Confederate Military History - Volume 5 (of 12)
by Ellison Capers · English · Gutenberg #50737 · 842,995 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Confederate Military History - Volume 5 (of 12)
Author: Ellison Capers
Editor: Clement A. Evans
Release date: December 21, 2015 [eBook #50737]
Most recently updated: October 22, 2024
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50737
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY - VOLUME 5 (OF 12) ***
CONFEDERATE
MILITARY HISTORY
[Illustration]
A LIBRARY OF CONFEDERATE
STATES HISTORY, IN TWELVE
VOLUMES, WRITTEN BY
DISTINGUISHED MEN OF THE SOUTH,
AND EDITED BY GEN. CLEMENT
A. EVANS OF GEORGIA.....
[Illustration]
VOL. V.
[Illustration]
Atlanta, Ga.
Confederate Publishing Company
1899
[Illustration]
COPYRIGHT, 1899,
BY CONFEDERATE PUBLISHING COMPANY.
[Illustration]
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE.
CHAPTER I. Spirit of Secession--The State Militia--Charleston
and the Forts--The Violated Agreement--Major Anderson
Occupies Fort Sumter--South Carolina Occupies Pinckney
and Moultrie--The Star of the West--Fort Sumter
Surrendered--Carolinians in Virginia--Battle of Manassas 4
CHAPTER II. Affairs on the Coast--Loss of Port Royal Harbor--Gen.
R. E. Lee in Command of the Department--Landing
of Federals at Port Royal Ferry--Gallant Fight on
Edisto Island--General Pemberton Succeeds Lee
in Command--Defensive Line, April, 1862 29
CHAPTER III. South Carolinians in Virginia--Battle of
Williamsburg--Eltham's Landing--Seven Pines and Fair
Oaks--Nine-Mile Road--Gaines' Mill--Savage Station--Frayser's
Farm--Malvern Hill 43
CHAPTER IV. The Coast of South Carolina, Summer of 1862--Operations
under General Pemberton--Engagement at
Old Pocotaligo--Campaign on James Island--Battle of
Secessionville 76
CHAPTER V. General Beauregard in Command--The Defenses
of Charleston--Disposition of Troops--Battle of
Pocotaligo--Repulse of Enemy at Coosawhatchie Bridge--Operations
in North Carolina--Battle of Kinston--Defense
of Goldsboro 94
CHAPTER VI. South Carolinians in the West--Manigault's
and Lythgoe's Regiments at Corinth--The Kentucky Campaign--Battle
of Murfreesboro 111
CHAPTER VII. With Lee in Northern Virginia, 1862--The
Maneuvers on the Rappahannock--Second Manassas Campaign--Battle
of Ox Hill 120
CHAPTER VIII. The Maryland Campaign--The South
Mountain Battles--Capture of Harper's Ferry--Battles of
Sharpsburg and Shepherdstown 140
CHAPTER IX. Hampton's Cavalry in the Maryland Raid--The
Battle of Fredericksburg--Death of Gregg--South Carolinians
at Marye's Hill--Cavalry Operations 165
CHAPTER X. Operations in South Carolina, Spring of 1863--Capture
of the Isaac Smith--Ingraham's Defeat of the
Blockading Squadron--Naval Attack on Fort Sumter--Hunter's
Raids 188
CHAPTER XI. South Carolina Troops in Mississippi--Engagement
near Jackson--The Vicksburg Campaign--Siege of
Jackson 203
CHAPTER XII. South Carolinians in the Chancellorsville
Campaign--Service of Kershaw's and McGowan's Brigades--A
Great Confederate Victory 213
CHAPTER XIII. Operations in South Carolina--Opening of
Gillmore's Campaign against Fort Sumter--The Surprise of
Morris Island--First Assault on Battery Wagner--Demonstrations
on James Island and Against the Railroad--Action
near Grimball's Landing 223
CHAPTER XIV. Second Assault on Battery Wagner--Siege
of Wagner and Bombardment of Fort Sumter--Evacuation
of Morris Island 235
CHAPTER XV. The Gettysburg Campaign--Gallant Service
of Perrin's and Kershaw's Brigades--Hampton's Cavalry
at Brandy Station 257
CHAPTER XVI. South Carolinians at Chickamauga--Organization
of the Armies--South Carolinians Engaged--Their
Heroic Service and Sacrifices 277
CHAPTER XVII. The Siege of Charleston--Continued Bombardment
of Fort Sumter--Defense Maintained by the Other
Works--The Torpedo Boats--Bombardment of the City--Transfer
of Troops to Virginia--Prisoners under Fire--Campaign
on the Stono 291
CHAPTER XVIII. South Carolinians with Longstreet and
Lee--Wauhatchie--Missionary Ridge--Knoxville--The Virginia
Campaign of 1864--From the Wilderness to the Battle
of the Crater 310
CHAPTER XIX. The Atlanta Campaign--Battles around
Atlanta--Jonesboro--Hood's Campaign in North Georgia--The
Defense of Ship's Gap--Last Campaign in Tennessee--Battle
of Franklin 328
CHAPTER XX. The Closing Scenes in Virginia--Siege of
Richmond and Petersburg--Fall of Fort Fisher--South Carolina
Commands at Appomattox 346
CHAPTER XXI. Battle of Honey Hill--Sherman's Advance
into South Carolina--Organization of the Confederate
Forces--Burning of Columbia--Battles of Averasboro and
Bentonville--Conclusion 354
BIOGRAPHICAL 373
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FACING PAGE.
BEE, BARNARD E. 392
BONHAM, M. L. 392
BRATTON, JOHN 392
BUTLER, M. C. 380, 392
CAPERS, ELLISON 1, 409
CHARLESTON, DEFENSES (Map) Between pages 296 and 297
CHESTNUT, JAMES 392
CONNOR, JAMES 416
DRAYTON, THOS. F. 392
DUNOVANT, JOHN 392
ELLIOTT, STEPHEN, JR. 392
EVANS, N. G. 392
FERGUSON, S. W. 416
GARY, M. W. 392
GIST, S. R. 416
GREGG, MAXCY 416
HAGOOD, JOHNSON 416
HONEY HILL, BATTLE (Map) 356
HUGER, BENJAMIN 409
JENKINS, MICAH 416
JONES, DAVID R. 416
KENNEDY, JOHN D. 416
KERSHAW, J. B. 409
LOGAN, J. M. 416
MCGOWAN, SAMUEL 409
MANIGAULT, A. M. 409
PERRIN, ABNER 409
PRESTON, JOHN S. 416
RIPLEY, ROSWELL S. 409
SOUTH CAROLINA (Map) Between pages 372 and 373
STEVENS, C. H. 409
VILLEPIGUE, J. B. 409
WALLACE, W. H. 409
[Illustration: ELLISON CAPERS]
SOUTH CAROLINA
BY
BRIG.-GEN. ELLISON CAPERS.
INTRODUCTORY.
The writer of the following sketch does not attempt, in the space
assigned him, to give a complete history of the various commands of
Carolinians, who for four years did gallant and noble service in the
armies of the Confederacy.
A faithful record of their names alone would fill the pages of a
volume, and to write a history of their marches and battles, their
wounds and suffering, their willing sacrifices, and their patient
endurance, would demand more accurate knowledge, more time and more
ability than the author of this sketch can command.
He trusts that in the brief history which follows he has been able to
show that South Carolina did her duty to herself and to the Southern
Confederacy, and did it nobly.
CHAPTER I.
