[L]</a> Meanwhile Bratton's thin line repulsed
-assaults near the Libby house. In the afternoon Bratton
-took command of the whole line from his left to Chaffin's
-farm, and by the second day had recovered all that had
-been lost. General Lee's report of August 21st reads:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>The enemy abandoned last evening his position north
-of James river and returned to the south side.</p>
-
-<p>This morning General Hill attacked his position on the
-Weldon railroad, and drove him from his advanced lines
-to his main intrenchments, from which he was not dislodged.
-Over 300 prisoners, exclusive of wounded, were
-captured. Our loss was principally in Hagood's brigade,
-which mounted enemy's intrenchments. Supports failing,
-many were captured.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>General Hagood reported that he took into this Weldon
-railroad fight, line officers (number not given) and 681<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span>
-men, and only 18 officers and 274 men came out unhurt.
-General Hagood was personally distinguished in rescuing
-the colors of the Twenty-seventh at the enemy's works.
-In his report he testified to the splendid gallantry with
-which his devoted men carried out the part of the attack
-assigned to them. On the 25th A. P. Hill attacked the
-Federals again at Reams' Station and won a splendid
-victory. McGowan's brigade was present, and Pegram's
-artillery took a prominent part. Dunovant's cavalry brigade
-was held in reserve by General Hampton, protecting
-the rear and flank of Hill's corps. General Butler
-handled his division skillfully in the fight.</p>
-
-<p>On the morning of September 14th General Hampton
-moved upon his famous expedition to capture a herd of
-cattle which the Federal army was grazing near Coggins'
-point, on the James river. He took with him the division
-of W. H. F. Lee, Rosser's and Dearing's brigades,
-and 100 men from Young's and Dunovant's brigades,
-under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Miller, Sixth
-South Carolina. Moving down Rowanty creek to Wilkinson's
-bridge the first day, General Hampton next found
-it necessary to pass to the rear of Grant's army and force
-his lines at some point. He selected Sycamore church,
-Prince George county, as his point of attack, and before
-night of the next day had his men on the Blackwater at
-Cook's bridge, where he believed the enemy would not
-be looking for him, the bridge having been destroyed.
-After constructing a new bridge, he crossed at midnight,
-and his force advanced in three columns, one under Lee,
-another under Dearing, while Hampton himself, with the
-commands of Rosser and Miller, moved directly on Sycamore
-church. Each column was successful in its attack
-early in the morning, though stubbornly resisted, and
-Rosser pushed on and secured the cattle, 2,486 in number,
-and everything was withdrawn before 8 o'clock.
-Though heavily attacked on his return, Hampton saved
-the captured property, repulsed all assaults, captured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span>
-304 prisoners, and returned after an absence of three
-days, with the slight loss of 10 killed and 47 wounded.
-Among those complimented for their services were Sergeant
-Shadbourne, Jeff Davis legion, who furnished the
-information about the cattle, and guided General Rosser;
-Sergeant Hogan, in charge of Butler's scouts, and Sergeant
-McCalla, First South Carolina, the only scout who
-was killed.</p>
-
-<p>Of the operations of all the South Carolina commands
-during this and later periods of the siege, little detail is to
-be found in the Official Records. The report of General
-Bratton is alone preserved, giving a consecutive account.
-His brigade, after the August fighting north of the James,
-was on duty on the Petersburg lines until September
-29th, when it was again ordered to the New Market road.
-In that vicinity renewed Federal activity had resulted in
-the capture of Battery Harrison, and Bratton's South
-Carolinians, after a rest at Fort Gilmer, were ordered to
-support Anderson's brigade in an assault to recover the
-Confederate work. It was necessary for the brigade to
-file out at double-quick, and without moderating the step
-to move by the right flank in line against the enemy.
-"My orders were obeyed," Bratton reported, "and my
-dead, close under the enemy's works, attest their honest
-efforts to achieve the object for which they were given."
-The right regiment, Walker's, streaming along at a run,
-was halted a moment and put in on the left against a
-little redan, which it carried; but the main assault had
-failed. Another assault was made by General Hoke, but
-without effect. Bratton took into action that day (September
-30th), 1,165 muskets and 129 officers, and his loss
-in killed and wounded was 377. Hagood's regiment
-mourned the loss of the gallant Captains Grimes and
-Kirk and Ensign Bellinger. Part of the Second Rifles,
-says Colonel Bowen, reached Fort Harrison, but could do
-nothing, and it was far more hazardous to leave the fort,
-once in it, than to enter.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>On the 7th of October the brigade moved down the
-Darbytown road and struck the enemy's outposts, which
-Colonel Coward drove in to the Federal works. Then,
-in conjunction with Anderson's brigade, Bratton drove
-the enemy from the works, capturing one piece of artillery,
-other guns falling an easy prey to Gary's cavalry
-brigade (Hampton legion, Seventh South Carolina and
-Twenty-fourth Virginia), which, before the arrival of
-reinforcements, had been doing heroic duty holding back
-the advancing Federals. Bratton then joined the division
-line, and advancing found the enemy near the New
-Market road in heavy force and behind log breastworks.
-He came under a terrific fire against which he could make
-no headway, and was compelled to fall back with a loss
-of 190 killed and wounded, nearly half in Walker's regiment.
-General Bratton was wounded; Captain Quattlebaum,
-of the Sharpshooters, a most faithful officer, was
-killed; Lieut. W. T. Norris, Fifth, was wounded and
-captured; Lieutenant Lewis, Sharpshooters, lost a leg and
-was captured; Captain Sorrel, adjutant-general, was
-badly injured by the fall of his horse. General Bratton
-was disabled for several weeks, during which Colonel
-Walker was in command of the brigade. In this engagement,
-Haskell's battalion took a conspicuous part. Major
-Haskell narrowly escaped death, and Lieutenant McQueen,
-of Garden's battery, was severely wounded.</p>
-
-<p>The last service of Bratton's brigade in 1864 was a hurried
-expedition by rail to Gordonsville, December 23d, to
-the assistance of General Lomax, confronting Sheridan,
-from which it returned without loss. At the beginning of
-1865 General Bratton reported that he entered the campaign
-with a total of 2,016, had lost 176 killed, 1,094
-wounded and 94 missing, total, 1,364, and had present at
-the date of his report, a total of 1,820. He particularly
-commended Colonels Hagood and Howard and their regiments,
-and the valuable services of Adjt.-Gen. J. B. Lyle.</p>
-
-<p>Elliott's brigade remained on the Petersburg lines with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span>
-Johnson's division through the fall and winter, and the
-reports of General Johnson show that they had almost
-daily losses in killed and wounded. On the night of
-October 27th, the enemy carried a part of the picket line
-of the Holcombe legion, and Gen. W. H. Wallace, then
-in command of Elliott's brigade, immediately sent forward
-a force of 200 men from the legion and Eighteenth
-regiment, under Captain Brown, who retook the line,
-with 14 prisoners. On the night of November 5th, 200
-men of the legion, under Captain Woodruff, attacked the
-Federal line in front of the Crater, and 60 men attempted
-to intrench the position gained, but they were all compelled
-to retire, with a loss to the brigade of 95 men.</p>
-
-<p>In the latter part of September, General Heth and
-Hampton's cavalry administered a severe check to the
-enemy at Hatcher's run, and on the Vaughan and Squirrel
-Level roads. In the latter fight, General Dunovant was
-killed at the head of the South Carolina cavalry. The
-continued activity of the enemy on the Hatcher's Run
-line resulted in the battle of Burgess' Mill, October 27th,
-fought by Mahone and Hampton. In a gallant charge
-by Butler's division, Lieut. Thomas Preston Hampton,
-aide-de-camp, fell mortally wounded, and Lieut. Wade
-Hampton, of the general's staff, was severely wounded.
-Lieutenant-Colonel Jeffords was killed at the head of
-his regiment, the Fifth South Carolina, and Maj. T. G.
-Barker, division adjutant-general, was dangerously
-wounded. The gallant Captain Hart lost a leg while
-fighting his guns close up to the enemy.</p>
-
-<p>Kershaw's brigade, under Gen. James Conner, and
-later under Colonel Kennedy, served gallantly under
-Early in the Shenandoah valley. At the battle of Cedar
-Creek, October 19th, a day of victory and disaster, the
-brigade suffered a loss of 205. Maj. James M. Goggin,
-subsequently commanding, reported the gallant service of
-Lieut. Y. J. Pope and Cadet E. P. Harllee, both wounded;
-of De Saussure Burrows, killed; of Couriers Crumley<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span>
-and Templeton, of the brave Capt. B. M. Whitener, who
-fell in command of the battalion of sharpshooters; of Maj.
-B. R. Clyburn, who lost a leg, and of Major Todd, commanding
-Third regiment, severely wounded. Among
-the captured were Colonel Boykin and Lieutenant-Colonel
-McMichael, of the Twentieth.</p>
-
-<p>In the latter part of December, Hoke's division was
-ordered to Wilmington, N. C, to meet the expedition
-against Fort Fisher. Hagood's brigade, then containing
-720 effective men, took part in the operations which
-resulted in the withdrawal of the Federal forces under
-B. F. Butler. Besides the brigade, the Second cavalry
-was present.</p>
-
-<p>In mid-January the attack on Fort Fisher was resumed,
-with a tremendous bombardment during the 13th and
-14th, and an infantry assault on the 15th. Col. R. F.
-Graham, commanding Hagood's brigade, at Fort Anderson,
-was ordered to support the garrison, and on the
-afternoon of the 15th, the Twenty-first and Twenty-fifth
-regiments, under Captains DuBose and Carson, were
-landed, but the enemy's fire was too severe to land any
-more. The Twenty-first at once moved up to Fort
-Fisher, and the other regiment reached there later in the
-day, but the brave Confederate garrison was compelled
-to abandon the fort and surrender. The remainder of the
-brigade did not again join the army of Northern Virginia,
-but closed its record in the campaign in the Carolinas.
-Early in January, Conner's brigade, Kershaw's old command,
-was sent to General Hardee at Charleston. Butler's
-cavalry brigade accompanied General Hampton when he
-took command of cavalry in the Carolinas.</p>
-
-<p>The South Carolina commands which participated in
-the final struggle to hold the defensive lines of Richmond
-and Petersburg in 1865, were as follows, as compiled
-from the reports and parole lists of Appomattox:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Brig.-Gen. John Bratton's brigade of Field's division,
-First corps: First, Fifth, Sixth regiments and Second<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span>
-rifles, Colonels Hagood, Coward, Steedman and Bowen,
-and the Palmetto sharpshooters, Capt. A. H. Foster.</p>
-
-<p>Brig.-Gen. Samuel McGowan's brigade, Wilcox's division,
-Third corps: First regiment (provisional army),
-Lieut.-Col. A. P. Butler; Twelfth, Capt. J. C. Bell;
-Thirteenth, Col. I. F. Hunt; Fourteenth, Lieut.-Col.
-Edward Croft; Orr's rifles, Lieut.-Col. J. T. Robertson.</p>
-
-<p>Brig.-Gen. William H. Wallace's brigade, of Johnson's
-division, Lieut.-Gen. R. H. Anderson's corps: Seventeenth,
-Capt. E. A. Crawford; Eighteenth, Lieut.-Col.
-W. B. Allison; Twenty-second, Col. William G. Burt;
-Twenty-third, Lieut.-Col. John M. Kinloch; Twenty-sixth,
-Maj. Ceth S. Land; Holcombe legion.</p>
-
-<p>In the cavalry under Fitzhugh Lee, were the Seventh
-regiment, Col. A. C. Haskell, and the Hampton legion,
-Lieut.-Col. R. B. Arnold, of Brig.-Gen. M. W. Gary's
-brigade, the last troops to leave the capital of the Confederacy.</p>
-
-<p>With the artillery were the South Carolina batteries of
-Capt. H. R. Garden, Lieut. E. L. Purse (Fickling's),
-and Capt. T. E. Gregg.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Wallace's brigade suffered severely at the battle of
-Five Forks, only a remnant marching thence to Appomattox
-Court House.</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_L_12" id="Footnote_L_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_L_12"><span class="label">[L]</span></a> Of this movement Col. R. E. Bowen writes: "The regiment
-marched fully one mile under a continuous fire of shell, grape, canister
-and minie balls, without losing a single man&mdash;one of the most
-remarkable events of the war."</p></div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>BATTLE OF HONEY HILL&mdash;SHERMAN'S ADVANCE INTO
-SOUTH CAROLINA&mdash;ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFEDERATE
-FORCES&mdash;BURNING OF COLUMBIA&mdash;BATTLES
-OF AVERASBORO AND BENTONVILLE&mdash;CONCLUSION.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">After</span> thoroughly destroying Atlanta, save its
-mere dwelling-houses, as is stated in his official
-report, Gen. W. T. Sherman began his march
-through Georgia on November 15, 1864, and on December
-10th drove in the picket lines of the Confederate
-forces at Savannah under command of Lieutenant-General
-Hardee. During Sherman's advance, his feints at
-Columbia, Ga., made it uncertain for a time whether he
-did not intend to enter South Carolina at that point.</p>
-
-<p>On November 28th, before the arrival of Sherman at
-Savannah, Maj.-Gen. John G. Foster, commanding the
-Federal department of the South, left Hilton Head with
-all his available troops, "amounting to 5,000 infantry,
-cavalry and artillery, with 500 sailors and marines," and
-went by boat to Boyd's Neck, on the south side of Broad
-river. After landing, Brig.-Gen. J. P. Hatch was put in
-command, with orders to push forward and cut the
-Charleston &amp; Savannah railroad.</p>
-
-<p>This formidable attempt seemed to promise success to
-the Federals, as Colonel Colcock, in command of the district,
-and Major Jenkins, commanding in the immediate
-vicinity of the Federal movement, had no forces adequate
-to an effective resistance, but fortunately, Gen. G. W.
-Smith's division of Georgia State troops had just arrived
-at Savannah, and was promptly sent to the scene by General
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span>Hardee. The troops were put in position about
-10 a. m. on the 30th on a line near the north bank of a
-small stream about three miles south of Grahamville station,
-occupying some light intrenchments that had been
-made upon ground called Honey hill, ten or twelve
-feet above the water level. On the right there was a
-dense forest, on the left an open pine wood, with an open
-space in front. The road on which the Federals approached
-was bordered closely by dense forests. Colonel
-Colcock was put in command of the line of battle, and
-Major Jenkins of the cavalry, while Captain DeSaussure,
-adjutant-general of the district, remained with General
-Smith. "Within five or ten minutes after these dispositions
-had been made," said General Smith, "the battle
-began by an advance piece of our artillery firing upon
-the enemy. Their line of battle was soon formed, and
-from that time until near dark made continuous efforts
-to carry our position. We had actually engaged five
-pieces of artillery, and it is due to the South Carolina
-artillerists that I should say I have never seen pieces
-more skillfully employed and gallantly served upon a
-difficult field of battle." In an hour the enemy had so
-extended and developed their attack that Smith was
-compelled to put in his last Georgia regiment, making his
-force engaged about 1,400 muskets. The valor with
-which they fought may be inferred from the report of
-General Foster, who said:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>The enemy's infantry, rather over 4,000 and nearly
-equal to our own in number, was posted behind intrenchments
-in the woods on each side of the road. This position
-was immediately attacked with vigor and determination,
-but ... we were unable to drive the enemy.
-After an obstinate fight of several hours, General Hatch,
-finding that the enemy's line could be neither successfully
-assaulted nor outflanked, retired after dark to a
-strong position about 2½ miles from Boyd's Neck.
-Our loss was 88 killed, 623 wounded and 43 missing.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>"Our loss in every arm of the service," General Smith
-reported, "was 8 men killed and 42 wounded. The enemy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span>
-left over 200 of their dead upon the field, and their whole
-loss in killed and wounded is believed to be upward of
-1,000." About 4:30 p. m., General Robertson arrived with
-reinforcements from Charleston, and by the next morning
-General Chestnut was up with 350 South Carolina reserves,
-and General Baker with a North Carolina brigade.</p>
-
-<p>Of his subsequent operations, General Foster reported:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>From November 30th to December 5th, while keeping
-the greater part of the force at Boyd's Neck, I made at
-different points, with the assistance of the navy, several
-demonstrations, in one of which the Twenty-fifth Ohio
-marched six miles into the interior toward Pocotaligo
-and captured two pieces of artillery at Church bridge.
-On the night of December 5th, I embarked a force under
-command of Brigadier-General Potter ... which landed
-at Gregory's plantation, on the right bank of Tulifinny
-creek ... pushed forward immediately, and about a
-mile and a half out met the enemy, whom he forced
-rapidly back to the spot where the road up the peninsula
-between the Coosawhatchie and Tulifinny meets the road
-running across from river to river. Here the enemy
-made a stand and attacked our left vigorously, but our
-men repulsed them, and got possession of the crossing,
-which we now hold. Our loss was 5 killed and 50
-wounded.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Maj.-Gen. Samuel Jones, who had been ordered to
-establish his headquarters at Pocotaligo, reached there
-on the evening of the 5th, and found the Confederate
-forces available were the Fifth and Forty-seventh Georgia,
-part of the Thirty-second Georgia, artillery, part of
-the Third South Carolina cavalry, Kirk's squadron, some
-Georgia and South Carolina reserves and South Carolina
-militia. They were posted to protect the railroad from
-Pocotaligo to the Savannah river and up that river to Sister's
-ferry, the forces at and near Grahamville under the
-command of Brigadier-General Chestnut, and those at
-and near Coosawhatchie under Brigadier-General Gartrell.
