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