SPIRIT OF SECESSION--THE STATE MILITIA--CHARLESTON AND THE FORTS--THE
VIOLATED AGREEMENT--MAJOR ANDERSON OCCUPIES FORT SUMTER--SOUTH
CAROLINA OCCUPIES PINCKNEY AND MOULTRIE--THE STAR OF THE WEST--FORT
SUMTER SURRENDERED--CAROLINIANS IN VIRGINIA--BATTLE OF MANASSAS.
From the time that the election of the President was declared, early
in November, 1860, the military spirit of the people of South Carolina
was thoroughly awake. Secession from the Union was in the air, and when
it came, on the 20th of December following, it was received as the
ultimate decision of duty and the call of the State to arms. The one
sentiment, everywhere expressed by the vast majority of the people,
was the sentiment of independence; and the universal resolve was the
determination to maintain the secession of the State at any and every
cost.
The militia of the State was, at the time, her only arm of defense, and
every part of it was put under orders.
Of the State militia, the largest organized body was the Fourth brigade
of Charleston, commanded by Brig.-Gen. James Simons. This body of
troops was well organized, well drilled and armed, and was constantly
under the orders of the governor and in active service from the 27th
of December, 1860, to the last of April, 1861. Some of the commands
continued in service until the Confederate regiments, battalions
and batteries were organized and finally absorbed all the effective
material of the brigade.
This efficient brigade was composed of the following commands:
First regiment of rifles: Col. J. J. Pettigrew, Lieut.-Col. John L.
Branch, Maj. Ellison Capers, Adjt. Theodore G. Barker, Quartermaster
Allen Hanckel, Commissary L. G. Young, Surg. George Trescot, Asst.
Surg. Thomas L. Ozier, Jr. Companies: Washington Light Infantry, Capt.
C. H. Simonton; Moultrie Guards, Capt. Barnwell W. Palmer; German
Riflemen, Capt. Jacob Small; Palmetto Riflemen, Capt. Alex. Melchers;
Meagher Guards, Capt. Edward McCrady, Jr.; Carolina Light Infantry,
Capt. Gillard Pinckney; Zouave Cadets, Capt. C. E. Chichester.
Seventeenth regiment: Col. John Cunningham, Lieut.-Col. William P.
Shingler, Maj. J. J. Lucas, Adjt. F. A. Mitchel. Companies: Charleston
Riflemen, Capt. Joseph Johnson, Jr.; Irish Volunteers, Capt. Edward
McGrath; Cadet Riflemen, Capt. W. S. Elliott; Montgomery Guards,
Capt. James Conner; Union Light Infantry, Capt. David Ramsay; German
Fusiliers, Capt. Samuel Lord, Jr.; Palmetto Guards, Capt. Thomas W.
Middleton; Sumter Guards, Capt. Henry C. King; Emmet Volunteers, Capt.
P. Grace; Calhoun Guards, Capt. John Fraser.
First regiment of artillery: Col. E. H. Locke, Lieut.-Col. W. G. De
Saussure, Maj. John A. Wagener, Adjt. James Simmons, Jr.
Light batteries: Marion Artillery, Capt. J. G. King; Washington
Artillery, Capt. George H. Walter; Lafayette Artillery, Capt. J. J.
Pope; German Artillery (A), Capt. C. Nohrden; German Artillery (B),
Capt. H. Harms.
Cavalry: Charleston Light Dragoons, Capt. B. H. Rutledge; German
Hussars, Capt. Theodore Cordes; Rutledge Mounted Riflemen, Capt. C. K.
Huger.
Volunteer corps in the fire department: Vigilant Rifles, Capt. S. V.
Tupper; Phœnix Rifles, Capt. Peter C. Gaillard; Ætna Rifles, Capt. E.
F. Sweegan; Marion Rifles, Capt. C. B. Sigwald.
Charleston, the metropolis and seaport, for a time absorbed the
interest of the whole State, for it was everywhere felt that the issue
of secession, so far as war with the government of the United States
was concerned, must be determined in her harbor. The three forts which
had been erected by the government for the defense of the harbor,
Moultrie, Castle Pinckney and Sumter, were built upon land ceded by the
State for that purpose, and with the arsenal and grounds in Charleston,
constituted the property of the United States.
The secession of South Carolina having dissolved her connection with
the government of the United States, the question of the possession
of the forts in the harbor and of the military post at the arsenal
became at once a question of vital interest to the State. Able
commissioners, Robert W. Barnwell, James H. Adams and James L. Orr,
were elected and sent by the convention of the State to treat with
the government at Washington for an amicable settlement of this
important question, and other questions growing out of the new relation
which South Carolina bore to the Union. Pending the action of the
commissioners in Washington, an unfortunate move was made by Maj.
Robert Anderson, of the United States army, who commanded the only
body of troops stationed in the harbor, which ultimately compelled the
return of the commissioners and led to the most serious complications.
An understanding had been established between the authorities in
Washington and the members of Congress from South Carolina, that the
forts would not be attacked, or seized as an act of war, until proper
negotiations for their cession to the State had been made and had
failed; provided that they were not reinforced, and their military
status should remain as it was at the time of this understanding, viz.,
on December 9, 1860.
Fort Sumter, in the very mouth of the harbor, was in an unfinished
state and without a garrison. On the night of the 26th of December,
1860, Maj. Robert Anderson dismantled Fort Moultrie and removed his
command by boats over to Fort Sumter. The following account of the
effect of this removal of Major Anderson upon the people, and the
action of the government, is taken from Brevet Major-General Crawford's
"Genesis of the Civil War." General Crawford was at the time on the
medical staff and one of Anderson's officers. His book is a clear and
admirable narrative of the events of those most eventful days, and
is written in the spirit of the utmost candor and fairness. In the
conclusion of the chapter describing the removal, he says:
The fact of the evacuation of Fort Moultrie by Major Anderson was soon
communicated to the authorities and people of Charleston, creating
intense excitement. Crowds collected in streets and open places of the
city, and loud and violent were the expressions of feeling against
Major Anderson and his action.... [The governor of the State was ready
to act in accordance with the feeling displayed.] On the morning of
the 27th, he dispatched his aide-de-camp, Col. Johnston Pettigrew, of
the First South Carolina Rifles, to Major Anderson. He was accompanied
by Maj. Ellison Capers, of his regiment. Arriving at Fort Sumter,
Colonel Pettigrew sent a card inscribed, "Colonel Pettigrew, First
Regiment Rifles, S.C.M., Aide-de-Camp to the Governor, Commissioner to
Major Anderson. Ellison Capers, Major First Regiment Rifles, S.C.M."
... Colonel Pettigrew and his companion were ushered into the room.
The feeling was reserved and formal, when, after declining seats,
Colonel Pettigrew immediately opened his mission: "Major Anderson,"
said he, "can I communicate with you now, sir, before these officers,
on the subject for which I am here?" "Certainly, sir," replied Major
Anderson, "these are all my officers; I have no secrets from them,
sir."
The commissioner then informed Major Anderson that he was directed to
say to him that the governor was much surprised that he had reinforced
"this work." Major Anderson promptly responded that there had been no
reinforcement of the work; that he had removed his command from Fort
Moultrie to Fort Sumter, as he had a right to do, being in command
of all the forts in the harbor. To this Colonel Pettigrew replied
that when the present governor (Pickens) came into office, he found
an understanding existing between the previous governor (Gist) and
the President of the United States, by which all property within the
limits of the State was to remain as it was; that no reinforcements
were to be sent here, particularly to this post; that there was to be
no attempt made against the public property by the State, and that the
status in the harbor should remain unchanged. He was directed also
to say to Major Anderson that it had been hoped by the governor that
a peaceful solution of the difficulties could have been reached, and
a resort to arms and bloodshed might have been avoided; but that the
governor thought the action of Major Anderson had greatly complicated
matters, and that he did not now see how bloodshed could be avoided;
that he had desired and intended that the whole matter might be fought
out politically and without the arbitration of the sword, but that now
it was uncertain, if not impossible.