-The latter met the advance under General Potter,
-on the 6th, sending forward a small battalion of the Fifth
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span>Georgia, which was soon pressed back. It was reinforced
-by a section of artillery and the Georgia reserves, but
-the entire line soon gave way and fell back across the
-Coosawhatchie river. The battalion of South Carolina
-cadets was led forward by Maj. John Jenkins to the
-Tulifinny bridge, but arrived too late to be of service.
-General Jones then concentrated on the railroad near the
-Tulifinny trestle all the troops he could collect, Georgia
-commands, a company of the First artillery, the cadets,
-and Bachman's battery, and at dawn on the 7th Colonel
-Edwards, of Georgia, commanding, made an attack upon
-the enemy in conjunction with a demonstration by
-Gartrell, but without success, losing 4 killed and 31
-wounded. This attack was participated in by Captain
-King's company, First regulars, the cadets under Maj.
-J. B. White, and 130 militia.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/fig9.jpg" alt="" />
-<p class="caption center">SKETCH<br />
-<small>SHOWING</small><br />
-POSITION<br />
-<small>OF</small><br />
-BOYD'S NECK, HONEY HILL,<br />
-<small>AND</small><br />
-DEVAUX'S NECK, S.C.,
-</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Gen. B. H. Robertson was put in command of the
-troops in this region on the 8th. On the 9th he was attacked
-by a Federal brigade under command of Col.
-Stewart L. Woodford, of New York, and several determined
-efforts were made to carry his line, but all were
-handsomely repulsed. General Robertson reported:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Foiled in his undertaking, the enemy moved to his left
-in the direction of Coosawhatchie. The engagement was
-renewed most vigorously on our right at 3 p. m., and
-after an obstinate resistance by the enemy, lasting some
-two hours, he was driven 800 yards from his original
-line.... The German artillery, Captain Bachman,
-rendered very efficient service on the left, as was proved
-by the number of dead found in their front. Major
-Jenkins, commanding the cadets, was particularly conspicuous
-during the morning fight.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>General Robertson lost 8 killed and 44 wounded.
-Colonel Woodford gave the loss of his regiment alone at
-8 killed and 51 wounded. Some skirmishes followed, but
-the Georgians and South Carolinians remained in firm
-possession of the railroad.</p>
-
-<p>On December 21st, Sherman, planning an assault<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span>
-upon Savannah, learned that General Hardee had successfully
-eluded him, evacuated the Georgia seaport,
-crossed the river, and moved into South Carolina.</p>
-
-<p>On the 25th of December, Gov. A. G. Magrath addressed
-a letter to President Davis which may be taken
-as presenting accurately the situation in the State at that
-date. Some extracts are therefore presented:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>The fall of Savannah has, of course, very much affected
-the people of this State. The question which naturally
-presents itself is, why the force which penetrated Georgia
-cannot penetrate South Carolina. And at this moment
-it is not an unwillingness to oppose the enemy, but a
-chilling apprehension of the futility of doing so, that
-affects the people.... As rapidly as it can be done, I
-am reorganizing the militia.... If you will send us aid,
-although for the moment it falls short of effectual aid, if
-it foreshadow other aid to come, that spirit can be vitalized
-which ... supplies the place of numbers. Of any force
-which you may send, I am very anxious that the brigade
-of General Conner should be a part of it, and sent as soon
-as possible.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>To this President Davis replied:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>I have long realized the importance of such action as
-you suggest, but necessities elsewhere have prevented
-action in accordance with our wish. I have held several
-conferences with General Lee on the subject, and will
-have another, showing him your letter and telegram.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>To the governor's petition was added that of W. F. De
-Saussure, Andrew Crawford, W. H. Scarborough, Daniel
-Ravenel and many other citizens, declaring: "It is
-absolutely necessary to have at least one well-organized
-corps besides Hardee's on the coast, about which the
-half-trained citizens may rally. Otherwise, however
-brave and determined, their efforts will amount to nothing."
-On the latter, President Davis indorsed: "The
-question presented is one which General Lee can best
-judge." The indorsement of General Lee was:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>I have sent all the troops from this army that can be
-spared. The army of Tennessee is ordered to South<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span>
-Carolina, and a part of it arrived. If the citizens of
-Georgia and South Carolina will fill up its ranks, it will
-be able to protect the country.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>General Hardee, then at Charleston, on the 27th, was
-advised to make "silently and cautiously all necessary
-preparations for the evacuation of Charleston, should it
-become necessary." General McLaws was instructed to
-assume command of all troops between the Savannah river
-and Pocotaligo, including the cavalry command of General
-Wheeler at Hardeeville, and the forces at Honey
-hill and on the Tulifinny and Coosawhatchie and vicinity,
-then under General Taliaferro.</p>
-
-<p>Beauregard was at his request relieved of the general
-command of the department on the last day of 1864. His
-presence was required at Montgomery and with the army
-of Tennessee. He instructed General Hardee that while
-the fall of Charleston would be a terrible blow to the
-Confederacy, the loss of its garrison would be still more
-fatal, and that preparations should be made for evacuation
-as well as for defense.</p>
-
-<p>On January 19th, General Butler's cavalry division was
-ordered to South Carolina, and Gen. D. H. Hill was put
-in command at Augusta, Ga. The greatly depleted corps
-of S. D. Lee, Stewart and Cheatham, army of Tennessee,
-were on their way to reinforce General Hardee. These
-troops were reported destitute of clothing, but their indomitable
-spirit remained, and the people of the Carolinas
-were cheered by their approach. On the 28th, Gen.
-Wade Hampton reported for duty in defense of his State,
-soon after was given command of Butler's and Young's
-(Iverson's) cavalry divisions, and later of all the cavalry
-in the Carolinas. Conner's brigade, from the army of
-Northern Virginia, arrived in this month, and on the
-31st, General Hardee's army was organized as follows:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>McLaws' division, composed of Conner's brigade, Colonel Kennedy;
-the Georgia brigade (reserves) of Col. John C. Fiser; the
-Georgia brigade of Col. G. P. Harrison, including a detachment of
-the First South Carolina cavalry; Col. W. M. Hardy's North Caro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span>lina
-brigade; another brigade of Georgia reserves, and six batteries
-of artillery.</p>
-
-<p>Taliaferro's division, composed of Brig.-Gen. Stephen Elliott's
-brigade&mdash;parts of First and Second artillery, serving as infantry,
-under Lieut.-Col. J. A. Yates; First cavalry, State cadets, and a
-company of the siege train, under Lieut.-Col. W. A. Walker. Rhett's
-brigade&mdash;First artillery, Maj. Ormsby Blanding; Third artillery, Col.
-William Butler; First militia, Col. J. Griffin; Nineteenth cavalry,
-Capt. M. J. Kirk; Young's cavalry; artillery, Capt. E. L. Parker, and
-part of Thirty-second Georgia. Not brigaded: Lusk's company First
-cavalry, six companies Second artillery, Fifteenth artillery battalion,
-Maj. J. J. Lucas; South Carolina siege train, Col. Edward B. White;
-Eighteenth militia, Col. John E. Carew; Gist Guards artillery, Lieut.
-T. G. Boag; company Palmetto battalion; Tupper's militia artillery,
-and several companies of Georgia artillery.</p>
-
-<p>Maj.-Gen. Ambrose R. Wright's division, composed of Mercer's
-brigade&mdash;Capt. A. P. Brown's company First cavalry; First,
-Second, Sixth and Seventh reserves, Brig.-Gen. A. G. Blanchard;
-batteries of Capts. M. Rickenbaker, Charles Daniell, W. L.
-DePass, W. K. Bachman; Capt. J. D. Kay's reserve cavalry,
-and several Georgia commands. Robertson's brigade&mdash;Second,
-Third and Fourth militia, Col. A. D. Goodwyn; batteries of Capts.
-H. M. Stuart, F. C. Schulz, F. W. Wagener, J. R. Mathewes, C. E.
-Kanapaux, G. H. Walter; Stono scouts, Capt. J. B. L. Walpole;
-Wilkins' cavalry company reserves.</p>
-
-<p>Wheeler's cavalry corps included the brigades of Anderson, Hagan
-and Crews, in Allen's division; of Dibrell, Ashby and
-Harrison, in Humes' division; and of Ferguson, Lewis and Hannon,
-in Iverson's division.</p>
-
-<p>Brig.-Gen. J. H. Trapier's brigade, detached, was composed of
-Ward's battalion reserves, Capt. L. A. Grice; Capt. J. J. Steele's
-cavalry company, and the artillery companies of Capts. F. Melchers
-and Mayham Ward.</p>
-
-<p>Brig.-Gen. J. K. Jackson's brigade, also detached, included the
-First foreign battalion, Lieut.-Col. J. G. Tucker; Fourteenth militia,
-Col. D. R. Barton; Capt. A. J. Frederick's company militia; Capt.
-W. E. Charles' battery.</p>
-
-<p>The post at Columbia was commanded by Lieut.-Col. R. S. Means,
-including a post guard under Capt. R. D. Senn, and provost guard
-under Capt. D. H. Hamilton for the care of prisoners of war.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>On February 2d, a conference was held at Green's Cut
-station, Ga., at which Generals Beauregard, Hardee,
-D. H. Hill and G. W. Smith were present. It was estimated
-that the forces available to meet Sherman, Lee's
-corps of the army of Tennessee having arrived, and
-Cheatham's and Stewart's being on the way, had the following
-effective strength: Hardee's command, regular
-infantry, 8,000; militia and reserves, 3,000; light artillery,
-2,000; Butler's cavalry division, 1,500; total, 14,500.
-Militia and reserves under Generals Smith and Browne,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span>
-1,450. Wheeler's cavalry, 6,700. Army of Tennessee:
-Lee's corps, 4,000; Cheatham's corps, 3,000; Stewart's
-corps, 3,000; artillery, 800; total, 10,800. Grand total,
-33,450. On account of the absence of most of the army
-of Tennessee, it was deemed inadvisable to give battle
-at the important point of Branchville; but it was determined
-to hold the Combahee as long as possible, while
-Hardee should fall back on Charleston, and Wheeler on
-Columbia. Lee's corps was ordered to Branchville,
-where Conner's brigade was already stationed.</p>
-
-<p>General Sherman, meanwhile, was preparing to march
-northward through the Carolinas, with Savannah as his
-base. His army was organized in two wings, the right,
-under Gen. O. O. Howard, composed of the corps of
-John A. Logan and Frank P. Blair; the left, under Gen.
-H. W. Slocum, of the corps of Jeff C. Davis and A. S.
-Williams. The average strength of each corps was 13,000
-men, and the cavalry, under Gen. Judson Kilpatrick,
-was about 4,000 in number. This, with the artillery,
-made up an aggregate effective strength, officers and
-men, of 60,000.</p>
-
-<p>General Howard was ordered to embark his wing,
-transport it to Beaufort, and by the 15th of January, to
-make a lodgment on the Charleston &amp; Savannah railroad
-at or near Pocotaligo, while the other wing and
-cavalry were ordered to rendezvous near Robertsville
-and Coosawhatchie. Howard performed his part of the
-program, but on account of the loss of a pontoon bridge,
-Slocum was compelled to cross at Sister's ferry, and the
-river, even there, was so overflowed as to be three miles
-wide, and he did not get entirely across until February.
-In the meantime, to make Sherman's advance easier,
-Grant had sent a division to garrison Savannah, Schofield's
-corps to operate from New Bern, N. C., and a
-tremendous fleet of warships, assisted by a land force,
-was about to reduce Fort Fisher, the main defense of
-Wilmington.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>On January 2, 1865, a Federal brigade made the first
-crossing of the river near Savannah and moved toward
-Grahamville. On the 14th, General McLaws, confronting
-the advance of Howard, from Beaufort, reported: "I
-am endeavoring to evacuate my position. Enemy are
-immediately in my front.... They are now checked at
-Old Pocotaligo." McLaws withdrew behind the Salkehatchie,
-and the railroad from there southward was at last
-gained by the Federals. But the Combahee was an
-impassable barrier to Howard, and he was compelled to
-move up its southwest bank to find a crossing place.</p>
-
-<p>General Wheeler was watching the enemy from Hardeeville,
-gradually falling back to Robertsville and Lawtonville,
-while part of his force observed the Federal
-movements on the Georgia side. On the 28th he reported
-the enemy crossing and advancing toward Robertsville.
-After a brisk skirmish near Loper's cross
-roads, he fell back toward Rivers' and Buford's bridges
-on the Big Salkehatchie, early in February.</p>
-
-<p>Sherman declares that his "real march" began on the
-1st of February. "All the roads northward had been
-held for weeks by Wheeler's cavalry, who had felled
-trees, burned bridges and made obstructions to impede
-our progress." On the 2d, Logan's corps was at Loper's,
-and Blair's at Rivers' bridge. Williams' corps was
-ordered to Buford's bridge, Kilpatrick to Blackville, and
-Howard to cross the Salkehatchie and move for Midway
-on the South Carolina railroad. "The enemy held the
-line of the Salkehatchie in force, having infantry and
-artillery intrenched at Rivers' and Buford's bridges."
-The former was carried February 3d by two divisions of
-Blair's corps, who waded the swamp and turned McLaws'
-position, compelling him to retire toward Branchville,
-behind the Edisto. McLaws reported, "It was with
-difficulty that my command could be withdrawn, as I
-was completely flanked on both sides. The fighting at
-Rivers' bridge was quite sharp and lasted several hours."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span>
-Wheeler, following McLaws' retreat, burned the bridges
-over the Little Salkehatchie. Gen. C. L. Stevenson,
-commanding S. D. Lee's corps, took position to hold the
-South Edisto to Binnaker's bridge.</p>
-
-<p>Sherman pushed his army rapidly toward Midway and
-Graham's Station on the South Carolina railroad, which
-was destroyed, while Blair threatened Branchville, and
-Kilpatrick, Augusta. The latter was met by Wheeler's
-cavalry in battle at Blackville, Williston and Aiken,
-the Confederate leader winning a substantial victory
-before the latter place, and stopping Kilpatrick's advance.</p>
-
-<p>On February 8th there was a brisk engagement at the
-bridge of the Edisto west of Branchville. Stovall, stationed
-at Binnaker's bridge, was reinforced by Clayton,
-and the position ordered to be held as long as possible.
-But on the 10th, Stevenson reported from Orangeburg:
-"The enemy has driven the troops from Binnaker's and
-they are retiring on this point."</p>
-
-<p>On the 11th, McLaws' skirmishers, on the south side
-of the North Fork, before Orangeburg, made a gallant
-resistance, and Sherman's advance was checked by a
-battery commanding the bridge, which was partially
-burned, until a flanking force crossed the river below the
-town. Orangeburg was then abandoned and the work of
-destroying the railroad there was begun. Then, while
-Blair marched up the railroad toward the Congaree,
-destroying the track, Sherman turned toward Columbia.</p>
-
-<p>General Hampton was put in command at the State
-capital and arrangements were made for the transfer of
-prisoners of war from that city and Florence to Salisbury,
-N. C. General Hardee was ordered by General
-Beauregard to evacuate Charleston, and join in a general
-concentration of forces at Chesterville, whither the military
-stores at Columbia were hastily forwarded. President
-Davis, writing to Beauregard regarding the evacuation
-of Charleston, said: "Such full preparation had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span>
-been made that I had hoped for other and better results,
-and the disappointment to me is extremely bitter."</p>
-
-<p>The military situation on the 16th, as Beauregard described
-it, was: "Our forces, about 20,000 effective
-infantry and artillery, more or less demoralized, occupy
-a circumference of about 240 miles from Charleston to
-Augusta. The enemy, well organized and disciplined, and
-flushed with success, numbering nearly double our forces,
-is concentrated upon one point (Columbia) of that circumference."
