Confederate Military History - Volume 5 (of 12) - A Library of Confederate States History

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Title: Confederate Military History - Volume 5 (of 12) - A Library of Confederate States History
Author: Capers, Ellison
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Confederate Military History - Volume 5 (of 12) - A Library of Confederate States History" ***

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]

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

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

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 this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Confederate Military History - Volume 5 (of 12) - A Library of Confederate States History" ***

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