To this Major Anderson replied, that as far as any understanding
between the President and the governor was concerned, he had not
been informed; that he knew nothing of it; that he could get no
information or positive orders from Washington, and that his position
was threatened every night by the troops of the State. He was then
asked by Major Capers, who accompanied Colonel Pettigrew, "How?" when
he replied, "By sending out steamers armed and conveying troops on
board;" that these steamers passed the fort going north, and that he
feared a landing on the island and the occupation of the sand-hills
just north of the fort; that 100 riflemen on these hills, which
commanded his fort, would make it impossible for his men to serve
their guns; and that any man with a military head must see this. "To
prevent this," said he earnestly, "I removed on my own responsibility,
my sole object being to prevent bloodshed." Major Capers replied that
the steamer was sent out for patrol purposes, and as much to prevent
disorder among his own people as to ascertain whether any irregular
attempt was being made to reinforce the fort, and that the idea of
attacking him was never entertained by the little squad who patrolled
the harbor.
Major Anderson replied to this that he was wholly in the dark as
to the intentions of the State troops, but that he had reason to
believe that they meant to land and attack him from the north; that
the desire of the governor to have the matter settled peacefully and
without bloodshed was precisely his object in removing his command
from Moultrie to Sumter; that he did it upon his own responsibility
alone, because he considered that the safety of his command required
it, as he had a right to do. "In this controversy," said he, "between
the North and the South, my sympathies are entirely with the South.
These gentlemen," said he (turning to the officers of the post who
stood about him), "know it perfectly well." Colonel Pettigrew replied,
"Well, sir, however that may be, the governor of the State directs
me to say to you courteously but peremptorily, to return to Fort
Moultrie." "Make my compliments to the governor (said Anderson) and
say to him that I decline to accede to his request; I cannot and will
not go back." "Then, sir," said Pettigrew, "my business is done," when
both officers, without further ceremony or leavetaking, left the fort.
Colonel Pettigrew and Major Capers returned to the city and made their
report to the governor and council who were in session in the council
chamber of the city hall. That afternoon Major Anderson raised the
flag of his country over Sumter, and went vigorously to work mounting
his guns and putting the fort in military order. The same afternoon
the governor issued orders to Colonel Pettigrew, First regiment of
rifles, and to Col. W. G. De Saussure, First regiment artillery,
commanding them to take immediate possession of Castle Pinckney and
Fort Moultrie. Neither fort was garrisoned, and the officers in
charge, after making a verbal protest, left and went to Fort Sumter,
and the Palmetto flag was raised over Moultrie and Pinckney. In the
same manner the arsenal in Charleston was taken possession of by a
detachment of the Seventeenth regiment, South Carolina militia, Col.
John Cunningham, and Fort Johnson on James island, by Capt. Joseph
Johnson, commanding the Charleston Riflemen. The governor also ordered
a battery to be built for two 24-pounders on Morris island, bearing on
Ship channel, and his order was speedily put into execution by Maj. P.
F. Stevens, superintendent of the South Carolina military academy, with
a detachment of the cadets, supported by the Vigilant Rifles, Captain
Tupper. This battery was destined soon to fire the first gun of the
war. In taking possession of the forts and the arsenal, every courtesy
was shown the officers in charge, Captain Humphreys, commanding the
arsenal, saluting his flag before surrendering the property.
By the possession of Forts Moultrie and Pinckney and the arsenal in
Charleston, their military stores fell into the hands of the State
of South Carolina, and by the governor's orders a careful inventory
was made at once of all the property and duly reported to him. At
Moultrie there were sixteen 24-pounders, nineteen 32-pounders, ten
8-inch columbiads, one 10-inch seacoast mortar, four 6-pounders,
two 12-pounders and four 24-pounder howitzers and a large supply of
ammunition. At Castle Pinckney the armament was nearly complete and
the magazine well filled with powder. At the arsenal there was a
large supply of military stores, heavy ordnance and small-arms. These
exciting events were followed by the attempt of the government to
succor Major Anderson with supplies and reinforce his garrison.
The supplies and troops were sent in a large merchant steamer, the Star
of the West. She crossed the bar early on the morning of January 9,
1861, and steamed up Ship channel, which runs for miles parallel with
Morris island, and within range of guns of large caliber. Her course
lay right under the 24-pounder battery commanded by Major Stevens
and manned by the cadets. This battery was supported by the Zouave
Cadets, Captain Chichester; the German Riflemen, Captain Small, and the
Vigilant Rifles, Captain Tupper. When within range a shot was fired
across her bow, and not heeding it, the battery fired directly upon
her. Fort Moultrie also fired a few shots, and the Star of the West
rapidly changed her course and, turning round, steamed out of the range
of the guns, having received but little material damage by the fire.
Major Anderson acted with great forbearance and judgment, and did not
open his batteries. He declared his purpose to be patriotic, and so
it undoubtedly was. He wrote to the governor that, influenced by the
hope that the firing on the Star of the West was not supported by the
authority of the State, he had refrained from opening fire upon the
batteries, and declared that unless it was promptly disclaimed he would
regard it as an act of war, and after waiting a reasonable time he
would fire upon all vessels coming within range of his guns.
The governor promptly replied, justifying the action of the batteries
in firing upon the vessel, and giving his reasons in full. He pointed
out to Major Anderson that his removal to Fort Sumter and the
circumstances attending it, and his attitude since were a menace to
the State of a purpose of coercion; that the bringing into the harbor
of more troops and supplies of war was in open defiance of the State,
and an assertion of a purpose to reduce her to abject submission to
the government she had discarded; that the vessel had been fairly
warned not to continue her course, and that his threat to fire upon the
vessels in the harbor was in keeping with the evident purpose of the
government of the United States to dispute the right of South Carolina
to dissolve connection with the Union. This right was not to be debated
or questioned, urged the governor, and the coming of the Star of the
West, sent by the order of the President, after being duly informed
by commissioners sent to him by the convention of the people of the
State to fully inform him of the act of the State in seceding from the
Union, and of her claim of rights and privileges in the premises, could
have no other meaning than that of open and hostile disregard for the
asserted independence of South Carolina. To defend that independence
and to resent and resist any and every act of coercion are "too
plainly a duty," said Governor Pickens, "to allow it to be discussed."
To the governor's letter Major Anderson replied, that he would refer
the whole matter to the government at Washington, and defer his
purpose to fire upon vessels in the harbor until he could receive his
instructions in reply. Thus a truce was secured, and meanwhile active
preparations for war were made daily by Major Anderson in Fort Sumter
and by Governor Pickens on the islands surrounding it. War seemed
inevitable, and the whole State, as one man, was firmly resolved to
meet it.
The legislature had passed a bill on December 17th providing for the
organization of ten regiments for the defense of the State, and the
convention had ordered the formation of a regiment for six months'
service, to be embodied at once, the governor to appoint the field
officers. This last was "Gregg's First regiment," which was organized
in January, 1861, and on duty on Sullivan's and Morris islands by
the 1st of February following. The governor appointed Maxcy Gregg,
of Columbia, colonel; Col. A. H. Gladden, who had been an officer of
the Palmetto regiment in the Mexican war, lieutenant-colonel; and D.