-On the same day he resumed command
-of all troops in South Carolina. General Hardee was
-seriously ill, and General McLaws took command at
-Charleston in his stead and completed the evacuation by
-the morning of Saturday, the 18th of February, when the
-city was surrendered at 9 a. m. by Mayor Charles Macbeth.</p>
-
-<p>Generals Cheatham and Stewart had by this time
-brought what remained of their corps, pitifully few in
-numbers, to Augusta, in the vicinity of which General
-Wheeler had his cavalry, and General Hampton urged
-the most rapid movement possible of these forces to unite
-with the troops at Columbia for the defense of the State
-capital, and the line of the Congaree; but the rapid
-movements of Sherman made this impossible.</p>
-
-<p>On the 15th, Logan's corps, advancing on Columbia,
-was checked by a brave band of Confederates manning
-a tête-de-pont and fort at Little Congaree bridge, and it
-was night before the head of the Federal column reached
-the Congaree in front of Columbia, and went into camp,
-shelled by a battery on the other side. That night the
-bridge was burned to check the Federal crossing, and
-next morning part of De Gress' Federal battery began
-firing upon the town. Slocum's corps was ordered to
-move toward Winnsboro and Howard to occupy Columbia,
-which one of his brigades did, by crossing the Saluda
-and Broad rivers. General Hampton evacuated Columbia
-on the 17th, and his forces took up their march northward
-intending to concentrate at Chesterville, or if not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span>
-possible there, at Charlotte, N. C., and at the same time
-Cheatham's corps began its march in the same direction,
-from Columbia.</p>
-
-<p>A pontoon was built, on which Sherman crossed into
-Columbia on the 17th, and was met by the mayor, who
-surrendered the city and asked for its protection from
-pillage. The day, Sherman says, was clear, but a "perfect
-tempest of wind was raging." His orders to Howard
-were, he says, to burn all arsenals and public property
-not needed for army use, as well as all railroads and
-depots, but to spare dwellings and schools and charitable
-institutions; and he declares that before a single building
-was fired by his order, the city was in flames spread by
-cotton burning on the streets before he occupied the
-city; that the whole of Woods' division was brought in to
-fight the fire; that he was up nearly all night, and saw
-Generals Howard, Logan, Woods and others laboring to
-save houses and protect families. "Our officers and men
-on duty worked well to extinguish the flames; but others
-not on duty, including the officers who had long been
-imprisoned there, may have assisted in spreading the fire
-after it had once begun."</p>
-
-<p>General Hampton denies that any cotton was fired by
-his orders, also that any cotton was burning when the
-Federals entered the city. Abundant testimony has been
-given by the people of Columbia, both white and black,
-to the effect that the city was burned by the Federal
-soldiers. This is virtually admitted by General Slocum
-when he says: "I believe the immediate cause of the
-disaster was a free use of whisky (which was supplied
-to the soldiers by citizens with great liberality). A
-drunken soldier, with a musket in one hand and a match
-in the other, is not a pleasant visitor to have about the
-house on a dark, windy night." Sherman, in his Memoirs,
-says: "The army, having totally ruined Columbia,
-moved on toward Winnsboro." There can be no doubt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span>
-that Federal soldiers burned Columbia and were never
-punished for it.</p>
-
-<p>This, however, was but one instance of the general
-devastation accompanying Sherman's march. The words
-of a Federal soldier<a name="FNanchor_M_13" id="FNanchor_M_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_M_13" class="fnanchor">[M]</a> may be quoted as suggestive of the
-ruin wrought by the invading army:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>It was sad to see the wanton destruction of property
-which ... was the work of "bummers" who were
-marauding through the country committing every sort
-of outrage. There was no restraint except with the column
-or the regular foraging parties. We had no communications
-and could have no safeguards. The country
-was necessarily left to take care of itself, and became a
-"howling waste." The "coffee-coolers" of the army of
-the Potomac were archangels compared to our "bummers,"
-who often fell to the tender mercies of Wheeler's
-cavalry, and were never heard of again, meeting a fate
-richly deserved.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-
-<p>General Beauregard at this time reported to General
-Lee that Sherman was advancing on Winnsboro, and would
-thence probably move on Greensboro, Danville and
-Petersburg, and that he did not believe it possible for
-the troops from Charleston or those of Cheatham to make
-a junction with him short of Greensboro. On the 19th,
-Gen. R. E. Lee wrote to the war department:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>I do not see how Sherman can make the march anticipated
-by Beauregard [to Greensboro], but he seems to
-have everything his own way, which is calculated to
-cause apprehension.... General Beauregard has a difficult
-task to perform under present circumstances, and
-one of his best officers (General Hardee) is incapacitated
-by sickness. Should his strength give way, there is no one
-on duty in the department that could replace him, nor
-have I any one to send there. Gen. J. E. Johnston is the
-only officer who has the confidence of the army and people,
-and if he was ordered to report to me I would place
-him there on duty. It is necessary to bring out all our
-strength, and, I fear, to unite our armies, as separately<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span>
-they do not seem able to make headway against the
-enemy. Everything should be destroyed that cannot be
-removed out of the reach of Generals Sherman and Schofield.
-Provisions must be accumulated in Virginia, and
-every man in all the States must be brought out. I fear it
-may be necessary to abandon all our cities, and preparation
-should be made for this contingency.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>On February 22d, General Johnston was assigned to
-command of the departments of Tennessee and Georgia,
-and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.</p>
-
-<p>On the 21 st, Sherman's advance was at Winnsboro, and
-Rocky Mount was occupied on the 23d. Kilpatrick's
-cavalry was ordered to Lancaster. For several days
-after this Sherman was delayed by high water in the
-rivers. Howard's wing, having crossed the Catawba
-before the rains set in, advanced on Cheraw, where Hardee
-was stationed with a force of about 12,000, and a
-cavalry command was sent to burn and destroy at Camden.
-Another body of cavalry attempting to cut the railroad
-from Charleston to Florence was met and routed by
-a part of Butler's command, at Mount Elon. General
-Butler met Howard's advance at Chesterfield, and skirmished
-to impede its march, but Cheraw was entered by
-the enemy March 2d, and much property destroyed. An
-expedition of Federals was sent toward Florence, but
-was defeated in its attempt to reach that place.</p>
-
-<p>Continuing his march northward, Sherman's left wing
-reached Fayetteville, N. C., on the 11th of March. General
-Hampton, with his cavalry, had maintained active
-skirmishing to cover the retreat of Hardee's troops, and
-on the morning of March 10th, finding Kilpatrick's cavalry
-in a scattered condition, he ordered Wheeler's and
-Butler's cavalry to attack. They charged the camps,
-took Kilpatrick's headquarters, artillery and wagons,
-destroying the latter, and captured 350 prisoners, but
-the enemy reforming in a marsh, finally compelled the
-Confederates to withdraw.</p>
-
-<p>Sherman spent three days at Fayetteville, destroying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span>
-the arsenal and machinery. He then began to fear serious
-trouble from the concentration of the Confederate
-forces in his front under General Johnston, and began a
-movement toward Goldsboro, where he ordered Schofield
-to join him. His march began March 15th, his advance
-being steadily resisted by Hampton, and on the 16th he
-encountered General Hardee near Averasboro, in the
-narrow, swampy neck between Cape Fear and South
-rivers, determined to check the Federal advance to gain
-time for the concentration of Johnston's army.</p>
-
-<p>At 7 a. m. on the 16th, Hardee's line was attacked, 5
-miles south of Averasboro, and Colonel Rhett's brigade
-forced back, rallying on Elliott's. Forming a second line,
-supported by McLaws' division and later by Wheeler's
-cavalry, the fighting was continued, although the enemy's
-great superiority in numbers enabled him to flank the
-second line and compel Hardee to occupy a third. He
-maintained his position during the day and retreated
-upon Smithfield, where Johnston's headquarters was then
-located. He reported his loss as 400 or 500. Colonel
-Rhett was captured, in a skirmish preceding the battle,
-and Colonel Butler commanded his brigade. Casualties
-were reported in fourteen brigades of the Federal army,
-aggregating 95 killed, 533 wounded and 54 missing.<a name="FNanchor_N_14" id="FNanchor_N_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_N_14" class="fnanchor">[N]</a></p>
-
-<p>General Taliaferro, in his report of the battle of Averasboro,
-says:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Our skirmish line, under the command of Captain
-Huguenin, First South Carolina infantry, received their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span>
-advance very handsomely, and only fell back when forced
-by greatly superior numbers. On the right of the line
-and well advanced to the front, the houses at Smith's
-place were occupied by two companies of the First South
-Carolina artillery.... The fighting was heavy during the
-entire morning. Men and officers displayed signal gallantry.
-Our loss on this [Elliott's] line was considerable,
-including some of our best officers, among whom were
-Lieutenant-Colonel De Treville, First South Carolina
-infantry, and Captain Lesesne, First South Carolina
-artillery. Our light artillery, which consisted of two 12-pounder
-howitzers of LeGardeur's (New Orleans) battery
-and one 12-pounder Napoleon of Stuart's (South Carolina)
-battery, was well served, and operated with good
-results upon the enemy's infantry and opposing battery.
-The ground was so soft with the heavy rains that the
-pieces could with difficulty be maneuvered, and when this
-line was abandoned, it was impossible to withdraw two
-of the guns, as every horse of Stuart's but one, and nine
-of LeGardeur's were killed, and nearly all the cannoneers
-of both guns were either killed or wounded. Spare
-horses had been ordered up, but did not arrive in time.
-All the ammunition, however, to the last shot of all the
-guns had been expended upon the enemy.<a name="FNanchor_O_15" id="FNanchor_O_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_O_15" class="fnanchor">[O]</a></p></blockquote>
-
-<p>On being informed that the Fourteenth and Twentieth
-Federal corps, which had been engaged with Hardee at
-Averasboro, were moving by the Goldsboro road, at some
-distance from Sherman's other wing, Johnston immediately
-concentrated his troops available at Bentonville,
-and attacked Slocum at 3 p. m., at first meeting with
-brilliant success. A mile in the rear the Federals rallied.
-"We were able to press all back slowly until 6," said
-Johnston, "when receiving fresh troops apparently, they
-attempted the offensive, which we resisted without difficulty
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span>till dark." On the 20th, Hoke's division was
-attacked, but repulsed every assault. Next day there
-was heavy skirmishing, and Stewart's and Taliaferro's
-skirmishers were thrown forward, who found that Sherman,
-having united his two wings, was intrenching. On
-the evening of the 21st, General Hardee, assisted by
-Hampton and Wheeler, defeated an attempt of Blair's
-corps to move upon Bentonville. Then, learning that
-Schofield had reached Goldsboro, and Sherman was moving
-toward Cox's bridge, Johnston withdrew to the neighborhood
-of Smithfield, and thence through Raleigh
-toward Greensboro.</p>
-
-<p>The first attack upon the enemy preliminary to the
-battle of Bentonville was made by General Hampton, on
-the morning of the 18th, in defense of the position he
-had selected for the battle which had been planned. On
-the 19th, before the arrival of Hardee to take position
-between Hoke and Stewart, Hampton held the gap in
-the line with two South Carolina batteries of horse artillery,
-Hart's, under Capt. E. L. Halsey, and Capt W. E.
-Earle's.</p>
-
-<p>Maj.-Gen. D. H. Hill, commanding Lee's corps, which
-included the South Carolinians of Manigault's brigade,
-reported the entire success of his command in the first
-attack, and added: "Lieutenant-Colonel Carter [commanding
-Manigault's brigade] was in actual negotiation
-with a Yankee general for the surrender of his command."
-Unfortunately, at this juncture the enemy
-pressed upon the flank and rear of his advance, and many
-men were cut off. "Captain Wood, adjutant-general of
-Manigault's brigade, brought out 10 men and 8 prisoners,
-after a tiresome march all night around the Yankee
-forces."</p>
-
-<p>Gen. John D. Kennedy commanded Kershaw's old
-brigade, and he and his veterans did gallant service.<a name="FNanchor_P_16" id="FNanchor_P_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_P_16" class="fnanchor">[P]</a></p>
-
-<p>During the operations just narrated, Hagood's brigade<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span>
-had been engaged, under Hoke and Bragg, in the defense
-of Wilmington, N. C., and of Kinston, maintaining in
-every combat its old-time reputation for valor. In the
-operations about Kinston, Lee's corps, under D. H. Hill,
-also took part, and in the actions of March 8th, 9th and
-10th, the South Carolinians of Manigault's brigade were
-engaged.</p>
-
-<p>Having fought to the extremity for a great Right, the
-army under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston was surrendered
-April 26, 1865, upon the terms agreed upon between Lee
-and Grant at Appomattox. The South Carolina soldiery
-of all arms, and its men of the navy in all waters, had
-valorously sustained the honor of their State, making in
-long and arduous service a reputation for fortitude, courage,
-humanity, and devotion to the Confederacy, only
-equaled by the fame similarly earned by their comrades
-from other States. Accepting honorable parole in good
-faith, these chivalrous men retired from the theater of
-war to act well their parts in civil life, trusting their
-country's future to the honest hope that the operations
-in the minds and actions of their countrymen of the
-essential principles of free government under constitutional
-regulations, would yet accomplish in peace the
-great ends for which they had so terribly suffered in war.</p>
-
-
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/fig11.jpg" alt="" />
-<p class="caption center">SOUTH CAROLINA.<br />
-1861-65<br />
-<span class="smcap">From official war records atlas</span><br />
-Principal Engagements &#9733;
-
-
-
-
-
-
-</p>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span><br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_M_13" id="Footnote_M_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_M_13"><span class="label">[M]</span></a> Capt. Daniel Oakey, Second Massachusetts volunteers, in
-"Battles and Leaders."</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_N_14" id="Footnote_N_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_N_14"><span class="label">[N]</span></a> A Federal line officer, writing of this fight years
-afterward, said: "It was a wretched place for a fight. At some points we
-had to support our wounded until they could be carried off, to prevent
-their falling into the swamp water, in which we stood ankle deep. No
-ordinary troops were in our front. They would not give way until
-a division of Davis' corps was thrown upon their right while we
-pressed them closely. As we passed over their dead and wounded,
-I came upon the body of a very young officer, whose handsome,
-refined face attracted my attention. While the line of battle swept
-past me I knelt at his side for a moment. His buttons bore the arms
-of South Carolina. Evidently we were fighting the Charleston
-chivalry."</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_O_15" id="Footnote_O_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_O_15"><span class="label">[O]</span></a> Among South Carolinians specially mentioned by General
-Taliaferro were Brig.-Gen. Stephen Elliott and Colonel Butler,
-commanding brigades; Colonel Brown, Major Warley and Captain Humbert,
-Second South Carolina artillery; Captain Mathewes and Lieutenant
-Boag, Manigault's battalion; Lieutenant-Colonel Yates, Major
-Blanding (severely wounded) and Captain King, First South Carolina
-artillery; Captain Huguenin, First South Carolina infantry,
-and Major Lucas.</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a name="Footnote_P_16" id="Footnote_P_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_P_16"><span class="label">[P]</span></a> General Kennedy complimented Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace,
-commanding the Second regiment, for skill and gallantry, and
-mentioned particularly, "Capt. C. R. Holmes, assistant adjutant-general,
-Lieutenant Harllee, acting assistant inspector-general, Lieutenant Sill, acting on staff, and C. Kennison, acting aide-de-camp;
-also the good conduct and coolness in bearing dispatches of Sergeant
-Blake and Corporal Pinckney of the Second South Carolina."
-Lieutenant-Colonel Roy, in the advance, was for a time on the left
-of the brigade, gallantly inspiriting the men.</p></div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="BIOGRAPHICAL" id="BIOGRAPHICAL"></a>BIOGRAPHICAL.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span><br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>MAJOR-GENERALS AND BRIGADIER-GENERALS, PROVISIONAL
-ARMY OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES,
-ACCREDITED TO SOUTH CAROLINA.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Barnard E. Bee was born at Charleston,
-S. C., in 1823, the son of Col. Barnard E. Bee, who
-removed to Texas in 1835, and grandson of Thomas Bee,
-the first Federal judge of the State of South Carolina.
-He was appointed as a cadet-at-large to the United States
-military academy, and was graduated in 1845, with promotion
-to brevet second lieutenant, Third infantry.
-Immediately afterward he served in the military occupation
-of Texas, and during the war with Mexico participated
-in the battles of 1846 at Palo Alto and Resaca de
-la Palma, after which he was on recruiting service with
-promotion to second lieutenant. In 1847 he took part in
-the siege of Vera Cruz, and while storming the enemy's
-intrenched heights at Cerro Gordo, was wounded and
-earned the brevet of first lieutenant. His gallant record
-was continued in the conflicts at Contreras, Churubusco,
-Chapultepec and the City of Mexico, winning for him
-the rank of brevet captain and a sword of honor from
-South Carolina, his native State. After the close of this
-war he served as adjutant of the Third infantry at various
-army posts on the frontier, until the spring of 1855,
-with promotion to first lieutenant in 1851, and to captain
-of the Tenth infantry in 1855. For a short time he was
-detached at the cavalry school at Carlisle; then was on
-frontier duty in Minnesota; marched with Albert Sidney
-Johnston to Utah in 1857, and in that territory served as
-lieutenant-colonel of the volunteer battalion until the
-close of 1858. He was on duty at Fort Laramie, Dak.,
-when he resigned in March, 1861, to enter the Confederate
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span>service. First commissioned major of infantry,
-C. S. A., he was promoted to brigadier-general, provisional
-army, in June, and given command of the Third brigade
-of the army of the Shenandoah, under Brig.-Gen. Joseph
-E. Johnston, whose other brigade commanders were
-Colonels Jackson, Bartow and Elzey. Bee's command
-was composed of the Second and Eleventh Mississippi,
-Sixth North Carolina and Fourth Alabama regiments,
-and Imboden's battery. After participating in the maneuvers
-in the valley against Patterson, his brigade was
-the first to reinforce Beauregard at Manassas Junction,
-arriving there on July 20th. He selected the position
-for the artillery on the morning of the 21st near the
-Henry house, almost simultaneously with the placing of
-Rickett's battery on the opposite hill, and ordered the
-opening of the artillery fire which checked the Federal
-advance and made the subsequent victory possible. He
-was the ranking officer on this part of the field during the
-early hours of battle, and supported Evans with his own
-and Bartow's brigades, while Jackson followed and took
-position on the line he had selected. Forced back by
-Federal reinforcements, he rallied his troops, and during
-the confusion shouted the historic words: "Look at Jackson's
-brigade. It stands there like a stonewall." His
-gallant men soon reformed and drove the Federals from
-the Henry house plateau which they had gained, and soon
-afterward were in turn driven back by the enemy. In
-the second charge of the Confederates which swept the
-Federals from the disputed position, captured the Rickett
-and Griffin batteries, and won the day, General Bee fell
-mortally wounded near the Henry house, close to the spot
-where he gave his first orders for battle. He died the
-following morning, July 22, 1861, in the little cabin on
-the field where he had made his headquarters. The
-death of General Bee, in this first great battle of the
-war, caused universal mourning in the South. He was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span>
-an officer of tried courage and capacity, and had the
-promise of a glorious career in the great struggle into
-which he had entered with such generous enthusiasm.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Milledge Luke Bonham was born
-near Red Bank, Edgefield district, December 22, 1813,
-the son of Capt. James Bonham, who came from Virginia
-to South Carolina about the close of the last century, and
-married Sophie, daughter of Jacob Smith, niece of Capt.