H. Hamilton, the late marshal of the United States court in South
Carolina, major. On March 6, 1861, the adjutant-general of the State
reported to Gen. M. L. Bonham, whom the governor had commissioned
major-general, to command the division formed under the act of
December 17, 1860, that he had received into the service of the State
104 companies, under the said act of the legislature, aggregating an
effective force of 8,836 men and officers; that these companies had
been formed into ten regiments and the regiments into four brigades.
These regiments were mustered for twelve months' service, were numbered
respectively from 1 to 10, inclusive, and commanded by Cols. Johnson
Hagood, J. B. Kershaw, J. H. Williams, J. B. E. Sloan, M. Jenkins, J.
H. Rion, T. G. Bacon, E. B. Cash, J. D. Blanding, and A. M. Manigault.
The brigadier-generals appointed by the governor under the act above
referred to, were R. G. M. Dunovant and P. H. Nelson. By an act of
the legislature, January 28, 1861, the governor was authorized to
raise a battalion of artillery and a regiment of infantry, both to be
formed and enlisted in the service of the State as regulars, and to
form the basis of the regular army of South Carolina. The governor
appointed, under the act, R. S. Ripley, lieutenant-colonel in command
of the artillery battalion, and Richard Anderson, colonel of the
infantry regiment. The artillery battalion was afterward increased to a
regiment, and the regiment of infantry converted, practically, into a
regiment of artillery. Both regiments served in the forts and batteries
of the harbor throughout the war, with the greatest distinction, as
will afterward appear. These troops, with the Fourth brigade, South
Carolina militia, were under the orders of the government and were
practically investing Fort Sumter.
The States of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and
Texas, having left the Union during the month of January, and the
Confederate government having been organized early in February,
at Montgomery, President Davis, on the 1st of March, ordered
Brigadier-General Beauregard to Charleston to report for duty to
Governor Pickens. Thenceforward this distinguished soldier became the
presiding genius of military operations in and around Charleston.
Repeated demands having been made upon Major Anderson, and upon the
President, for the relinquishment of Fort Sumter, and these demands
having been refused and the government at Washington having concluded
to supply and reinforce the fort by force of arms, it was determined
to summon Major Anderson to evacuate the fort, for the last time.
Accordingly, on April 11th, General Beauregard sent him the following
communication:
Headquarters Provisional Army, C. S. A.
Charleston, April 11, 1861.
Sir: The government of the Confederate States has hitherto foreborne
from any hostile demonstrations against Fort Sumter, in hope that
the government of the United States, with a view to the amicable
adjustment of all questions between the two governments, and to avert
the calamities of war, would voluntarily evacuate it.
There was reason at one time to believe that such would be the course
pursued by the government of the United States, and under that
impression my government has refrained from making any demand for the
surrender of the fort. But the Confederate States can no longer delay
assuming actual possession of a fortification commanding the entrance
of one of their harbors and necessary to its defense and security.
I am ordered by the government of the Confederate States to demand
the evacuation of Fort Sumter. My aides, Colonel Chestnut and Captain
Lee, are authorized to make such demand of you. All proper facilities
will be afforded for the removal of yourself and command, together
with company arms and property, and all private property, to any post
in the United States which you may select. The flag which you have
upheld so long and with so much fortitude, under the most trying
circumstances, may be saluted by you on taking it down. Colonel
Chestnut and Captain Lee will, for a reasonable time, await your
answer.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
G. T. BEAUREGARD, Brigadier-General Commanding.
Major Anderson replied as follows:
Fort Sumter, S. C., April 11, 1861.
General: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
communication demanding the evacuation of this fort, and to say,
in reply thereto, that it is a demand with which I regret that my
sense of honor, and of my obligations to my government, prevent my
compliance. Thanking you for the fair, manly and courteous terms
proposed, and for the high compliment paid me,
I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
ROBERT ANDERSON,
Major, First Artillery, Commanding.
Major Anderson, while conversing with the messengers of General
Beauregard, having remarked that he would soon be starved into a
surrender of the fort, or words to that effect, General Beauregard was
induced to address him a second letter, in which he proposed that the
major should fix a time at which he would agree to evacuate, and agree
also not to use his guns against the Confederate forces unless they
fired upon him, and so doing, he, General Beauregard, would abstain
from hostilities. To this second letter Major Anderson replied, naming
noon on the 15th, provided that no hostile act was committed by the
Confederate forces, or any part of them, and provided, further, that
he should not, meanwhile, receive from the government at Washington
controlling instructions or additional supplies.
The fleet which was to reinforce and supply him was then collecting
outside the bar, and General Beauregard at once notified him, at 3:20
a. m. on the morning of the 12th of April, that he would open fire on
the fort in one hour from that time.
The shell which opened the momentous bombardment of Fort Sumter was
fired from a mortar, located at Fort Johnson on James island, at 4:30
on the morning of the 12th.
For over three months the troops stationed on the islands surrounding
Fort Sumter had been constantly employed building batteries, mounting
guns, and making every preparation for the defense of the harbor,
and, if necessary, for an attack on the fort if the government
at Washington persisted in its refusal to order its evacuation.
Lieut.-Col. R. S. Ripley, an able and energetic soldier, commanded
the artillery on Sullivan's island, with his headquarters at Fort
Moultrie, Brigadier-General Dunovant commanding the island. Under
Ripley's direction, six 10-inch mortars and twenty guns bore on Sumter.
The guns were 24, 32 and 42 pounders, 8-inch columbiads and one 9-inch
Dahlgren. The supports to the batteries were the First regiment of
rifles, Colonel Pettigrew; the regiment of infantry, South Carolina
regulars, Col. Richard Anderson; the Charleston Light Dragoons, Capt.
B. H. Rutledge, and the German Flying Artillery, the latter attached
to Col. Pettigrew's command, stationed at the east end of the island.
These commands, with Ripley's battalion of South Carolina regular
artillery and Capt. Robert Martin's mortar battery on Mount Pleasant,
made up the force under General Dunovant.
On Morris island, Gen. James Simons was commanding, with Lieut.-Col. W.
G. De Saussure for his artillery chief, and Maj. W. H. C. Whiting for
chief of staff. The infantry supports on the island were the regiments
of Cols. John Cunningham, Seventeenth South Carolina militia, and
Maxcy Gregg, Johnson Hagood and J. B. Kershaw, of the South Carolina
volunteers. The artillery was in position bearing on Ship channel,
and at Cummings point, bearing on Sumter. The fleet making no attempt
to come in, the channel batteries took no part in the bombardment of
Sumter.
On Cummings point, six 10-inch mortars and six guns were placed.
To the command and direction of these guns, Maj. P. F. Stevens was
specially assigned. One of the batteries on the point was of unique
structure, hitherto unknown in war. Three 8-inch columbiads were put
in battery under a roofing of heavy timbers, laid at an angle of
forty degrees, and covered with railroad T iron. Portholes were cut
and these protected by heavy iron shutters, raised and lowered from
the inside of the battery. This battery was devised and built by Col.
Clement H. Stevens, of Charleston, afterward a brigadier-general and
mortally wounded in front of Atlanta, July 20, 1864, leading his
brigade. "Stevens' iron battery," as it was called, was "the first
ironclad fortification ever erected," and initiated the present system
of armor-plated vessels. The three mortars in battery at Fort Johnson
were commanded by Capt. G. S. James. The batteries above referred
to, including Fort Moultrie, contained fifteen 10-inch mortars and
twenty-six guns of heavy caliber.
For thirty-four hours they assaulted Sumter with an unceasing
bombardment, before its gallant defenders consented to give it up, and
not then until the condition of the fort made it impossible to continue
the defense. Fort Moultrie alone fired 2,490 shot and shell. Gen. S. W.
Crawford, in his accurate and admirable book, previously quoted, thus
describes the condition of Sumter when Anderson agreed to its surrender:
It was a scene of ruin and destruction. The quarters and barracks
were in ruins. The main gates and the planking of the windows on the
gorge were gone; the magazines closed and surrounded by smouldering
flames and burning ashes; the provisions exhausted; much of the
engineering work destroyed; and with only four barrels of powder
available. The command had yielded to the inevitable. The effect of
the direct shot had been to indent the walls, where the marks could
be counted by hundreds, while the shells, well directed, had crushed
the quarters, and, in connection with hot shot, setting them on fire,
had destroyed the barracks and quarters down to the gun casemates,
while the enfilading fire had prevented the service of the barbette
guns, some of them comprising the most important battery in the work.
The breaching fire from the columbiads and the rifle gun at Cummings
point upon the right gorge angle, had progressed sensibly and must
have eventually succeeded if continued, but as yet no guns had been
disabled or injured at that point. The effect of the fire upon the
parapet was pronounced. The gorge, the right face and flank as well
as the left face, were all taken in reverse, and a destructive fire
maintained until the end, while the gun carriages on the barbette of
the gorge were destroyed in the fire of the blazing quarters.
The spirit and language of General Beauregard in communicating with
Major Anderson, and the replies of the latter, were alike honorable to
those distinguished soldiers. The writer, who was on duty on Sullivan's
island, as major of Pettigrew's regiment of rifles, recalls vividly
the sense of admiration felt for Major Anderson and his faithful little
command throughout the attack, and at the surrender of the fort. "While
the barracks in Fort Sumter were in a blaze," wrote General Beauregard
to the secretary of war at Montgomery, "and the interior of the work
appeared untenable from the heat and from the fire of our batteries
(at about which period I sent three of my aides to offer assistance),
whenever the guns of Fort Sumter would fire upon Moultrie, the men
occupying the Cummings point batteries (Palmetto Guard, Captain
Cuthbert) at each shot would cheer Anderson for his gallantry, although
themselves still firing upon him; and when on the 15th instant he left
the harbor on the steamer Isabel, the soldiers of the batteries lined
the beach, silent and uncovered, while Anderson and his command passed
before them."
Thus closed the memorable and momentous attack upon Fort Sumter by the
forces of South Carolina, and thus began the war which lasted until
April, 1865, when the Southern Confederacy, as completely ruined and
exhausted by fire and sword as Fort Sumter in April, 1861, gave up the
hopeless contest and reluctantly accepted the inevitable.
The following is believed to be a correct list of the officers who
commanded batteries, or directed, particularly, the firing of the guns,
with the commands serving the same:
On Cummings point: (1) Iron battery--three 8-inch columbiads, manned
by detachments of Palmetto Guard, Capt. George B. Cuthbert directing,
assisted by Lieut. G. L. Buist. (2) Point battery--mortars, by Lieut.
N. Armstrong, assisted by Lieut. R. Holmes; 42-pounders, Lieut. T.
S. Brownfield; rifle gun, directed by Capt. J. P. Thomas, who, with
Lieutenant Armstrong, was an officer of the South Carolina military
academy. Iron battery and Point battery both manned by Palmetto Guard.
(3) Trapier battery--three 10-inch mortars, by Capt. J. Gadsden King
and Lieuts. W. D. H. Kirkwood and Edward L. Parker; Corp. McMillan
King, Jr., and Privates J. S. and Robert Murdock, pointing the mortars;
a detachment of Marion artillery manning the battery, assisted by a
detachment of the Sumter Guards, Capt. John Russell.
On Sullivan's island: (1) Fort Moultrie--Capt. W. R. Calhoun,
Lieutenants Wagner, Rhett, Preston, Sitgreaves, Mitchell, Parker, Blake
(acting engineer). (2) mortars--Capt. William Butler and Lieutenants
Huguenin, Mowry, Blocker, Billings and Rice. (3) Mortars--Lieutenants
Flemming and Blanding. (4) Enfilade--Captain Hallonquist and
Lieutenants Valentine and Burnet. (5) Floating battery--Lieutenants
Yates and Frank Harleston. (6) Dahlgren battery--Captain Hamilton.
On Mount Pleasant: (1) Mortars--Captain Martin and Lieuts. F. H.
Robertson and G. W. Reynolds.
On Fort Johnson: (1) Mortars--Capt. G. S. James and Lieut. W. H. Gibbes.
Immediately upon the fall of Sumter the most active and constant
efforts were made by Governor Pickens and General Beauregard to repair
and arm the fort, to strengthen the batteries defending the harbor, and
to defend the city from an attack by the Stono river and James island.
General Beauregard inspected the coast, and works of defense were begun
on James island and at Port Royal harbor.
But South Carolina was now to enjoy freedom from attack, by land or
sea, until early in November, and while her soldiers and her people
were making ready her defense, and her sons were flocking to her
standard in larger numbers than she could organize and arm, she was
called upon to go to the help of Virginia. William H. Trescot, of South
Carolina, in his beautiful memorial of Brig.-Gen. Johnston Pettigrew,
has described the spirit with which "the youth and manhood of the
South" responded to the call to arms, in language so true, so just and
so eloquent, that the author of this sketch inserts it here. Writing
more than five years after the close of the great struggle, Mr. Trescot
said:
We who are the vanquished in this battle must of necessity leave to
a calmer and wiser posterity to judge of the intrinsic worth of that
struggle, as it bears upon the principles of constitutional liberty,
and as it must affect the future history of the American people; but
there is one duty not only possible but imperative, a duty which we
owe alike to the living and the dead, and that is the preservation in
perpetual and tender remembrance of the lives of those who, to use
a phrase scarcely too sacred for so unselfish a sacrifice, died in
the hope that we might live. Especially is this our duty, because in
the South a choice between the parties and principles at issue was
scarcely possible. From causes which it is exceedingly interesting to
trace, but which I cannot now develop the feeling of State loyalty
had acquired throughout the South an almost fanatic intensity;
particularly in the old colonial States did this devotion to the State
assume that blended character of affection and duty which gives in
the old world such a chivalrous coloring to loyalty to the crown....
When, therefore, by the formal and constitutional act of the States,
secession from the Federal government was declared in 1860 and 1861,
it is almost impossible for any one not familiar with the habits and
thoughts of the South, to understand how completely the question of
duty was settled for Southern men. Shrewd, practical men who had no
faith in the result, old and eminent men who had grown gray in service
under the national flag, had their doubts and their misgivings; but
there was no hesitation as to what they were to do. Especially to that
great body of men, just coming into manhood, who were preparing to
take their places as the thinkers and actors of the next generation,
was this call of the State an imperative summons.
The fathers and mothers who had reared them; the society whose
traditions gave both refinement and assurance to their young ambition;
the colleges in which the creed of Mr. Calhoun was the text-book
of their studies; the friends with whom they planned their future;
the very land they loved, dear to them as thoughtless boys, dearer
to them as thoughtful men, were all impersonate, living, speaking,
commanding in the State of which they were children. Never in the
history of the world has there been a nobler response to a more
thoroughly recognized duty; nowhere anything more truly glorious than
this outburst of the youth and manhood of the South.
And now that the end has come and we have seen it, it seems to me that
to a man of humanity, I care not in what section his sympathies may
have been matured, there never has been a sadder or sublimer spectacle
than these earnest and devoted men, their young and vigorous columns
marching through Richmond to the Potomac, like the combatants of
ancient Rome, beneath the imperial throne in the amphitheater, and
exclaiming with uplifted arms, "_morituri te salutant_."