-James Butler, head of an illustrious South Carolina family.
-The grandfather of General Bonham was Maj. Absalom
-Bonham, a native of Maryland and a soldier of the
-revolutionary war. General Bonham, after graduation
-at the South Carolina college, had his first military
-experience as a volunteer in the company of Capt. James
-Jones, in the Seminole war, and was promoted to brigade
-major, a position corresponding to adjutant-general of
-brigade. Subsequently, while beginning his career as a
-lawyer and legislator, he continued his association with
-the militia and attained the rank of major-general. When
-war began with Mexico he went to the front as lieutenant-colonel
-of the Twelfth United States infantry, and
-served with distinction, earning promotion to colonel,
-and remained in Mexico a year after the close of the war,
-as military governor of one of the provinces. Then
-returning home he resumed the practice of law, was
-elected solicitor of the southern circuit, and in 1856, upon
-the death of Preston S. Brooks, was chosen as the successor
-of that gentleman in Congress. Upon the secession
-of the State he promptly resigned and was appointed
-commander-in-chief of the South Carolina army, with the
-rank of major-general. In this capacity, and waiving all
-questions of rank and precedence, at the request of Governor
-Pickens, he served upon the coast in hearty co-operation
-with General Beauregard, sent there by the provisional
-government of the Confederate States. At a
-later date he was commissioned brigadier-general in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span>
-provisional army, and he took to Richmond the first
-troops, not Virginian, that arrived for the defense of the
-capital. His regiments were commanded by Colonels
-Kershaw, Williams, Cash and Bacon, and were conspicuous
-in the operations before Washington and in the first
-battle of Manassas. Afterward, in consequence of a disagreement
-with the war department, he resigned and was
-elected to the Confederate Congress. In December,
-1862, he was elected governor of the State, an office which
-he filled with credit. In January, 1865, he was appointed
-to command of a brigade of cavalry, in the organization
-of which he was engaged at the close of military operations.
-His subsequent career was marked by the same
-ardent patriotism. As a delegate to President Grant
-from the taxpayers' convention, and a supporter of the
-revolution of 1876, he rendered the State valuable service.
-He was the first railroad commissioner of South
-Carolina, in 1878, and subsequently chairman of the commission
-until his death, August 27, 1890. As a soldier
-he is described as "one of the finest looking officers in
-the entire army. His tall, graceful figure, commanding
-appearance, noble bearing and soldierly mien, all excited
-the admiration and confidence of his troops. He wore a
-broad-brimmed hat with a waving plume, and sat his
-horse with the knightly grace of Charles the Bold or
-Henry of Navarre. His soldiers were proud of him, and
-loved to do him homage. While he was a good disciplinarian,
-so far as the volunteer service required, he did
-not treat his officers with any air of superiority."</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General John Bratton was born at Winnsboro,
-S. C., March 7, 1831, the son of Dr. William Bratton by
-his second wife, Isabella Means. He is a descendant of
-Col. William Bratton, of Virginia, who removed to York
-county, S. C., and was a conspicuous figure in the war of
-the revolution. John Bratton was graduated at the South
-Carolina college in 1850, and a few years later embarked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span>
-in the practice of medicine at his native town, having
-completed a professional course at the Charleston college.
-In 1861 he enlisted in the first call for ten regiments
-of troops, as a private, and being promoted captain,
-served in that capacity during the bombardment of Fort
-Sumter, and until the State troops were called upon to
-enlist in the Confederate service. His company declining
-to respond, he again enlisted as a private, and with twenty-three
-men of his old command helped to fill up a company
-for the Sixth regiment. This was soon ordered to Virginia,
-where he went as second lieutenant of Company C.
-Except for the engagement at Dranesville, the year for
-which the regiment enlisted was uneventful, but toward
-the close he attracted the favorable attention of General
-Johnston by advocating the enlistment of his regiment as
-a whole for the war, and though this proposition failed,
-he was enabled to re-enlist the first company of one
-year's men of Johnston's army. It followed that a battalion
-of six companies of the Sixth was re-enlisted, and
-he was soon elected to the command, and promoted colonel
-when the regiment was filled up. He commanded
-his regiment with gallantry in Jenkins' brigade, Longstreet's
-corps, at Williamsburg, Seven Pines, the Seven
-Days' battles, and the succeeding campaigns of the
-army of Northern Virginia, and in the Chickamauga and
-Knoxville campaigns, where he was in command of the
-brigade while Jenkins had charge of Hood's division.
-After the death of Jenkins at the battle of the Wilderness,
-he was at once promoted brigadier-general on the urgent
-request of General Lee, and he continued to lead this
-famous brigade to the end. At Appomattox, so well
-had his gallant men held together, he had the largest
-brigade in the army, a little over 1,500 men, and in fact
-it was larger than some of the divisions. His brigade
-alone made an orderly march to Danville and secured
-railroad transportation for a part of their homeward journey.
-When General Bratton reached home he gave his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span>
-attention to planting, and in 1866 was elected to the legislature.
-In 1876 he was the chairman of the South
-Carolina delegation to the national Democratic convention,
-in 1880 was chairman of the State committee of his
-party, and in 1881 was elected comptroller of the State
-to fill an unexpired term. He was a stalwart lieutenant
-of Gen. Wade Hampton in the famous campaign of
-1876, was elected to Congress in 1884, and was his party's
-candidate for governor in 1890. Having been for many
-years identified with the agricultural interests of the
-State, he was selected as the one man likely to unify his
-party. With the single purpose of mitigating the evils
-attending division among the whites, he sacrificed himself
-on the shrine of duty, as he saw it, and though
-defeated, again won the admiration of all classes. Until
-his death at Winnsboro, January 12, 1898, he held firmly
-the unalloyed love and respect of the people.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Major-General Matthew Calbraith Butler was born near
-Greenville, S. C., March 6, 1836. His father was Dr.
-William Butler, an assistant surgeon in the United States
-navy, and a congressman in 1841; his mother, Jane T.,
-daughter of Captain Perry, U. S. N., of Newport, R. I.,
-and sister of Commodore Oliver H. Perry and Matthew
-Calbraith Perry. Judge A. P. Butler, United States
-senator, and Gov. Pierce M. Butler, colonel of the Palmetto
-regiment and killed at Churubusco, were his
-uncles; his grandfather, Gen. William Butler, was a gallant
-officer of the revolutionary army, and his great-grandfather,
-Capt. James Butler, a native of Loudoun
-county, Va., was the founder of the family in North
-Carolina. In childhood he accompanied his father to
-Arkansas, but after the latter's death returned to South
-Carolina in 1851, and made his home with Senator A. P.
-Butler near Edgefield. He was educated at the South
-Carolina college, and then reading law was admitted to
-practice in 1857. In the following year he was married<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span>
-to Maria, daughter of Gov. F. W. Pickens. He was
-elected to the legislature in 1860, but before the conclusion
-of his term, entered the military service of his State
-as captain of a company of cavalry in Hampton's legion.
-This command took a distinguished part in the first battle
-of Manassas, and Captain Butler was promoted major to
-date from July 21st, the beginning of his famous career
-in the cavalry of the army of Northern Virginia. He
-commanded the cavalry of the legion under Stuart in the
-withdrawal of the troops from Yorktown, and was warmly
-commended for gallantry at Williamsburg. In August,
-1862, he was promoted to colonel of the Second regiment,
-South Carolina cavalry, Hampton's brigade, and in this
-rank he participated in the Second Manassas and Maryland
-campaigns, winning favorable mention for gallant
-leadership in the affair at Monocacy bridge, and in Stuart's
-Chambersburg raid. He commanded the main part
-of his brigade in the Dumfries expedition of December,
-1862, and in June, 1863, he was one of the most conspicuous
-leaders in the famous cavalry battle of Brandy Station.
-Here he was severely wounded by a shell, losing
-his right foot, and promotion to brigadier-general followed
-in September. Returning to service before his
-wound healed he was sent home to recover. He succeeded
-General Hampton in brigade command, and took
-part in the fall campaigns of the army in 1863, and
-throughout the famous struggle of 1864, at the Wilderness,
-Spottsylvania, and before Richmond in opposition
-to Sheridan, he was one of the heroic figures of this last
-great campaign of the Confederate armies. The reports
-of Sheridan himself attest the splendid fighting of Butler
-and his brigade at Hawe's Shop and Cold Harbor. At
-Trevilian Station he was in command of Hampton's
-division, and repulsed seven distinct and determined
-assaults by the largely superior forces under Sheridan,
-his command occupying the most important point of the
-Confederate line and fighting as infantry. In September<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span>
-he was promoted major-general, and in the spring of
-1865 he was detached with a small division for the campaign
-against Sherman in the Carolinas. He commanded
-the rear guard of Hardee's army at the evacuation of
-Columbia and Cheraw, and at the last had division command
-of cavalry, his forces and Gen. Joe Wheeler's forming
-the command of Lieut.-Gen. Wade Hampton. The
-close of the war left him in financial ruin, but he bravely
-met the exigencies of the occasion, and in a short time
-attained national repute for the firmness and boldness
-with which he handled the political questions which concerned
-the essentials of the reorganized social life. While
-he powerfully advocated obedience to the reconstruction
-measures as the law, law being preferable to chaos, he
-receded at no time from a persistent opposition to infringements
-on good government, and was largely
-instrumental in securing the election of Gov. Wade
-Hampton. In 1876 he was elected to the United States
-Senate, where his admission was met by a storm of partisan
-protest which is memorable in the history of the
-nation, but his career of eighteen years in that exalted
-body vindicated the good judgment and patriotism of the
-State which deputed him as its representative. In the
-stormy days of sectional debate in Congress he was one
-of the foremost champions of the South, but at a later
-period he was enabled to make a splendid record in constructive
-statesmanship by his staunch advocacy of a
-strong navy, of civil service reform, and other measures
-now settled in national policy. After the expiration of
-his service in the Senate, March, 1895, he engaged in the
-practice of law at Washington, D. C. In 1898 he was
-appointed a major-general in the volunteer army of the
-United States, for the war with Spain, and after peace
-was secured he served as a member of the commission for
-the removal of the Spanish forces from Cuba.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/fig5.jpg" alt="" />
-<p class="caption center">M. C. BUTLER</p>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Ellison Capers, a descendant of an
-English family which settled in South Carolina among
-the earliest colonists, was born in Charleston, October 14,
-1837. His father, grandfather and several generations
-of the name, belonged to the parishes of St. Thomas and
-St. Denis, in Charleston county, in the territory originally
-called Berkeley county. His mother was of Irish extraction,
-her father, William McGill, having settled in Kershaw
-county, upon coming from Ireland. William
-Capers, the grandfather of Ellison, was a soldier of the
-revolution, a lieutenant in the Second South Carolina
-regiment, and after the fall of Charleston in 1780, one of
-Marion's captains in his famous partisan brigade, in
-which his only brother, G. Sinclair Capers, held the same
-rank. Several thrilling incidents in the career of these
-two gallant partisan captains are related by Judge
-James, of South Carolina, in his life of Marion. They
-were both planters. William Capers, father of Ellison,
-was born on his father's plantation, "Bull Head," in St.
-Thomas parish, about 20 miles north of Charleston, January
-25, 1790. He was graduated at the South Carolina
-college in Columbia, entered the Methodist ministry in
-1808, and devoted his life and brilliant talents to his
-sacred calling. He was elected and consecrated a bishop
-in the Methodist Episcopal church South, in 1845, and
-died at his home in Anderson, S. C., January 29, 1855.
-Ellison Capers, the fourth son of his marriage with Susan
-McGill, was graduated at the South Carolina military
-academy in November, 1857. The next year he was a
-resident graduate and assistant professor of mathematics
-and belles lettres in his alma mater. In 1859 he married
-Charlotte Rebecca, fourth daughter of John Gendron and
-Catherine Cotourier Palmer, of Cherry Grove plantation,
-St. John's, Berkeley, S. C. In the fall of this year he
-was appointed assistant professor of mathematics in the
-South Carolina military academy at Charleston with the
-rank of second lieutenant. The active state of affairs in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span>
-Charleston during the summer and fall of 1860 roused
-the military spirit of the people, and the First regiment
-of Rifles was organized in Charleston, of which Lieutenant
-Capers was unanimously elected major. He served
-with this regiment at Castle Pinckney, and on Morris,
-Sullivan's, James and John's islands. His regiment also
-constituted a part of the army under Beauregard during
-the attack on Fort Sumter. He continued to serve in the
-vicinity of Charleston until November, when he resigned
-the rank of lieutenant-colonel to which he had been promoted,
-in order that he might enter the Confederate
-service. Satisfied that a terrible struggle was before his
-people, he resigned his professorship at the military
-academy and united with Col. Clement H. Stevens, of
-Charleston, in enlisting a regiment for the war. The
-regiment was mustered into the Confederate service as
-the Twenty-fourth South Carolina volunteer infantry,
-April 1, 1862, with Clement H. Stevens as colonel, Ellison
-Capers, lieutenant-colonel, and H. J. Hammond,
-major; on the 4th of April was ordered to Coles' island,
-and on the 25th of May was transferred to James island.
-On June 3d, Companies A, B, D and E, and the Charleston
-battalion, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel
-Capers, opened the James Island campaign. In this
-engagement Colonel Capers led the attack, and for his
-courageous and skillful management of this affair he was
-commended in general orders. At the battle of Secessionville,
-the Twenty-fourth was again engaged, and Colonel
-Capers was praised in orders. He was next detailed
-to command a battery of siege guns at Clark's house.
-Except a short service at Pocotaligo the regiment was on
-James island until December 15, 1862, when it was
-ordered to North Carolina to the relief of Wilmington,
-and stationed at the railroad crossing of Northeast river
-on Island Ford road. On February 13th it was returned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span>
-to South Carolina and placed on duty in the Third military
-district (W. S. Walker's). Lieutenant-Colonel
-Capers, with part of his regiment and other commands,
-was detached to command the district between Combahee
-and Ashepoo rivers. Charleston being threatened with
-attack, the regiment was ordered back to Secessionville,
-April 5, 1863. On May 6th it left South Carolina for
-Jackson, Miss., being assigned to Gist's brigade, and eight
-days later, while commanding the regiment in the battle
-at Jackson, Lieutenant-Colonel Capers was wounded.
-About the last of August, Gist's brigade was sent to General
-Bragg. It participated in the battles of Chickamauga
-and Missionary Ridge, and in the former Capers
-was again wounded. During the winter at Dalton in
-January, 1864, Colonel Stevens was promoted to brigadier-general
-and placed in charge of the brigade formerly
-commanded by Gen. Claudius C. Wilson. It was while
-leading this brigade that General Stevens received his
-mortal wound at Peachtree creek, July 20, 1864. Lieutenant-Colonel
-Capers was promoted to the colonelcy of
-the Twenty-fourth, which he led through the Atlanta and
-Tennessee campaigns until the battle of Franklin, where
-he was wounded and Gist was killed. On March 1, 1865, on
-the recommendations of Generals Johnston, Hardee and
-Cheatham, he was commissioned brigadier-general and
-assigned to the command of Gist's brigade. After the war
-General Capers was elected secretary of state of South
-Carolina, December, 1866. In 1867 he entered the ministry
-of the Protestant Episcopal church. He was for twenty
-years rector at Greenville, S. C., for one year at Selma,
-Ala., and for six years at Trinity, Columbia. In 1889 the
-degree of D. D. was conferred on him by the university
-of South Carolina. On May 4, 1893, he was elected bishop
-by the convention of South Carolina on the first ballot,
-and on July 20, 1893, was consecrated in this sacred
-office.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General James Chestnut, a gallant South
-Carolinian, distinguished as a general officer, also served
-as aide-de-camp on the staff of President Davis, in which
-connection his biography is given in the first volume of
-this work.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General James Conner was born at Charleston,
-the son of Henry W. Conner, of that city. After
-his graduation at the South Carolina college in 1849,
-he read law under James L. Petigru, and was admitted
-to practice in 1852. In 1856 his ability as a lawyer was
-recognized by appointment as United States district
-attorney, an office which he resigned in 1860 on account
-of the prospect of secession by his State. He was associated
-with Judge Magrath and Hon. W. F. Colcock on a
-committee which visited the legislature and urged the
-calling of a convention, and after the passage of the
-ordinance he devoted himself to preparation for the field.
-Though appointed Confederate States attorney for the
-district, he refused to leave the military service and
-deputed his official duties. He entered the Confederate
-service as captain of the Montgomery Guards, and in
-May, 1861, was chosen captain of Company A, Washington
-light infantry, Hampton's legion. He was promoted
-major to date from the first battle of Manassas, and in
-June, 1862, became colonel of the Twenty-second North
-Carolina regiment. Being disabled for duty, he was
-detailed as one of the judges of the military court of the
-Second corps, with the rank of colonel of cavalry. On
-June 1, 1864, he was promoted brigadier-general, and was
-assigned to command of McGowan's and Lane's brigades.
-Subsequently, as acting major-general, he commanded a
-division consisting of the brigades of McGowan, Lane
-and Bushrod Johnson. On the return of General McGowan
-to duty, General Conner was assigned permanently
-to the command of Kershaw's old brigade. In
-1865 he was promoted to major-general, and the commis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span>sion
-was made out, and forwarded, but failed to reach
-him in the confusion of the final days of the Confederacy.
-He was at the bombardment of Fort Sumter, 1861,
-and participated in the battles of First Manassas, Yorktown,
-New Stone Point, West Point, Seven Pines,
-Mechanicsville, Chancellorsville, Riddle's Shop, Darby's
-Farm, Fussell's Mill, Petersburg, Jerusalem Plank Road,
-Reams' Station, Winchester, Port Republic and Cedar
-Creek. He was severely wounded in the leg at Mechanicsville,
-and again in the same leg near Fisher's Hill, October,
-1864, compelling the amputation of the limb. At
-First Manassas the command of the legion was given
-him as senior captain, by Colonel Hampton, when the
-latter was wounded, and Captain Conner gallantly led in
-the charge upon Rickett's battery. As commander of
-Kershaw's South Carolinians he was greatly beloved by
-his men. After his return to Charleston he resumed the
-practice of law, in which he gained distinction. For
-many years he was assistant counsel and then solicitor of
-the South Carolina railroad, and for the bank of Charleston,
-and for some time was receiver of the Greenville &amp;
-Columbia railroad. In 1876 he was chairman of the
-Democratic executive committee of the State, and was
-nominated and elected attorney-general of the State, on
-the ticket headed by General Hampton. During the
-exciting period of this campaign he was in command of
-the rifle-clubs which were depended upon for the preservation
-of order, and his calmness and self-control were of
-great value to the State. His performance of the duties
-of attorney-general elicited the warm official commendation
-of Governor Hampton, and thanks were tendered
-him by the legislature in the name of the people of the
-State.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Thomas Fenwick Drayton was born
-in South Carolina about 1807, of an ancestral line distinguished
-in the history of the State. His grandfather,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span>
-William Drayton, born in South Carolina in 1733, was
-educated in law at the Temple, London; was appointed
-chief justice of the province of East Florida in 1768, and
-after the revolution was judge of admiralty, associate justice
-of the supreme court, and first United States district
-judge. His father, William Drayton, born in 1776, a
-lawyer, entered the United States service as lieutenant-colonel
-in 1812; was promoted colonel, and later inspector-general;
-was associated with Generals Scott and Macomb
-in the preparation of a system of infantry tactics;
-resigned in 1815, afterward served in Congress 1825-33,
-and was a warm friend and supporter of President Jackson.
-General Drayton was graduated at the United
-States military academy in 1828, in the class of Jefferson
-Davis, and was in the service as second lieutenant of
-Sixth infantry until his resignation in 1836. Subsequently
-he was occupied as a civil engineer at Charleston,
-Louisville and Cincinnati for two years, then becoming
-a planter in St. Luke's parish. He served as captain of
-South Carolina militia five years, was a member of the
-board of ordnance of the State, a State senator 1853-61,
-and president of the Charleston &amp; Savannah railroad
-1853-56. September 25, 1861, he was commissioned brigadier-general,
-provisional army of the Confederate States,
-and was assigned to the command of the Third military
-district of the State. He was in command of the Confederate
-forces during the bombardment and capture of
-Forts Walker and Beauregard, at Port Royal entrance, in
-November, 1861, on which occasion his brother, Capt.
-Percival Drayton, commanded the steamer Pocahontas,
-one of the Federal vessels under Admiral DuPont. He
-was in charge of the Fifth military district, under Gen.
-R. E. Lee, and the Sixth and Fourth districts under
-Pemberton, in the same region, with headquarters at
-Hardeeville. During the Second Manassas and Maryland
-campaigns he commanded a brigade composed of
-the Fifteenth South Carolina, and two Georgia regi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span>ments,
-which, with Toombs' Georgia brigade, constituted
-the division of D. R. Jones, Longstreet's corps, and participated
-in the battles of Thoroughfare Gap and Second
-Manassas, South Mountain and Sharpsburg. In August,
-1863, he was ordered to report to Gen. T. H. Holmes, at
-Little Rock, Ark., and was there assigned to command
-of a brigade of Sterling Price's division, consisting of
-Missouri and Arkansas troops. From the beginning of
-1864 he was in command of this division in Arkansas,
-until Gen. Kirby Smith relieved Holmes, when he was
-transferred to the command of the West sub-district of
-Mexico. He was also in command of the Texas cavalry
-division composed of the brigades of Slaughter and H. E.
-McCullough. In the spring of 1865 he was a member of
-the board of inquiry demanded by General Price after
-his Missouri expedition. After the close of hostilities,
-General Drayton farmed in Dooly county, Ga., until 1872,
-afterward was an insurance agent, and in 1878 removed to
-Charlotte, N. C., as president of the South Carolina immigration
-society. He died at Florence, February 18, 1891.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General John Dunovant held the rank of
-major of infantry in the State army during the initial
-operations of the war of the Confederacy, and during
-the bombardment of Fort Sumter was present at Fort
-Moultrie, doing all that was in his power. Subsequently
-he became colonel of the First regiment of infantry, and
-was stationed for some time on Sullivan's island and at
-Fort Moultrie. Later in 1862 he was given command of
-the Fifth regiment, South Carolina cavalry, in which
-capacity he served in the State, until ordered to Virginia
-in March, 1864. There he and his regiment were under
-the brigade command of Gen. M. C. Butler, in Wade
-Hampton's division of Stuart's cavalry. The regiment
-under his leadership did admirable service, General
-Ransom reported, at the battle of Drewry's Bluff, May
-16th, and subsequently in the encounters with Sheridan's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span>
-cavalry, he shared the services of Butler's brigade at
-Cold Harbor, Trevilian's and other important conflicts.
-On August 2, 1864, President Davis suggested to General
-Lee, Dunovant's promotion to temporary rank as brigadier-general,
-and it was soon afterward ordered. In
-this capacity he had brigade command under General
-Hampton until, in the fighting north of the James river,
-following the capture of Fort Harrison, he was killed October
-1, 1864. On receipt of news of the death of the gallant
-soldier, General Lee replied to General Hampton: "I
-grieve with you at the loss of General Dunovant and Dr.
-Fontaine, two officers whom it will be difficult to replace."</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Stephen Elliott, Jr., was born at
-Beaufort, S. C., in 1832, son of Stephen Elliott, first
-bishop of the Protestant Episcopal diocese of Georgia
-and provisional bishop of Florida; and grandson of
-Stephen Elliott, a distinguished naturalist. He passed
-his youth on the plantation, devoted to manly sports. At
-the beginning of the formation of the Confederate States,
-he organized and equipped a light battery, known as the
-Beaufort artillery, of which he was commissioned captain.
-He was present at the bombardment of Fort Sumter,
-aiming several shots from the siege guns, and during
-his subsequent service in the State he became famous
-for daring and skillful fighting. On guard in 1861 in the
-vicinity of Port Royal harbor, he put twenty of his boys
-on the tug Lady Davis, and ran out to sea to find a
-prize. With indomitable pluck, accompanied by good
-fortune, he captured a sailing vessel, of 1,200 tons, and
-brought her in to Beaufort. Subsequently he was ordered
-to Bay Point, the other side of Port Royal entrance being
-held by the German volunteers under Captain Wagener.
-There he fought a Federal fleet for two hours, until his
-guns were dismounted. After the Federals occupied the
-coast islands, he engaged in numerous daring raids. During
-one night he burned fourteen plantation settlements;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span>
-again he surprised a picket post successfully, and in August,
-1862, he commanded an expedition against a Federal
-force on Pinckney island, which was very successful and
-gained for him the unstinted commendation of his superiors.
-His activity also turned to the direction of inventing
-floating torpedoes, with which he blew up a tender in
-St. Helena bay. He was promoted to chief of artillery
-of the Third military district, including Beaufort, near
-where, in April, 1863, he captured the Federal steamer
-George Washington. Promotion followed to major
-and then to lieutenant-colonel. Twice he met the enemy
-in open field at Pocotaligo, where his guns put the invaders
-to flight. In command of the Charleston battalion
-he occupied Fort Sumter, September 5, 1863, and held
-the ruins of the famous citadel against the enemy until
-May, 1864. Then as colonel of Holcombe's legion he
-was ordered to Petersburg, Va., and was soon promoted
-to brigadier-general and assigned to the command of
-N. G. Evans' old brigade, which included the legion.
-He served actively in the defense of Petersburg, his brigade,
-a part of Bushrod Johnson's division, holding that
-important part of the line selected by the Federals as the
-point to be mined, and carried by an assaulting party.
-Two of his regiments, the Eighteenth and Twenty-second,
-occupied the works blown up on the morning of July 30th,
-and the immense displacement of earth which formed the
-crater maimed and buried many of the command. But,
-undismayed, General Elliott and his brigade received the
-onslaught made through the breach of the Confederate
-intrenchments. In the words of the division commander,
-"Brigadier-General Elliott, the gallant commander of the
-brigade which occupied the salient, was making prompt
-disposition of his forces to assault the enemy and reoccupy
-the remaining portion of the trenches when he was
-dangerously wounded." Entirely disabled for further
-service he returned to his home at Beaufort, and died
-from the effects of his wound, March 21, 1866.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Nathan George Evans was born in
-Marion county, S. C., February 6, 1824, the third son of
-Thomas Evans, who married Jane Beverly Daniel, of
-Virginia. He was graduated at Randolph-Macon college
-before he was eighteen, and at the United States military
-academy, which he entered by appointment of John C.
-Calhoun, in 1848. With a lieutenancy in the Second
-Dragoons, he was first on duty at Fort Leavenworth,
-Kan., whence he marched to the Rocky mountains in
-1849. In 1850 to 1853 he served in New Mexico, and
-began a famous career as an Indian fighter, which was
-continued in Texas and Indian Territory after his promotion
-to captain in 1856, in various combats with the
-hostile Comanches. At the battle of Wachita Village,
-October 1, 1858, his command defeated a large body of
-the Comanches, and he killed two of their noted chieftains
-in a hand-to-hand fight. For this he was voted a handsome
-sword by the legislature of South Carolina. In 1860
-he was married to a sister of Gen. M. W. Gary, of Abbeville
-county. He resigned from the old army in February,
-1861, being then stationed in Texas, and taking farewell
-of his colonel, Robert E. Lee, proceeded to Montgomery,
-and was commissioned major of cavalry, C. S. A.
-Being assigned to duty as adjutant-general of the South
-Carolina army, he was present at the bombardment of
-Fort Sumter and was soon afterward promoted colonel.
-Joining the army under General Beauregard at Manassas
-Junction, Va., he had a command on the field during the
-first encounter at Blackburn's ford, and again in the
-great battle of July 21, 1861. At the opening of the latter
-engagement, his forces, consisting of the Fourth South
-Carolina regiment, a battalion of Louisiana volunteers,
-Terry's squadron of cavalry, and a section of Latham's
-battery, were stationed at the stone bridge, where he
-held the enemy in check in front, until he perceived in
-operation the flank movement which was the Federal
-plan of battle. Instantly without waiting for orders he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span>
-threw his little command in a new line, facing the enemy,
-and alone held him in check until reinforced by General
-Bee. With great intrepidity he and his men held their
-ground against great odds until the Confederate army
-could adapt itself to this unexpected attack. As remarked
-by a Northern historian: "Evans' action was probably
-one of the best pieces of soldiership on either side during
-the campaign, but it seems to have received no special
-commendation from his superiors." General Beauregard
-commended his "dauntless conduct and imperturbable
-coolness," but it was not until after the fight at Leesburg
-that he was promoted. This latter engagement, known
-also as Ball's Bluff, was fought in October, near the
-Potomac river, by his brigade, mainly Mississippians, and
-a splendid victory was gained over largely superior numbers,
-with great loss to the enemy. His promotion to
-brigadier-general was made to date from this memorable
-affair, and South Carolina again, through her general
-assembly, gave him a vote of thanks and presented him
-with a gold medal. In 1862 he commanded a brigade
-consisting of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-second
-and Twenty-third regiments, and Holcombe's legion,
-South Carolina troops, and was mentioned by General
-Longstreet among the officers most prominently distinguished
-in the battles of Second Manassas and Sharpsburg.
-In the latter fight he commanded his division.
-Thereafter his service was mainly rendered in South
-Carolina. In 1863 he moved to the support of Johnston
-against Grant. After the fall of Richmond he accompanied
-President Davis as far as Cokesbury, S. C. A
-year later he engaged in business at Charleston, but was
-mainly occupied as a teacher at Midway, Ala., until his
-death at that place, November 30, 1868. Gen. Fitzhugh
-Lee has written of him: "'Shanks' Evans, as he was
-called, was a graduate of the military academy, a native
-South Carolinian, served in the celebrated old Second
-Dragoons, and was a good type of the rip-roaring, scorn-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span>all-care
-element, which so largely abounded in that regiment.
-Evans had the honor of opening the fight (First
-Manassas), we might say fired the first gun of the war."</p>
-<hr />
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/fig4.jpg" alt="" />
-<p class="caption center">Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">John Dunovant.</span> Brig.-Gen.<span class="smcap"> James Chestnut.</span><br />
-<br />
-Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">Barnard E. Bee.</span> Maj.-Gen.<span class="smcap"> M. C. Butler.</span> Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">John Bratton.</span><br />
-<br />
-Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">M. L. Bonham.</span> Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">N. G. Evans.</span> Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">Stephen Elliott, Jr.</span><br />
-<br />
-Maj.-Gen.<span class="smcap"> M. W. Gary.</span> Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">Thos. F. Drayton.
-</span>
-</p>
-</div>
-<hr />
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Samuel W. Ferguson was born and
-reared at Charleston, and was graduated at the United
-States military academy in 1857. As a lieutenant of
-dragoons he participated in the Utah expedition under
-Albert Sidney Johnston, and in 1859-60 was on duty
-at Fort Walla Walla, Washington. When informed
-of the result of the presidential election of 1860, he
-resigned his commission and returned to Charleston, and
-on March 1, 1861, entered the service of his native State
-with the rank of captain. Being appointed aide-de-camp
-to General Beauregard, he received the formal surrender
-of Major Anderson, raised the first Confederate flag and
-posted the first guards at Fort Sumter. He was then
-sent to deliver to the Congress at Montgomery the flag
-used at Fort Moultrie, the first standard of the Confederacy
-struck by a hostile shot. He remained on Beauregard's
-staff and took an active part in the battle of Shiloh,
-on the second day being assigned to command a brigade
-of the Second corps. At the battle of Farmington
-he was also on duty with General Beauregard. At the
-same time he held the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the
-Twenty-eighth Mississippi regiment cavalry, and subsequently,
-stationed at Vicksburg, he had command of cavalry
-and outlying pickets until detailed for special duty
-along the Yazoo delta, opposing with cavalry and artillery
-the advance of the Federal transports. During
-Grant's preliminary movements against Vicksburg he
-thwarted the attempt of Sherman and Porter to reach the
-city in the rear by way of Deer creek. In 1863 he was
-promoted to brigadier-general. He was active in command
-of cavalry in harassing Sherman's movement to
-Chattanooga, and during the Georgia campaign of 1864
-his brigade of Alabamians and Mississippians, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span>
-Armstrong's and Ross' brigades, formed the cavalry of
-the army of Mississippi, under command of Gen. W. H.
-Jackson, operating on the left wing of Johnston's army.