President Lincoln had issued his proclamation calling for 75,000
volunteers to coerce the South; Virginia had withdrawn from the Union,
and before the end of April had called Lee, J. E. Johnston and Jackson
into her service; the seat of the Confederate government had been
transferred from Montgomery, Ala., to Richmond; and early in May,
General Beauregard was relieved from duty in South Carolina and ordered
to the command of the Alexandria line, with headquarters at Manassas
Junction. He had been preceded by General Bonham, then a Confederate
brigadier, with the regiments of Colonels Gregg, Kershaw, Bacon, Cash,
Jenkins and Sloan--First, Second, Seventh, Eighth, Fifth and Fourth
South Carolina volunteers.
Before General Beauregard's arrival in Virginia, General Bonham with
his Carolina troops had been placed in command of the Alexandria line,
the regiments being at Fairfax Court House, and other points of this
line, fronting Washington and Alexandria.
These South Carolina regiments were reinforced during the month of July
by the Third, Colonel Williams; the Sixth, Colonel Rion, and the Ninth,
Colonel Blanding. The infantry of the Hampton legion, under Col. Wade
Hampton, reached the battlefield of Manassas on the morning of July
21st, but in time to take a full share in that decisive contest.
On the 20th of June, General Beauregard, commanding the "army of the
Potomac," headquarters at Manassas Junction, organized his army into
six brigades, the First commanded by Bonham, composed of the regiments
of Gregg, Kershaw, Bacon and Cash. Sloan's regiment was assigned to the
Sixth brigade, Early's; and Jenkins' regiment to the Third, Gen. D.
R. Jones. Col. N. G. Evans, an officer of the old United States army,
having arrived at Manassas, was assigned to command of a temporary
brigade--Sloan's Fourth South Carolina, Wheat's Louisiana battalion,
two companies Virginia cavalry, and four 6-pounder guns.
On the 11th of July, General Beauregard wrote to the President that
the enemy was concentrating in his front at Falls church, with a force
of not less than 35,000 men, and that to oppose him he had only about
half that number. On the 17th, Bonham's brigade, stationed at Fairfax,
met the first aggressive movement of General McDowell's army, and was
attacked early in the morning. By General Beauregard's orders Bonham
retired through Centreville, and took the position assigned him behind
Mitchell's ford, on Bull run. The Confederate army was in position
behind Bull run, extending from Union Mills ford on the right to the
stone bridge on the left, a distance of 5 miles.
The brigades were stationed, from right to left, as follows: Ewell,
D. R. Jones, Longstreet, Bonham, Cocke, and Evans on the extreme
left. Early was in reserve, in rear of the right. To each brigade a
section or a battery of artillery was attached, except in the case of
Bonham who had two batteries and six companies of cavalry attached
to his command. Seven other cavalry companies were distributed among
the other brigades. Bonham's position was behind Mitchell's ford,
with his four regiments of Carolinians; Jenkins' Fifth regiment was
with General Jones' brigade, behind McLean's ford, and Sloan's Fourth
regiment was with Evans' brigade on the left, at the stone bridge. With
this disposition of his little army, General Beauregard awaited the
development of the enemy's movement against him.
At noon on the 18th, Bonham at Mitchell's ford and Longstreet at
Blackburn's ford, were attacked with infantry and artillery, and both
attacks were repulsed. General McDowell was engaged on the 19th and
20th in reconnoitering the Confederate position, and made no decided
indication of his ultimate purpose. The delay was golden for the
Confederates. Important reinforcements arrived on the 20th and on the
morning of the 21st, which were chiefly to fight and win the battle,
while the main body of Beauregard's army held the line of Bull run.
General Holmes, from the lower Potomac, came with over 1,200 infantry,
six guns and a fine company of cavalry; Colonel Hampton, with the
infantry of his legion, 600 strong, and the Thirteenth Mississippi;
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, from the Shenandoah, with Jackson's, Bee's and
Bartow's brigades, 300 of Stuart's cavalry and two batteries, Imboden's
and Pendleton's.
The reinforcements were put in line in rear of the troops already in
position, Bee and Bartow behind Longstreet, covering McLean's and
Blackburn's fords, with Barksdale's Thirteenth Mississippi; Jackson in
rear of Bonham, covering Mitchell's ford; and Cocke's brigade, covering
the fords further to the left, was strengthened and supported by a
regiment of infantry and six guns, and Hampton was stationed at the
Lewis house. Walton's and Pendleton's batteries were placed in reserve
in rear of Bonham and Bee. Thus strengthened, the army of General
Beauregard numbered about 30,000 effectives, with fifty-five guns.
General Beauregard had planned an attack on McDowell's left, which was
to be executed on the 21st; but before he put his right brigades in
motion, McDowell had crossed two of his divisions at Sudley's ford,
two miles to the left of Evans, who was posted at the stone bridge,
and while threatening Evans and Cocke in front, was marching rapidly
down the rear of Beauregard's left. Satisfied of this movement, Evans
left four companies of the Fourth South Carolina to defend the bridge,
and taking the six remaining companies of the Fourth, with Wheat's
Louisiana battalion and two guns of Latham's battery, moved rapidly to
his rear and left and formed his little brigade at right angles to the
line on Bull run and just north of the turnpike road. In this position
he was at once assailed by the advance of the enemy, but held his
ground for an hour, when Bee, who had been moved up to stone bridge,
came to his assistance. Evans, with his Carolinians and Louisianians;
Bee, with his Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee regiments, and
Bartow with his Georgia and Kentucky battalions, and the batteries
of Latham and Imboden, with heroic fortitude sustained the assault
for another hour, before falling back south of the turnpike. It was
then evident that the battle was not to be fought in front of Bull
run, but behind it, and in rear of General Beauregard's extreme left.
Both generals, whose headquarters had been at the Lewis house, three
miles away, hurried to the point of attack and arrived, as General
Johnston reported, "not a moment too soon." Fifteen thousand splendidly
equipped troops of McDowell's army, with numerous batteries, many of
the guns rifled, were driving back the little brigade of Evans and the
regiments of the gallant Bee and Bartow, and the moment was critical.
The presence and example of the commanding generals, the firm conduct
of the officers, and the hurrying forward of Hampton with his legion,
and Jackson with his brigade, re-established the battle on the line of
the Henry house, a half mile south of the turnpike and two miles in the
rear of the stone bridge. Beauregard took immediate command on the
field of battle, and Johnston assumed the general direction from the
Lewis house, whose commanding elevation gave him a view of the whole
field of operations. "The aspect of affairs (he says in his report)
was critical, but I had full confidence in the skill and indomitable
courage of General Beauregard, the high soldierly qualities of Generals
Bee and Jackson and Colonel Evans, and the devoted patriotism of the
troops."
At this first stage of the battle, from 8:30 to 11 a. m., the troops
from South Carolina actively engaged were the Fourth regiment, Colonel
Sloan, and the legion of Hampton. Two companies of the Fourth, thrown
out as skirmishers in front of the stone bridge, fired the first gun of
the battle early in the morning, and the regiment bore a glorious part
in the battle which Evans fought for the first hour, and in the contest
of the second hour maintained by Bee, Bartow and Evans. The Fourth lost
11 killed and 79 wounded.
Hampton arrived at the Lewis house in the morning, and being connected
with no particular brigade, was ordered to march to the stone bridge.