-He defeated Wilder's "lightning brigade," and displayed
-gallantry on every field. When Sherman began his
-march to Savannah, he harassed the Federal flank until
-within a few miles of Savannah, when he left his horses
-on the South Carolina side of the river, after swimming
-it, and entering Savannah with his men as infantry, covered
-the rear of Hardee's army at the evacuation. He
-subsequently operated in southern Georgia until ordered
-to Danville, Va., but on reaching Greensboro was
-ordered back, escorting President Davis from Charlotte
-to Abbeville, and as far as Washington, Ga., where his
-command was disbanded. He then made his home in
-Mississippi, and practiced law at Greenville. In 1876 he
-was made president of the board of Mississippi levee
-commission for several counties, and in 1883 became a
-member of the United States river commission. In 1894
-he returned to his native city of Charleston, and devoted
-himself to the profession of civil engineering. In 1898
-he offered his services for the war with Spain.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Martin Witherspoon Gary was born
-in 1831 at Cokesbury, Abbeville county, the third son of
-Dr. Thomas Reeder Gary. He was educated at the
-South Carolina college and Harvard college, graduating
-at the latter institution in 1854. Then studying law he
-was admitted to the bar in 1855, and soon acquired distinction
-in both law and politics. As a member of the
-South Carolina legislature in 1860 and 1861, he advocated
-secession, and when the ordinance was enacted, at once
-went into the military service as captain of the Watson
-Guards, which became Company B of the Hampton
-legion. At First Manassas the command of the legion
-devolved upon him after Colonel Hampton was wounded,
-Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson killed and Captain Conner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span>
-disabled. At the reorganization in 1862 he was elected
-lieutenant-colonel of the infantry of the legion, a battalion
-of eight companies, and after it was filled to a regiment,
-he was promoted colonel. He participated in the
-battles around Richmond, at Second Manassas, Boonsboro
-and Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and with Longstreet
-at Suffolk, Chickamauga, Bean's Station, Campbell's
-Station and Knoxville. His command was subsequently
-mounted as cavalry, and served on the north
-side of the James before Richmond. After the fight
-at Riddle's Shop, in June, 1864, he was promoted
-brigadier-general, his cavalry brigade including the
-Hampton legion, Seventh South Carolina, Seventh
-Georgia and Twenty-fourth Virginia regiments, and
-Harkerson's artillery. He led the brigade in all the
-heavy fighting north of the James during the siege, and
-was the last to leave Richmond. Capt. Clement Sulivane,
-left behind to destroy the bridge after Gary had
-crossed, relates that at daylight April 3d, when the Union
-troops were in sight advancing, and a mob was ravaging
-the storehouses, "a long line of cavalry in gray turned
-into Fourteenth street, and sword in hand galloped
-straight down to the river; Gary had come. The mob
-scattered right and left before the armed horsemen, who
-reined up at the canal. Presently a single company of
-cavalry appeared in sight, and rode at headlong speed to
-the bridge. 'My rear guard!' exclaimed Gary. Touching
-his hat to me, he called out, 'All over, good-bye!' and
-trotted over the bridge." Joining Lee's rear guard he
-was one of the heroes of Fitzhugh Lee's command,
-engaged in incessant fighting until Appomattox Court
-House was reached. There he did not surrender, but cut
-his way through the Federal lines, and rode to Greensboro,
-where he took command of about 200 men of his
-brigade on their way to Virginia, and escorted the President
-and his cabinet to Cokesbury, S. C. The cabinet
-held one of their last meetings in his mother's house at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span>
-that place. Then resuming the practice of law, he continued
-in that profession until his death at Edgefield,
-April 9, 1881. He was a noted figure in the exciting
-political campaign of 1876, and for four years thereafter
-held a seat in the State senate.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General States R. Gist was a descendant of
-that gallant Marylander, Gen. Mordecai Gist, who distinguished
-himself at the battle of Camden in 1780, and
-at the Combahee in 1782, and subsequently resided at
-Charleston, at his death leaving two sons who bore the
-names of Independent and States. At the organization of
-the army of South Carolina early in 1861, States R. Gist
-was assigned to the position of adjutant and inspector
-general, in which capacity he rendered valuable service
-in the preparation for the occupation of Charleston harbor
-and the reduction of Fort Sumter. He went to Virginia
-as a volunteer aide to General Bee, and at the critical
-moment in the first battle of Manassas, when Gen.
-J. E. Johnston rode to the front with the colors of the
-Fourth Alabama at his side, Beauregard relates that
-"noticing Col. S. R. Gist, an aide to General Bee, a
-young man whom I had known as adjutant-general of
-South Carolina, and whom I greatly esteemed, I presented
-him as an able and brave commander to the
-stricken regiment, who cheered their new leader, and
-maintained under him to the end of the day, their previous
-gallant behavior." Subsequently he resumed his
-duties as adjutant-general, organizing South Carolina
-troops for the war, until in March, 1862, he was commissioned
-brigadier-general in the Confederate service, and
-ordered to report to General Pemberton, then in command
-of the department. He was after this on duty on
-the South Carolina coast, in command east of James
-island in June, on that island from July; temporarily in
-command of the first district, and in December, 1862, in
-command of the troops ordered to the relief of Wilming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span>ton,
-until May, 1863, when he was ordered to take command
-of a brigade and go to the assistance of General
-Pemberton in Mississippi. Reaching Jackson his command
-formed part of the troops under J. E. Johnston,
-took part in the engagement of May 14th at Jackson,
-marched to the Big Black river just before the surrender
-of Vicksburg, and then returning to Jackson was
-besieged by Sherman. His brigade comprised the Forty-sixth
-Georgia, Fourteenth Mississippi and Twenty-fourth
-South Carolina, the Sixteenth South Carolina soon afterward
-being substituted for the Mississippi regiment, and
-was assigned to the division of Gen. W. H. T. Walker.
-He fought gallantly at Chickamauga, commanding during
-part of the battle Ector's and Wilson's brigades, his
-own brigade being led by Colonel Colquitt, and on Sunday
-commanding Walker's division. At an important
-stage of the fight Gen. D. H. Hill called for Gist's brigade
-for dangerous duty, in the performance of which it
-suffered severely. He continued in conspicuous and
-valuable service; during the battle of Missionary Ridge
-commanded Walker's division, and throughout the
-Atlanta campaign of 1864 was identified with that division.
-After the fall of General Walker he was transferred
-to Cheatham's division, which he commanded for some
-time during the fall campaign of that year. At the terribly
-destructive battle of Franklin, Tenn., he was one
-of the noblest of the brave men whose lives were sacrificed.
-Attended by Capt. H. D. Garden and Lieut.
-Frank Trenholm, of his staff, he rode down the front,
-and after ordering the charge and waving his hat to the
-Twenty-fourth, rode away in the smoke of battle,
-never more to be seen by the men he had commanded on
-so many fields. His horse was shot, and he was leading
-the right of the brigade on foot when he fell, pierced
-through the heart.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Maxcy Gregg was born in Columbia,
-S. C, the son of Col. James Gregg, a distinguished lawyer
-of that city, and was educated at the South Carolina
-college, where he graduated with the first honors of his
-class. He then entered upon the practice of law as a
-partner of his father. In 1846 he had his first military
-experience as major of a regiment of the second levy of
-volunteers sent to Mexico, but did not arrive at the scene
-of conflict in time to share in any of the famous battles.
-He was a member of the convention of 1860 which determined
-upon the secession of the State, and then became
-colonel of the First North Carolina regiment, enlisted for
-six months' service, with which he was on duty on Sullivan's
-and Morris islands during the reduction of Fort
-Sumter, and afterward in Virginia. Previous to the battle
-of Manassas he was stationed at Centreville, and then
-near Fairfax Court House, and commanded the infantry
-in the action at Vienna. At the expiration of the term of
-enlistment he reorganized his regiment in South Carolina,
-and returning to Virginia was stationed at Suffolk.
-In December, 1861, he was promoted to brigadier-general
-and ordered to South Carolina, where he took command
-of a brigade composed of the First, Twelfth, Thirteenth
-and Fourteenth regiments. With this brigade he was
-attached to the famous light division of A. P. Hill for
-the Seven Days' campaign before Richmond. He led the
-advance of the division at Cold Harbor, crossing the
-creek under fire made what Hill pronounced "the handsomest
-charge in line I have seen during the war," and
-during the remainder of the battle displayed undaunted
-bravery. At Frayser's Farm he charged and captured a
-Federal battery. At the battle of August 29th, on the
-plains of Manassas, he with his comrades of the division,
-fought "with a heroic courage and obstinacy almost
-beyond parallel," repelling six determined assaults of the
-enemy, who sought to overwhelm Jackson's corps before
-Longstreet could arrive. Hill reported: "The reply of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span>
-the gallant Gregg to a message of mine is worthy of
-note: 'Tell General Hill that my ammunition is exhausted,
-but that I will hold my position with the bayonet.'" In
-the battle of the 30th and at Ox Hill on September 1st,
-he was again distinguished. He participated in the capture
-of Harper's Ferry, at Sharpsburg shared with distinguished
-gallantry in the heroic work of the Light
-division, which reached the field in time to save the Confederate
-right, and was wounded in the fight; and at
-Shepherdstown, after the crossing of the Potomac by the
-army, commanded the line of three brigades which drove
-back and terribly punished the enemy's forces, which had
-the temerity to pursue the lion-hearted veterans of Lee's
-army. His part in the battle of Fredericksburg we may
-best describe in the words of the immortal Lee. After
-describing the momentary success of the Federals on the
-right, he wrote: "In the meantime a large force had penetrated
-the wood so far as Hill's reserve, and encountered
-Gregg's brigade. The attack was so sudden and unexpected
-that Orr's Rifles, mistaking the enemy for our own
-troops retiring, were thrown into confusion. While in
-the act of rallying them, that brave soldier and true
-patriot, Brig.-Gen. Maxcy Gregg, fell mortally wounded."
-Again, "In Brigadier-Generals Gregg and Cobb the Confederacy
-has lost two of its noblest citizens and the army
-two of its bravest and most distinguished officers. The
-country consents to the loss of such as these, and the
-gallant soldiers who fell with them, only to secure the
-inestimable blessing they died to obtain."</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Johnson Hagood was born in Barnwell
-county, February 21, 1829. His ancestors were of
-English extraction, and the family in America was first
-established in Virginia, removing thence to South Carolina
-before the revolution. He was graduated at the Citadel
-military academy in 1847, and then studying law was
-admitted to the bar in 1850. Throughout his subsequent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span>
-career he maintained an association with the State military
-forces, holding the rank of brigadier-general when
-South Carolina seceded. He was then elected colonel of
-the First regiment, and after participating in the reduction
-of Fort Sumter was ordered to Virginia, where he
-was present at the first battle of Manassas. Returning
-to South Carolina with his regiment he was engaged in
-the operations about Charleston and the battle of Secessionville,
-June, 1862, after which he was promoted brigadier-general.
-Until May, 1864, he served on the coast
-of the State, in defense of Charleston during Gillmore's
-siege, and was distinguished for gallantry in the defense
-of Fort Wagner and the operations on James island. On
-May 6, 1864, part of his brigade arrived at Petersburg
-and immediately went into battle at Walthall Junction
-with the advancing forces of Butler, and a few hours
-later General Hagood arrived with reinforcements. With
-three regiments, the Twenty-first, Twenty-fifth and
-Twenty-seventh South Carolina, he repulsed Butler's
-advance, "at least two brigades," on the 7th; and on the
-9th, the remainder of his brigade having come up, the
-Eleventh regiment and Seventh battalion, he was again
-engaged. As General Beauregard has written: "General
-Hagood and his command became the heroes of the
-day, and were justly looked upon as the saviors of Petersburg
-on that occasion." At the battle of Drewry's Bluff,
-May 16th, Hagood, with great vigor and dash, drove the
-enemy from the outer lines in his front, capturing a
-number of prisoners and three 20-pound Parrotts and two
-fine Napoleons. These Parrott guns were afterward used
-in shelling Butler's transports, causing him to set about
-the famous Dutch Gap canal. In June Hagood and his
-gallant men fought at Cold Harbor, and soon afterward
-were sent to meet Grant before Petersburg, the brigade
-being the first of Hoke's division to reach the field, June
-16th, at the critical moment and save Petersburg for the
-second time. During the siege which followed his bri<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span>gade
-served in the trenches at one period sixty-seven
-days without relief, and was reduced in numbers from
-2,300 to 700 present for duty. In August, 1864, during
-the fighting on the Weldon railroad, 200 of his men, he
-accompanying them, charged into the enemy's works at
-a re-entering angle, and found themselves under a severe
-cross-fire, and about to be surrounded. A Federal officer
-rode up, seized the colors of the Eleventh and called upon
-them to surrender, when General Hagood, on foot, his
-horse having been killed, demanded the return of the
-colors, and ordered the officer back to his lines. This
-being refused, he shot the Federal officer from his horse,
-the colors were regained by Orderly Stoney, and the
-intrepid general mounted his antagonist's horse and
-brought off his men. General Beauregard warmly commended
-this act of gallantry of a "brave and meritorious
-officer," and recommended him for promotion. When
-Wilmington was threatened in December, Hagood was
-sent to the relief of Fort Fisher. Subsequently he participated
-in the North Carolina campaign, including the
-battles of Kinston and Bentonville, and was surrendered
-with Johnston's army, the brigade then containing less
-than 500 officers and men. During the exciting period
-of reconstruction he took a conspicuous part in the movement
-which finally brought about the election of General
-Hampton in 1876, and he was elected on the same ticket
-as comptroller-general, having previously rendered services
-of great value in investigating the financial condition
-of the State and the State bank. He and Gen. James
-Conner were the advisers and executive officers of General
-Hampton during the perilous period preceding the
-recognition by President Hayes of the Hampton government.
-In 1878 he was re-elected comptroller, and in 1880
-he was honored with the highest office in the gift of the
-commonwealth. His admirable reorganization of the
-finances of the State was fitly complemented by his honest,
-business-like and common-sense administration as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span>
-governor. By his marriage to Eloise, daughter of Senator
-A. P. Butler, he had one son, Butler Hagood. The
-death of General Hagood occurred at Barnwell, January
-4, 1898.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Major-General Benjamin Huger was born at Charleston
-in 1806, son of Francis Kinlock Huger, whose wife
-was a daughter of Gen. Thomas Pinckney. His father,
-who was aide-de-camp to General Wilkinson in 1800,
-and adjutant-general in the war of 1812, suffered imprisonment
-in Austria for assisting in the liberation of
-Lafayette from the fortress of Olmutz; his grandfather,
-Benjamin Huger, was a famous revolutionary patriot,
-killed before Charleston during the British occupation;
-and his great-great-grandfather was Daniel Huger, who
-fled from France before the revocation of the edict of
-Nantes and died in South Carolina in 1711. General
-Huger was graduated at West Point in 1825, with a lieutenancy
-in the Third artillery. He served on topographical
-duty until 1828, then visited Europe on leave of
-absence; after being on ordnance duty a year was promoted
-captain of ordnance in 1832, a department of the
-service in which he had a distinguished career. He was
-in command of Fortress Monroe arsenal twelve years,
-was member of the ordnance board seven years, and one
-year was on official duty in Europe. He went into the
-war with Mexico as chief of ordnance on the staff of General
-Scott, and received in quick succession the brevets
-of major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel, for gallant and
-meritorious conduct at Vera Cruz, Molino del Rey and
-Chapultepec. In 1852 he was presented a sword by
-South Carolina in recognition of the honor his career had
-cast upon his native State. After this war he was a
-member of the board which prepared a system of artillery
-instruction for the army, and was in command of the
-armories at Harper's Ferry, Charleston and Pikesville,
-Md., with promotion to major of ordnance, until his resig<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span>nation
-from the old army to follow his State in her effort
-for independence. He was commissioned colonel of
-artillery in the regular army of the Confederate States,
-in June, brigadier-general in the provisional service, and
-in October, 1861, major-general. In May, 1861, he was
-assigned to command of the department of Southern
-Virginia and North Carolina, with headquarters at Norfolk,
-and after the evacuation of Norfolk and Portsmouth
-in the spring of 1862, he commanded a division of the
-army under General Johnston and General Lee, during
-the campaigns which included the battles of Seven Pines
-and the series of important actions ending at Malvern
-hill. Subsequently he was assigned as inspector of artillery
-and ordnance in the armies of the Confederate
-States, and in 1863 was appointed chief of ordnance of
-the Trans-Mississippi department. After the conclusion
-of hostilities he was engaged for several years in farming
-in Fauquier county, Va. His death occurred at his
-native city of Charleston, December 7, 1877. His son,
-Frank Huger, a graduate of the United States military
-academy, 1860, entered the Confederate service as captain
-of the Norfolk light artillery and had a conspicuous
-career with the army of Northern Virginia, rising to the
-rank of lieutenant-colonel and the command of a battalion
-of artillery of the First corps.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Micah Jenkins was born on Edisto
-island in 1839. After his graduation at the South Carolina
-military academy, at the head of his class, he with
-the co-operation of his classmate, Asbury Coward,
-founded the King's Mountain military school in 1855.
-His military genius was valuable in the first organization
-of troops in 1861, and he was elected colonel of the Fifth
-regiment, with which he went to Virginia, in the brigade
-of Gen. D. R. Jones. In the latter part of 1861
-he was in command of that brigade, and had grown
-greatly in favor with his division commander, General<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span>
-Longstreet. Longstreet proposed to begin the reorganization,
-a matter approached with much misgiving, in
-this brigade, and he declared that he hoped to hold every
-man in it if Jenkins could be promoted brigadier-general.
-"Besides being much liked by his men, Colonel
-Jenkins is one of the finest officers of this army," Longstreet
-wrote. Beauregard also added his approval to this
-recommendation. Still in the rank of colonel, Palmetto
-sharpshooters, he commanded R. H. Anderson's brigade
-in the battles of Williamsburg and Seven Pines, and was
-warmly commended by Longstreet and D. H. Hill and
-by J. E. B. Stuart, whom he supported at Fort Magruder.
-He was again distinguished at Gaines' Mill, and at Frayser's
-Farm, having been ordered to silence a battery,
-Longstreet supposing he would use his sharpshooters
-alone, he threw forward his brigade and captured the
-guns, bringing on the battle. July 22, 1862, he was promoted
-brigadier-general, and continuing in command of
-the same brigade, participated in the battles of August 29th
-and 30th, Second Manassas, and was severely wounded.
-He was on duty again at the battle of Fredericksburg
-and during the Suffolk campaign, his division now being
-commanded by General Pickett, and was on the Blackwater
-under Gen. D. H. Hill, during the Gettysburg
-campaign. When Longstreet was sent to the assistance
-of Bragg at Chattanooga, Jenkins' brigade was transferred
-to Hood's division, and reached the field of Chickamauga
-after the battle. During the investment of Chattanooga
-he commanded the attack upon the Federal
-reinforcements arriving under Hooker, and then accompanied
-Longstreet in the Knoxville campaign, commanding
-Hood's division. He took a conspicuous part in the
-operations in east Tennessee, and then, early in 1864,
-returned to Northern Virginia. Field was now in charge
-of the division, and Jenkins led his famous old brigade to
-battle on May 6th, the second day of the Wilderness fighting,
-when the splendid veterans of the First corps arrived<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span>
-in time to check the current of threatened disaster. As
-he rode by the side of Longstreet, he said to his chief, "I
-am happy. I have felt despair for the cause for some
-months, but now I am relieved, and feel assured that we
-will put the enemy across the Rapidan before night."