On his march, hearing of the attack on the rear, and the roar of the
battle being distinctly heard, he changed the direction of his march
toward the firing. Arriving at the Robinson house, he took position in
defense of a battery and attacked the enemy in his front. Advancing
to the turnpike under fire, Lieut.-Col. B. J. Johnson, of the legion,
fell, "as, with the utmost coolness and gallantry, he was placing our
men in position," says his commander. Soon enveloped by the enemy in
this direction, the legion fell back with the commands of Bee and Evans
to the first position it occupied, and, as before reported, formed an
important element in re-establishing the battle under the immediate
direction of Generals Beauregard and Johnston.
The troops ordered by the commanding generals to prolong the line of
battle, formed at 11 o'clock, took position on the right and left as
they successively arrived, those on the left assaulting at once, and
vigorously, the exposed right flank of the enemy, and at each assault
checking, or repulsing, his advance. No attempt will be made by the
author to follow the movements of all of these gallant troops who thus
stemmed the sweeping advance of strong Federal brigades, and the fire
of McDowell's numerous batteries. He is confined, particularly, to the
South Carolina commands.
The line of battle as now re-established, south of the Warrenton
turnpike, ran at a right angle with the Bull run line, and was composed
of the shattered commands of Bee, Bartow and Evans on the right, with
Hampton's legion infantry; Jackson in the center, and Gartrell's,
Smith's, Faulkner's and Fisher's regiments, with two companies of
Stuart's cavalry, on the left. The artillery was massed near the Henry
house. With this line the assaults of Heintzelman's division and the
brigades of Sherman and Keyes, with their batteries, numbering some
18,000 strong, were resisted with heroic firmness.
By 2 o'clock, Kershaw's Second and Cash's Eighth South Carolina,
General Holmes' brigade of two regiments, Early's brigade, and Walker's
and Latham's batteries, arrived from the Bull run line and reinforced
the left. The enemy now held the great plateau from which he had driven
our forces, and was being vigorously assailed on his left by Kershaw
and Cash, with Kemper's battery, and by Early and Stuart. General
Beauregard ordered the advance of his center and right, the latter
further strengthened by Cocke's brigade, taken by General Johnston's
order from its position at the stone bridge.
This charge swept the great plateau, which was then again in possession
of the Confederates. Hampton fell, wounded in this charge, and
Capt. James Conner took command of the legion. Bee, the heroic and
accomplished soldier, fell at the head of the troops, and Gen. S. R.
Gist, adjutant-general of South Carolina, was wounded leading the
Fourth Alabama. Reinforced, the Federal troops again advanced to
possess the plateau, but Kirby Smith's arrival on the extreme left,
and his prompt attack, with Kershaw's command and Stuart's cavalry,
defeated the right of McDowell's advance and threw it into confusion,
and the charge of Beauregard's center and right completed the victory
of Manassas.
In the operations of this memorable day, no troops displayed more
heroic courage and fortitude than the troops from South Carolina, who
had the fortune to bear a part in this the first great shock of arms
between the contending sections. These troops were the Second regiment,
Col. J. B. Kershaw; the Fourth, Col. J. B. E. Sloan; the Eighth, Col.
E. B. Cash; the Legion infantry, Col. Wade Hampton, and the Fifth, Col.
Micah Jenkins. The latter regiment was not engaged in the great battle,
but, under orders, crossed Bull run and attacked the strong force in
front of McLean's ford. The regiment was wholly unsupported and was
forced to withdraw, Colonel Jenkins rightly deeming an assault, under
the circumstances, needless.
The following enumeration of losses is taken from the several reports
of commanders as published in the War Records, Vol. II, p. 570:
Kershaw's regiment, 5 killed, 43 wounded; Sloan's regiment, 11 killed,
79 wounded; Jenkins' regiment, 3 killed, 23 wounded; Cash's regiment, 5
killed, 23 wounded; Hampton's legion, 19 killed, 102 wounded; total, 43
killed, 270 wounded.
Gen. Barnard Elliott Bee, who fell, leading in the final and triumphant
charge of the Confederates, was a South Carolinian. Col. C. H. Stevens,
a volunteer on his staff, his near kinsman, and the distinguished
author of the iron battery at Sumter, was severely wounded. Lieut.-Col.
B. J. Johnson, who fell in the first position taken by the Hampton
legion, was a distinguished and patriotic son of the State, and Lieut.
O. R. Horton, of the Fourth, who was killed in front of his company,
had been prominent in the battle of the early morning. At Manassas,
South Carolina was well represented by her faithful sons, who willingly
offered their lives in defense of her principles and her honor. The
blood she shed on that ever-memorable field was but the token of the
great offering with which it was yet to be stained by the sacrifices of
more than a thousand of her noblest sons.
The battle of Manassas fought and won, and trophies of the Confederate
victory gathered from the plateau of the great strife, and from the
line of the Union army's retreat, the South Carolina troops with
General Beauregard's command were put into two brigades, Bonham's, the
First, and D. R. Jones', the Third. The Second, Third, Seventh and
Eighth regiments made up General Bonham's brigade; the Fourth, Fifth,
Sixth and Ninth, General Jones' brigade. Gregg's First regiment was
at Norfolk, and Hampton's legion was not brigaded. Headquarters were
established at Fairfax Court House, and the Confederate line ran from
Springfield on the Orange & Alexandria railroad to Little Falls above
Georgetown. No event of great importance occurred in which the troops
of South Carolina took part, in Virginia, during the remainder of the
summer.
CHAPTER II.
AFFAIRS ON THE COAST--LOSS OF PORT ROYAL HARBOR--GEN. R. E. LEE
IN COMMAND OF THE DEPARTMENT--LANDING OF FEDERALS AT PORT ROYAL
FERRY--GALLANT FIGHT ON EDISTO ISLAND--GENERAL PEMBERTON SUCCEEDS LEE
IN COMMAND--DEFENSIVE LINE, APRIL, 1862.
Throughout the summer of 1861, in Charleston and along the coast
of South Carolina, all was activity in the work of preparation and
defense. On August 21st, Brig.-Gen. R. S. Ripley, whose promotion
to that rank had been applauded by the soldiers and citizens of the
State, was assigned to the "department of South Carolina and the coast
defenses of that State." On assuming command, General Ripley found the
governor and people fully alive to the seriousness of the situation,
and everything being done which the limited resources of the State
permitted, to erect fortifications and batteries on the coast, and to
arm and equip troops for State and Confederate service.
Governor Pickens wrote to the secretary of war at Richmond about the
time of the Federal expedition to North Carolina, and the capture of
the batteries at Hatteras inlet, urgently requesting that Gregg's First
regiment might be sent him from Virginia, as he expected an attack
to be made at some point on the coast. In this letter he begged that
40,000 pounds of cannon powder be forwarded from Norfolk at once. The
governor had bought in December, 1860, and January, 1861, 300,000
pounds from Hazard's mills in Connecticut, for the use of the State,
but he had loaned 25,000 pounds to the governor of North Carolina,
5,000 pounds to the governor of Florida, and a large amount to the
governor of Tennessee. Of what remained he needed 40,000 pounds to
supply "about 100 guns on the coast below Charleston." The governor
estimated the troops in the forts and on the islands around Charleston
at 1,800 men, all well drilled, and a reserve force in the city of
3,000. These forces, with Manigault's, Heyward's, Dunovant's and Orr's
regiments, he estimated at about 9,500 effective.