-Immediately afterward, by the mistaken fire of another
-body of Confederates, he and Longstreet were both
-wounded, Jenkins mortally. General Longstreet has
-written of him: "He was one of the most estimable characters
-of the army. His taste and talent were for military
-service. He was intelligent, quick, untiring, attentive,
-zealous in discharge of duty, truly faithful to
-official obligations, abreast with the foremost in battle,
-and withal a humble, noble Christian. In a moment of
-highest earthly hope, he was transported to serenest
-heavenly joy; to that life beyond that knows no bugle
-call, beat of drum or clash of steel. May his beautiful
-spirit, through the mercy of God, rest in peace! Amen!"</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Major-General David Rump Jones was born in Orangeburg
-county, S. C., in 1825. His family removed to
-Georgia in his childhood, and from that State he was
-appointed to the United States military academy, where
-he was graduated in 1846 in the class with Stonewall
-Jackson, McClellan and other famous commanders. As
-a lieutenant of the Second infantry he served in the war
-with Mexico, participating in the siege of Vera Cruz, the
-battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, Molino
-del Rey, and the capture of the city of Mexico, particularly
-being distinguished and earning promotion on the fields
-of Contreras and Churubusco. He subsequently served
-as adjutant of his regiment, made the voyage to California
-in 1848-49, and with promotion to first lieutenant was on
-duty there until the fall of 1851, after which he acted as
-instructor in infantry tactics at West Point. With the
-brevet rank of captain of staff he served from the spring
-of 1853, successively as adjutant-general of the Western<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span>
-department and the Pacific department, as acting judge-advocate
-of the Pacific department, and as assistant adjutant-general
-of the department of the West, until his
-resignation, February 15, 1861. He was commissioned
-major in the Confederate States army, and assigned to
-duty as chief-of-staff of General Beauregard, in which
-capacity he visited Fort Sumter on April 13th and offered
-the terms of surrender, which were accepted. On June
-17, 1861, he was promoted brigadier-general. With the
-army under Beauregard at Manassas, Va., he had command
-of a brigade composed of Jenkins' Fifth South
-Carolina and Burt's Eighteenth and Featherston's Seventeenth
-Mississippi. In the original Confederate plan of
-battle, July 21st, he was to have taken a prominent part in
-the fight, but the actual events of the day confined him
-to demonstrations against the Federal flank. Soon afterward
-his brigade was composed of the Fourth, Fifth,
-Sixth and Ninth South Carolina regiments, until February,
-1862, when he was assigned to command of Gen.
-Sam Jones' Georgia brigade. He was in charge of General
-Magruder's first division, including the Georgia brigade
-of Robert Toombs and his own under George T.
-Anderson, during the retreat from Yorktown, and the
-battles of Gaines' Mill, Savage Station and Malvern Hill,
-and other engagements of the Seven Days before Richmond.
-In the Second Manassas campaign he commanded
-a division of Longstreet's corps, Drayton's brigade having
-been added to the two previously mentioned. He drove
-the enemy through Thoroughfare Gap, held the extreme
-right next day, confronting Fitz John Porter, and in the
-battle of the 30th actively engaged the Federal left. In
-the Maryland campaign his division, increased by the
-addition of Kemper's and Garnett's Virginia brigades
-and Jenkins' South Carolina brigade, had a conspicuous
-part, winning renown first by the heroic defense of the
-passes of South mountain, and at Sharpsburg fighting
-desperately against the advance of Burnside across the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span>
-Antietam on the Confederate right. After this battle he
-was promoted major-general. His coolness and excellent
-judgment as a commanding officer would have doubtless
-brought still higher honors, but at this time an affection
-of the heart to which he had long been subject was
-greatly aggravated, and after a lingering illness he died
-at Richmond, January 19, 1863.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General John D. Kennedy was born at Camden,
-January 5, 1840, son of a native of Scotland, who
-settled in Kershaw county about 1830, and married a
-granddaughter of Abraham Belton, a pioneer of Camden
-and a soldier of the revolution. He was a student at the
-South Carolina college, read law, and was admitted to
-practice in January, 1861, but at once gave himself to the
-military service of his State. In April, 1861, he became
-captain of Company E, Second South Carolina infantry,
-under Col. J. B. Kershaw. With this command he was
-in the first battle of Manassas, and was struck by a Federal
-ball. Upon the promotion of Kershaw to brigadier-general
-he became colonel of the Second regiment, and in
-that rank participated in the skirmish on the Nine-mile
-road near Richmond, in June, 1862, and the battle of
-Savage Station, after which he was disabled for some
-time by fever. During the investment of Harper's Ferry
-he was with Kershaw's brigade in the capture of Maryland
-heights, and at Sharpsburg his regiment was the
-first of the brigade to come to the relief of Jackson. He
-drove the enemy from his front, but fell painfully
-wounded in the first charge. At Fredericksburg he was
-sent with his own and the Eighth regiment to the support
-of General Cobb at Marye's hill, the focus of the hottest
-fighting of that memorable battle, and aided materially
-in the defeat of the Federal attacks; and at Chancellorsville
-he was identified with the gallant action of his brigade.
-During 1864 when not disabled he was either in
-command of his regiment or of Kershaw's old brigade,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span>
-in the Richmond and Shenandoah Valley campaigns, and
-in December he was promoted to the temporary rank of
-brigadier-general. With his brigade in McLaws' division
-of Hardee's corps he took part in the final campaign
-in North Carolina against Sherman, including the battle
-of Bentonville, and surrendered with the army at Greensboro.
-He was six times wounded during his service, and
-was hit fifteen times by spent balls. After the close of
-hostilities he was mainly engaged in planting until 1877,
-when he resumed the profession of law. He was elected
-to Congress in 1865, but declined to take the "ironclad"
-oath demanded and did not take his seat. In 1878-79 he
-represented his county in the legislature, was elected in
-1880 and served as lieutenant-governor of the State to
-1882, and in the latter year was a prominent candidate
-for the nomination of governor. In 1884 he was presidential
-elector-at-large on the Democratic ticket, and in
-1886 was appointed consul-general at Shanghai, China,
-by President Cleveland. Returning from that post in
-1889, he continued the practice of law at Camden until
-his death in April, 1896.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/fig6.jpg" alt="" />
-<p class="caption center">Maj.-Gen. <span class="smcap">J. B. Kershaw</span>. Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">Roswell S. Ripley</span>.<br />
-<br />
-Maj.-Gen. <span class="smcap">Benjamin Huger</span>. Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">A. M. Manigault</span>. Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">Abner Perrin</span>.<br />
-<br />
-Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">Ellison Capers</span>. Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">C. H. Stevens</span>. Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">J. B. Villepigue</span>.<br />
-<br />
-Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">W. H. Wallace</span>. Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">Samuel McGowan</span>.
-</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Major-General Joseph Brevard Kershaw was born at
-Camden, S. C., January 5, 1822, son of John Kershaw,
-member of Congress in 1812-14, whose wife was Harriet,
-daughter of Isaac Du Bose, an aide-de-camp of General
-Marion. His line of the Kershaw family in South Carolina
-was founded by Joseph Kershaw, a native of Yorkshire,
-who immigrated in 1750, and served as a colonel in
-the war of the revolution. General Kershaw was educated
-for the legal profession and began practice in 1844
-at Camden. He was a member of the governor's staff
-in 1843, and served one year in the Mexican war as first
-lieutenant of Company C, Palmetto regiment. From
-1852 to 1856 he was a representative in the legislature,
-and in 1860 participated in the convention which enacted
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span>the ordinance of secession. In February, 1861, he was
-commissioned colonel of the Second South Carolina regiment,
-with which he served at Sullivan's island, and in
-April went to Virginia. He commanded his regiment, in
-the brigade of General Bonham, at the Blackburn's Ford
-engagement and the battle of First Manassas, and in
-February, 1862, was promoted brigadier-general, to succeed
-General Bonham. In this rank he participated in
-the Yorktown campaign, and in McLaws' division fought
-through the Seven Days' campaign before Richmond,
-commanded the troops which captured Maryland heights,
-and had a gallant part in the fighting at Sharpsburg. At
-Fredericksburg his brigade was sent into the fight at
-Marye's hill, where Kershaw was in command after
-General Cobb was wounded; at Chancellorsville he was an
-active participant, and at Gettysburg he and his brigade
-were conspicuous in the defeat of Sickles at the peach
-orchard. Reaching the field of Chickamauga in time
-for the fighting of September 20th, he was in the grand
-line of veterans with which Longstreet overwhelmed the
-Federals, commanding McLaws' division, and in the last
-grand assault on George H. Thomas also commanding
-McNair's, Grade's, Kelly's and Anderson's brigades.
-He drove the enemy into their lines at Chattanooga, and
-subsequently participated in the Knoxville campaign, at
-Bean's Station and other engagements commanding the
-division. In the same command he went into the Wilderness
-campaign of May, 1864, checked the Federal success
-on May 6th with his veterans, sweeping the enemy from
-his front and capturing his works. He was riding with
-Longstreet and Jenkins when these two generals were
-wounded, and fortunately escaped injury. It was his
-division which reached Spottsylvania Court House in
-time to support Stuart's cavalry and thwart the flank
-movement of Grant, and by an attack on Sheridan opened
-the bloody struggle at Cold Harbor, where the heaviest
-Federal loss was before Kershaw's position. He was
-promoted major-general, and after participating in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span>
-Petersburg battles was ordered to the support of Early
-in the Shenandoah valley. In September he was ordered
-back to Richmond, and while on the way Early was
-defeated at Winchester. Then returning to the valley
-he opened the attack at Cedar Creek, with great success.
-After this, until the fall of Richmond, he served before
-that city, north of the James. His last battle was Sailor's
-Creek, where he was captured with General Ewell
-and the greater part of the remnant of his command. As
-a prisoner of war he was held at Fort Warren, Boston,
-until August 12, 1865. On his return to South Carolina
-he again took up the practice of law, and in the same year
-was elected to the State senate and made president of
-that body. In 1874 he was the Democratic candidate for
-Congress in his district, and three years later was elected
-to the position of judge of the Fifth circuit. He served
-upon the bench until 1893, when he resigned on account
-of failing health and resumed practice as an attorney at
-Camden. In February, 1894, he was commissioned postmaster
-at that city, but he died on the 12th of April following.
-His wife, Lucretia Douglas, to whom he was
-married in 1844, four daughters and a son survive him.
-The latter is rector of St. Michael's church, Charleston.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Thomas M. Logan was born at
-Charleston, November 3, 1840, the son of Judge George
-William and Eliza Staun (Yonge) Logan. His family is
-of ancient Scottish descent. He was graduated at the
-head of his class at the North Carolina college in 1860,
-and was among the early volunteers in 1861 as a private
-in the Washington light infantry, with which he served
-during the investment of Fort Sumter. Then aiding in
-the organization of Company A, Hampton legion, he was
-elected first lieutenant and accompanied the legion to
-Virginia, where he participated in the first battle of
-Manassas, and was soon afterward elected captain.
-Though wounded at Gaines' Mill he continued on duty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span>
-at Second Manassas, and for conspicuous gallantry at
-Sharpsburg was promoted major. His command was
-subsequently transferred to Jenkins' brigade, and he was
-promoted lieutenant-colonel. During the Suffolk and
-Blackwater campaigns under Gen. D. H. Hill he was
-distinguished for the successful management of a reconnoissance
-in force fifteen miles in advance of the Confederate
-lines; and in command of the sharpshooters of Longstreet's
-corps in the Chattanooga and Knoxville campaigns,
-he gained new laurels as a daring and active
-leader. He commanded the advance guard which Longstreet
-organized to push Burnside back toward Knoxville
-in an attempt to prevent his intrenching, and kept up a
-running skirmish with the Federals for several days. On
-May 19, 1864, he was promoted colonel of Hampton's
-legion, served temporarily on the staff of General Beauregard
-during the battle of Drewry's Bluff, and was severely
-wounded in the fight at Riddle's shop. Promoted brigadier-general
-at the age of twenty-four years, he was
-assigned to the command of the old cavalry brigade of
-Gen. M. C. Butler, with which he served in the North
-Carolina campaign and at the battle of Bentonville, and
-made the last charge of this last campaign at the head of
-Keitt's battalion. After the close of hostilities General
-Logan began the study of law at Richmond, Va., in
-which State he has since resided and practiced that profession
-for several years. He then became interested in
-railroad management, and soon became prominent in the
-organization of the Richmond &amp; Danville system, of
-which he was elected vice-president.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Samuel McGowan was born of
-Scotch-Irish parentage in Laurens county, October 19,
-1819, and was graduated at the South Carolina college in
-1841. He embarked in the practice of law at Abbeville,
-but answered the call of his country in 1846 and started
-for the Mexican war as a private in the Palmetto regi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span>ment.
-He was soon appointed to the general quartermaster's
-staff, with the rank of captain, in which capacity
-he served during the war, first on the staff of General
-Quitman and afterward with Generals Worth and Twiggs.
-As volunteer aide to General Quitman at the storming
-of Chapultepec and the capture of Garita de Belen he
-was distinguished for gallantry. On his return to South
-Carolina he continued with much success the practice of
-his profession, and sat twelve years in the lower house of
-the State legislature; but also retained his connection
-with military matters, becoming major-general in the
-State militia. Upon the secession of South Carolina he
-was commissioned brigadier-general in the State army and
-assigned to command of one of the four brigades first
-formed, and in that capacity assisted General Beauregard
-during the reduction of Fort Sumter. Upon the transfer
-of the troops to the Confederate service he joined General
-Bonham in Virginia, and served as a volunteer aide at
-the battles of Blackburn Ford and First Manassas. Then
-returning to South Carolina he was elected lieutenant-colonel
-of the Fourteenth regiment, and in the spring of
-1862, while in service on the coast, was promoted colonel.
-Soon afterward, with Gregg's brigade, he began a distinguished
-career in the army of Northern Virginia. He
-was wounded at Cold Harbor, where he led his regiment
-in several daring charges; retrieved the ground lost
-by another brigade at Frayser's Farm, and continued on
-duty in spite of his injury until after Malvern Hill. For
-his gallantry in these battles he was recommended by
-General Gregg for promotion. After fighting at Cedar
-Run he was wounded at Second Manassas, and for some
-time disabled, but he rejoined his regiment after the
-battle of Sharpsburg and commanded it at Fredericksburg.
-There General Gregg was killed, and in January,
-1863, Colonel McGowan was promoted brigadier-general
-and became Gregg's successor in command of the gallant
-brigade. In this capacity he served until the end of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span>
-war, receiving several wounds, the most severe of which
-befell him at Chancellorsville and during the fight at the
-bloody angle at Spottsylvania Court House. After the
-surrender at Appomattox he returned to his home and
-resumed the profession from which he had been twice
-diverted by war. He was elected to Congress in 1865,
-but was not permitted to take his seat; made a thorough
-canvass of the State as an elector-at-large on the Democratic
-presidential ticket in 1876; in 1878 was elected to
-the legislature, and in 1879 was elected associate justice
-of the supreme court. In the latter office he won lasting
-honor and distinction as he had upon the field of battle.
-His death occurred in December, 1893.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Arthur Middleton Manigault was
-born at Charleston in 1824. He was a great-grandson of
-Gabriel Manigault, a native of Charleston, and a famous
-merchant who was treasurer of the province in 1738; after
-the declaration of independence advanced $220,000 from
-his private fortune for war purposes, and in 1779, with
-his grandson Joseph, served as a private soldier in the
-defense of Charleston. General Manigault entered business
-life at Charleston in youth. In 1846 he went to the
-Mexican war as first lieutenant of a company of the Palmetto
-regiment, and served in the army of General Scott
-from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico. Returning to
-Charleston he was in the commission business until 1856,
-and then was engaged in rice planting until the beginning
-of the Confederate war, when he raised a company
-of volunteers. He served as inspector-general on the staff
-of General Beauregard during the period including the
-reduction of Fort Sumter, after which he was elected
-colonel of the Tenth South Carolina regiment. Under
-Gen. R. E. Lee he commanded the First military district
-of South Carolina, with headquarters at Georgetown.
-After the battle of Shiloh he and his regiment were
-transferred to the army in Mississippi under General<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span>
-Bragg, forming part of the brigade composed of the
-Tenth and Nineteenth South Carolina and three Alabama
-regiments, commanded by General Withers until the
-latter was given division command, afterward by Patton
-Anderson and later by Colonel Manigault. He was in
-brigade command from the summer of 1862, and participated
-in the occupation of Corinth during the siege, and
-the operations of the army in Tennessee and Kentucky.
-In April, 1863, he was promoted to brigadier-general.
-At the battle of Stone's River his brigade under his gallant
-leadership was distinguished in the assaults upon the
-Federal line, and at Chickamauga again was conspicuous
-in the attacks upon the position held by George H.
-Thomas. In both these battles the brigade suffered
-severely in the loss of officers and men, but the remnant
-fought through the Atlanta campaign of 1864 among the
-bravest of the heroes of that memorable struggle, from
-Dalton to Ezra church. He subsequently participated in
-the operations under General Hood, until he fell severely
-wounded in the disastrous battle of Franklin, Tenn.
-After the conclusion of hostilities he engaged in rice
-planting in South Carolina. In 1880 he was elected
-adjutant-general of the State, was continued in this office,
-and was about to be re-elected when he died from the
-effects of his wound received at Franklin, August 16,
-1886.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Abner M. Perrin was born in Edgefield
-district, in 1827. He entered the Confederate States
-service as captain of a company of the Fourteenth
-regiment, South Carolina infantry, Col. James Jones,
-and was present at the engagement at Port Royal
-Ferry, January 1, 1862. His regiment was ordered to
-Virginia in the spring of 1862, and attached to the
-South Carolina brigade of Gen. Maxcy Gregg, the
-regiment then being commanded by Col. Samuel McGowan.
-Captain Perrin shared the services of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span>
-Fourteenth in the battles before Richmond, at Cedar
-run, Second Manassas, Harper's Ferry, Sharpsburg and
-Fredericksburg, and then being promoted colonel, commanded
-the regiment at Chancellorsville, where, after the
-wounding of General McGowan and Colonel Edwards,
-he had command of the remnant of the brigade in the
-Sunday battle. He continued in charge of this brigade,
-consisting of the First, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth
-South Carolina regiments and First Rifles, Pender's division,
-A. P. Hill's corps, during the Gettysburg campaign.
-On the afternoon of July 1, 1863, said A. P. Hill, Perrin's
-brigade took position after position of the enemy, driving
-him through the town of Gettysburg. He maintained
-an advanced position throughout the next two days, keeping
-up a continual heavy skirmish and repelling several
-assaults on the third. On the retreat he repulsed an
-attack of cavalry near Falling Waters. He was promoted
-to brigadier-general in September, 1863. Previous
-to the campaign of May, 1864, in Virginia, General McGowan
-returned to the command of the South Carolina
-brigade, and General Perrin was transferred to the Alabama
-brigade lately commanded by General Wilcox,
-Anderson's division. He passed through the fiery ordeal
-in the Wilderness, but at Spottsylvania, in the words of
-the telegram of General Lee to President Davis, "the
-brave General Perrin was killed." It was just after
-Hancock had swept over the "bloody angle," early on
-May 12th, capturing the larger part of Johnson's division,
-and A. P. Hill was called on for reinforcements, that
-Perrin came up leading his brigade through a terribly
-destructive fire, and fell dead from his horse just as he
-reached the works.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General John Smith Preston was born at Salt
-Works, near Abingdon, Va., on April 20, 1809, of Irish
-descent, his ancestors having emigrated from Donegal,
-Ireland, in the early part of the seventeenth century.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span>
-He was educated at Hampden-Sidney college and graduated
-at that institution in 1824. He then studied law at
-the university of Virginia and Harvard college. In 1830
-he married Caroline, daughter of Gen. Wade Hampton,
-and settled at Abingdon, Va., where he began the practice
-of his profession, but later removed to Columbia,
-S. C. He was engaged for several years in sugar planting
-in Louisiana, also devoted a great deal of his time to literary
-pursuits, and the collection of paintings and statuary.
-His interest in art led him to assist many struggling
-young men of genius, notably Hiram Powers, who in
-appreciation, gave him the replica of the "Greek Slave."
-General Preston was a distinguished orator, and made
-many brilliant addresses, among them the speech of welcome
-to the Palmetto regiment on its return from the
-Mexican war in 1848. He was an ardent secessionist,
-and in May, 1860, was chairman of the South Carolina
-delegation to the Democratic convention that met at
-Charleston. After the election of President Lincoln, he
-was a commissioner to Virginia, and in February, 1861,
-made an eloquent plea in favor of the withdrawal of that
-State from the Union. He entered the Confederate
-army, and served on the staff of General Beauregard
-during 1861 and 1862, receiving special commendation for
-efficiency in the first battle of Bull Run. He was promoted,
-June 10, 1864, brigadier-general in the provisional
-army of the Confederate States, and placed in charge of
-the bureau of conscription, in which office he rendered
-valuable service. He went to England shortly after the
-war, and remained several years. After his return he delivered
-an address at a commencement of the university of
-Virginia, which, as a fervent assertion of the right of
-secession, incurred the severe criticism of the Northern
-press. His last appearance as an orator was on the
-occasion of unveiling the Confederate monument at
-Columbia.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/fig8.jpg" alt="" />
-<p class="caption center">Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">John S. Preston</span>. Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">Maxcy Gregg</span>.<br />
-<br />
-Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">T. M. Logan</span>. Maj.-Gen. <span class="smcap">David R. Jones</span>. Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">Micah Jenkins</span>.<br />
-<br />
-Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">Johnson Hagood</span>. Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">S. W. Ferguson</span>. Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">James Conner</span>.<br />
-<br />
-Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">John D. Kennedy</span>. Brig.-Gen. <span class="smcap">S. R. Gist</span>.
-</p>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Roswell Sabine Ripley was born at
-Worthington, Ohio, March 14, 1823. He was graduated at
-the United States military academy, number seven in the
-class of 1843, of which Gen. U. S. Grant was twenty-first.
-With promotion to brevet second lieutenant, Third artillery,
-he served until 1846 on garrison duty, and for a few
-months as assistant professor of mathematics at West
-Point. In 1846, being commissioned second lieutenant,
-he was on the coast survey until ordered to Mexico, where
-he fought at Monterey in September. Then being promoted
-first lieutenant, Second artillery, he took part in
-the siege of Vera Cruz, and at the battle of Cerro Gordo
-won the brevet of captain. At Contreras, Churubusco
-Molino del Rey, Chapultepec and the capture of the
-Mexican capital he won new honors and came out of the
-war with the brevet rank of major. After service as
-aide-de-camp to General Pillow to July, 1848, he prepared
-and published a history of the war in 1849, and
-subsequently was engaged in the Indian hostilities in
-Florida and in garrison duty until March, 1853, when he
-resigned and engaged in business at Charleston, the
-home of his wife. At the organization of the South
-Carolina army he received the rank of lieutenant-colonel,
-commanding the First artillery battalion, and at the
-bombardment of Fort Sumter was highly commended by
-the generals commanding for his services in charge of
-the batteries on Sullivan's island. In August following
-he was commissioned brigadier-general in the provisional
-army of the Confederate States, and was put in command
-of the department of South Carolina, and when that was
-merged in a larger department under Gen. R. E. Lee,
-he was given charge of the Second military district of the
-State. Joining the army of Northern Virginia in June,
-1862, he commanded a brigade of D. H. Hill's division,
-composed of Georgia and North Carolina regiments, in
-the battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Malvern Hill,
-South Mountain and Sharpsburg. In the latter engage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span>ment
-he was shot in the throat, but returned to the fight
-after his wound was dressed. About a month later he
-took command of the First military district of South
-Carolina, including Charleston and its defenses, and was
-in immediate command during the memorable attacks of
-the Federal fleets and army in 1863 and 1864. In January,
-1865, he was ordered to report to General Hood,
-and at the last was assigned to command of a division of
-Cheatham's corps of the army in North Carolina. Then
-going abroad he resided in Paris several years, and upon
-his return resumed his business operations at Charleston.
-He died at New York, March 26, 1887.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General Clement Hoffman Stevens was born
-in Norwich, Conn., August 14, 1821, the son of Lieut.
-Clement W. Stevens, United States navy, and Sarah J.
-Fayssoux, daughter of Dr. Peter Fayssoux, surgeon-general
-of the army in South Carolina during the war of the
-revolution. Not long after his birth the father left the
-navy and the family settled in Florida, but removed to
-Pendleton, S. C., at the outbreak of Indian troubles in
-1836. In youth he served for several years as private
-secretary to his kinsmen, Commodore William B. Shubrick
-and Capt. Edward Shubrick. In 1842 he abandoned
-this service at sea, and became an official of the
-Planters and Mechanics bank at Charleston, of which he
-was cashier at the period of secession. In January, 1861,
-he presented to Gen. David F. Jamison, secretary of war
-for the State, a design he had prepared for an ironclad
-battery, and it being approved, he immediately began
-the erection of an armored battery of two guns on Cummings
-point, known as the Stevens' iron battery. It
-was built of heavy yellow pine timber with great solidity,
-and the face, inclined at an angle of forty degrees, was
-covered with bars of railroad iron. In this protected
-battery, which was of service in the bombardment of Fort
-Sumter, was the germ of the armored ship Virginia,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span>
-and her class. The floating battery designed by Lieut.
-J. R. Hamilton, in use at the same time, approached still
-more closely the plan of the famous ironclad of Hampton
-Roads. General Stevens' mechanical ingenuity was
-later shown in the invention of portable ovens, by the use
-of which his regiment was supplied with excellent bread.
-Stevens next served as volunteer aide to his cousin,
-Gen. Barnard E. Bee, at the battle of First Manassas,
-and was severely wounded. Returning home, as soon as
-he had recovered from his wound he took charge of a
-militia regiment at Charleston, but soon joined in the
-organization of the Twenty-fourth regiment, of which he
-was elected colonel. In the winter of 1861-62 he was for
-some time on duty as aide to General Ripley. In the
-fight at Secessionville he commanded the Confederate
-forces on the field. In December, 1862, he was assigned
-to command one of the brigades to be sent under General
-Gist for the support of Wilmington, and in May, 1863,
-he and his regiment were ordered to Mississippi under
-the brigade command of Gist. With the forces collected
-under Gen. J. E. Johnston he participated in the summer
-campaign of that year for the relief of Vicksburg, and
-the defense of Jackson against Sherman, and subsequently
-joined the army at Chattanooga. At the battle
-of Chickamauga he was actively engaged until two horses
-were killed under him and he was wounded. Gist
-alluded to him as the "iron-nerved," and General Walker
-reported "that the gallant Stevens, who was severely
-wounded, from what I know of his capacity as an officer,
-from his gallantry on the field, and from his devotion to
-the cause, would grace any position that might be conferred."
-January 20, 1864, he was promoted to brigadier-general,
-and was assigned to the command of a Georgia
-brigade, formerly known as Wilson's, of Walker's division,
-which he led with distinction throughout the Atlanta
-campaign, until he was killed in the battle of July 20,
-1864, near the city of Atlanta.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General James H. Trapier, a native of South
-Carolina, was graduated in the United States military
-academy, third in the class of 1838, of which General
-Beauregard was second and William J. Hardee, Edward
-Johnson and Carter L. Stevenson were other famous
-members. As a lieutenant of engineers in the United
-States service he assisted in the construction of defenses
-at Charleston harbor and Fort Pulaski, and was promoted
-first lieutenant in 1839. Subsequently he was constructing
-engineer of repairs at Forts Macon and Caswell,
-and Forts Ontario, Niagara and Porter, New York;
-served in the war with Mexico in 1847, and was assistant
-engineer connected with the fortification of New York
-harbor until his resignation in 1848. Returning to South
-Carolina he was engaged as a planter at Georgetown until
-the organization of the Confederacy, serving also as chief
-of ordnance of the State in 1851-52, and as aide-de-camp,
-with the rank of colonel, on the staff of Governor Means.
-With the rank of captain of engineers he rendered valuable
-service in the construction of the Confederate batteries
-for the attack on Fort Sumter, and was engineer-in-chief
-on Morris island. Soon afterward he was
-promoted major of engineers, and in October was promoted
-brigadier-general and assigned to command of the
-department of Eastern and Middle Florida, with especial
-care of Cumberland sound. Asking to be relieved in
-March, 1862, he was ordered to report to General Johnston
-in Alabama. He commanded the First division of
-General Polk's corps at Corinth and in the battle of Farmington,
-May 9, 1862, and in November following was
-assigned to command of the Fourth district of South
-Carolina, with headquarters at Georgetown. In the
-spring of 1863 he was in command on Sullivan's island
-during the attack by the Federal fleet, April 7th, and not
-long afterward resumed his duties at Georgetown. Surviving
-the war he died at Mansfield, S. C, January 2,
-1866, at the age of fifty-one years.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General John Bordenave Villepigue was born
-at Camden, S. C, July 2, 1830, of French descent. He
-was graduated at the United States military academy in
-1854, with a brevet lieutenancy in the dragoons; a year
-later was promoted to second lieutenant, and in 1857 to
-first lieutenant. His military service of about seven
-years in the old army was rendered in the Second dragoons,
-mainly on the frontier in Kansas and Nebraska,
-participating in the Sioux expedition of 1855 and the
-march to Fort Lookout, Dakota, in 1856. He took part
-in the Utah campaign of 1857-58, and then after a period
-spent at the Carlisle cavalry school, was on duty in Utah
-until he resigned, March 31, 1861, to enter the service of
-the Southern Confederacy. He received the commission
-of captain of artillery from the government at Montgomery,
-and soon afterward was promoted colonel in the provisional
-army, and assigned to the Thirty-sixth Georgia
-regiment. In command of Georgia and Mississippi soldiers
-he first attracted attention by his heroic defense of
-Fort McRee, Pensacola harbor, during the bombardment
-of November 22, 1861. General Bragg reported at that
-time that for the number and caliber of guns brought
-into action it would rank with the heaviest bombardment
-of the world. The buildings of the fort were several
-times on fire, and Villepigue was seriously wounded, but
-his coolness inspired his volunteers to fight with the
-tenacity of veterans. Said Bragg: "An educated soldier,
-possessing in an eminent degree the love and confidence
-of his officers and men, he had been specially
-selected for this important and perilous post. The result
-fully vindicates the fortunate choice, and presents for
-our admiration, blended in perfect harmony, the modest
-but heroic soldier with the humble but confiding Christian."
-Villepigue was appointed chief of engineers and
-artillery on the staff of General Bragg, was for a time in
-command at Pensacola, then was at Mobile, and joining
-Bragg was promoted brigadier-general early in 1862. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span>
-was assigned to command at Fort Pillow on the Mississippi,
-General Beauregard sending him there as "the
-most energetic young officer" at his command. Week
-after week he held the open batteries, and kept back the
-enemy's superior land and naval forces until ordered to
-retire, when he blew up his fortifications and brought off
-his command in safety, June 4th. He was given command
-of a brigade of the army in Mississippi, under General
-Van Dorn, and at the battle of Corinth in October
-was distinguished both in the attack and in the protection
-of the rear during the retreat. Soon after this
-arduous and dispiriting campaign the young soldier was
-prostrated by a severe illness, which resulted in his
-death at Port Hudson, November 9, 1862.</p>
-
-<div class="center">* * * * *</div>
-
-<p>Brigadier-General William Henry Wallace was born in
-Laurens county, March 24, 1827, son of Daniel Wallace,
-for several terms a member of the legislature, a major-general
-of militia, and from 1849 to 1853 representative
-in Congress. His grandfather was Jonathan Wallace, a
-native of Virginia who removed to South Carolina before
-the war of the revolution, in which he was a patriot soldier.
-General Wallace was graduated at the South Carolina
-college in December, 1849, and in the following
-spring was married to Sarah, daughter of Robert Dunlap,
-of Newberry. She was the niece of James Dunlap,
-appointed governor of Florida by Andrew Jackson, and
-granddaughter of William Dunlap, a revolutionary soldier
-who was the grandson of John Hunter, a native of
-Ireland who was United States senator from South Carolina
-in 1801. General Wallace was occupied as planter in
-Union county until 1857, when he became the proprietor
-of the Union Times newspaper, and in 1859 began the
-practice of law at Union. In 1860 as a member of the
-legislature he supported the call for a convention, and at
-the expiration of his term he enlisted as a private in Com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span>pany
-A, Eighteenth South Carolina volunteers. A few
-days later he was appointed adjutant of the regiment by
-Col. James M. Gadberry, who was killed at Second Manassas.
-Before going into the field the regiment was
-reorganized, and Wallace was elected lieutenant-colonel
-in May, 1861. The regiment was ordered into Virginia
-in time to engage the enemy near Malvern Hill in
-August, after which it fought at the battle of Second
-Manassas, losing about half its number in battle, including
-the gallant Colonel Gadberry. Wallace was at once
-promoted colonel, and he led his regiment, in the brigade
-of Gen. N. G. Evans, through the battles of South
-Mountain and Sharpsburg with the army of Northern
-Virginia. Subsequently he was on duty in defense of
-Charleston. In the spring of 1864 the brigade under
-Gen. Stephen Elliott was ordered to Petersburg, where
-Colonel Wallace participated in the defense of the lines
-and all the operations of Bushrod Johnson's division.
-His brigade suffered most heavily at the battle of the
-Crater, four companies of his regiment being blown up
-or destroyed by falling earth at the explosion of the
-mine, July 30, 1864. In September he was promoted
-brigadier-general, and up to the eve of the surrender he
-commanded the brigade, fighting gallantly at Gravelly
-run and Namozine church on the retreat. At Appomattox
-Court House, on the night of April 8th, he was assigned
-by General Gordon to the command of Johnson's division,
-in which capacity he reported to Gen. Clement A.
-Evans and participated in the last action of the army on
-the morning of April 9th. After his parole he devoted
-himself to the practice of the law, the care of his plantation
-and the restoration of good government in the State.
-He was one of the few Democrats elected to the legislature
-in 1872, and was re-elected in 1874 and 1876. In
-1877 he was chosen judge of the Seventh circuit, a position
-in which he continued to serve with honor and ability
-until 1893, when he retired from public life.
-</p>
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