On October 1st, General Ripley reported his Confederate force, not
including the battalion of regular artillery and the regiment of
regular infantry, at 7,713 effectives, stationed as follows: Orr's
First rifles, on Sullivan's island, 1,521; Hagood's First, Cole's
island and stone forts, 1,115; Dunovant's Twelfth, north and south
Edisto, 367; Manigault's Tenth, Georgetown and defenses, 538; Jones'
Fourteenth, camp near Aiken, 739; Heyward's Eleventh, Beaufort and
defenses, 758; cavalry, camp near Columbia, 173; cavalry, camp near
Aiken, 62; arsenal, Charleston (artillery), 68; Edwards' Thirteenth, De
Saussure's Fifteenth, and remainder of Dunovant's Twelfth, 2,372.
On the first day of November, the governor received the following
dispatch from the acting secretary of war: "I have just received
information which I consider entirely reliable, that the enemy's
expedition is intended for Port Royal." Governor Pickens answered:
"Please telegraph General Anderson at Wilmington, and General Lawton
at Savannah, to send what forces they can spare, as the difficulty
with us is as to arms." Ripley replied, "Will act at once. A fine,
strong, southeast gale blowing, which will keep him off for a day or
so." The fleet sailed from Hampton Roads on the 29th of October, and
on the 4th of November the leading vessels that had withstood the gale
appeared off Port Royal harbor. The storm had wrecked several of the
transports, and the whole fleet suffered and was delayed until the
7th, before Admiral DuPont was ready to move in to the attack of the
forts defending this great harbor.
Port Royal harbor was defended by two forts, Walker and Beauregard, the
former on Hilton Head island, and the latter on Bay point opposite. The
distance across the harbor, from fort to fort, is nearly 3 miles, the
harbor ample and deep, and the water on the bar allowing the largest
vessels to enter without risk. A fleet of 100 sail could maneuver
between Forts Walker and Beauregard and keep out of range of all but
their heaviest guns. To defend such a point required guns of the
longest range and the heaviest weight of metal.
In planning the defense of Port Royal, General Beauregard designed that
batteries of 10-inch columbiads and rifled guns should be placed on the
water fronts of both forts, and so directed; but the guns were not to
be had, and the engineers, Maj. Francis D. Lee and Capt. J. W. Gregory,
were obliged to mount the batteries of the forts with such guns as
the Confederate government and the governor of South Carolina could
command. The forts were admirably planned and built, the planters in
the vicinity of the forts supplying all the labor necessary, so that by
September 1, 1861, they were ready for the guns.
Fort Walker mounted twenty guns and Fort Beauregard nineteen, but
of this armament Walker could use but thirteen, and Beauregard but
seven against a fleet attacking from the front. The rest of the guns
were placed for defense against attack by land, or were too light to
be of any use. The twenty guns of Walker and Beauregard that were
used in the battle with the fleet, were wholly insufficient, both in
weight of metal and number. The heaviest of the guns in Walker were
two columbiads, 10-inch and 8-inch, and a 9-inch rifled Dahlgren. The
rest of the thirteen were 42, 32 and 24 pounders. Of the seven guns in
Beauregard, one was a 10-inch columbiad, and one a 24-pounder, rifled.
The rest were 42 and 32 pounders; one of the latter fired hot shot.
Col. William C. Heyward, Eleventh South Carolina volunteers, commanded
at Fort Walker, and Col. R. G. M. Dunovant, of the Twelfth, commanded
at Fort Beauregard. The guns at Walker were manned by Companies A and
B, of the German Flying Artillery, Capts. D. Werner and H. Harms;
Company C, Eleventh volunteers, Capt. Josiah Bedon, and detachments
from the Eleventh under Capt. D. S. Canaday. Maj. Arthur M. Huger,
of the Charleston artillery battalion, was in command of the front
batteries, and of the whole fort after Col. John A. Wagener was
disabled. The guns in Fort Beauregard were manned by the Beaufort
artillery; Company A, Eleventh volunteers, Capt. Stephen Elliott, and
Company D, Eleventh volunteers, Capt. J. J. Harrison; Captain Elliott
directing the firing. The infantry support at Walker was composed of
three companies of the Eleventh and four companies of the Twelfth, and
a company of mounted men under Capt. I. H. Screven. The fighting force
of Fort Walker then, on the morning of the 7th of November, preparing
to cope with the great fleet about to attack, was represented by
thirteen guns, manned and supported by 622 men. The infantry support at
Fort Beauregard was composed of six companies of the Twelfth, the whole
force at Beauregard, under Colonel Dunovant, amounting to 640 men and
seven guns.
Brig.-Gen. Thomas F. Drayton, with headquarters at Beaufort, commanded
the defenses at Port Royal harbor and vicinity. He removed his
headquarters to Hilton Head on the 5th, and pushed forward every
preparation in his power for the impending battle. The remote position
of Fort Beauregard and the interposition of the fleet, lying just out
of range, made it impossible to reinforce that point. An attempt made
early on the morning of the 7th, supported by the gallant Commodore
Tattnall, was prevented by the actual intervention of the leading
battleships of the enemy. Fort Walker, however, received just before
the engagement, a reinforcement of the Fifteenth volunteers, Colonel
DeSaussure, 650 strong; Captain Read's battery of two 12-pounder
howitzers, 50 men and 450 Georgia infantry, under Capt. T. J. Berry.
The morning of the 7th of November was a still, clear, beautiful
morning, "not a ripple," wrote General Drayton, "upon the broad expanse
of water to disturb the accuracy of fire from the broad decks of that
magnificent armada, about advancing in battle array." The attack came
about 9 o'clock, nineteen of the battleships moving up and following
each other in close order, firing upon Fort Beauregard as they passed,
then turning to the left and south, passing in range of Walker, and
pouring broadside after broadside into that fort. Captain Elliott
reports: "This circuit was performed three times, after which they
remained out of reach of any except our heaviest guns." From this
position the heavy metal and long range guns of nineteen batteries
poured forth a ceaseless bombardment of both Beauregard and Walker, but
paying most attention to the latter.
Both forts replied with determination, the gunners standing faithfully
to their guns, but the vastly superior weight of metal and the number
of the Federal batteries, and the distance of their positions from
the forts (never less than 2,500 yards from Beauregard and 2,000 from
Walker), made the contest hopeless for the Confederates almost from the
first shot. Shortly after the engagement began, several of the largest
vessels took flanking positions out of reach of the 32-pounder guns in
Walker, and raked the parapet of that fort. "So soon as these positions
had been established," reported Major Huger, "the fort was fought
simply as a point of honor, for from that moment we were defeated."
This flank fire, with the incessant direct discharge of the fleet's
heavy batteries, dismounted or disabled most of Fort Walker's guns.
The 10-inch columbiad was disabled early in the action; the shells for
the rifled guns were too large to be used, and the ammunition for all
but the 32-pounders exhausted, when, after four hours of hard fighting,
Colonel Heyward ordered that two guns should be served slowly, while
the sick and wounded were removed from the fort; that accomplished, the
fort to be abandoned. Thus terminated the fight at Fort Walker.
At Fort Beauregard, the battle went more fortunately for the
Confederates. A caisson was exploded by the fire of the fleet, and the
rifled 24-pounder burst, and several men and officers were wounded
by these events, but none of the guns were dismounted, and Captain
Elliott only ceased firing when Walker was abandoned. In his report, he
says: "Our fire was directed almost exclusively at the larger vessels.
They were seen to be struck repeatedly, but the distance, never less
than 2,500 yards, prevented our ascertaining the extent of injury."
General Drayton successfully conducted his retreat from Hilton Head,
and Colonel Dunovant from Bay point, all the troops being safely
concentrated on the main behind Beaufort.
The taking of Port Royal harbor on the 7th of November, 1861, gave
the navy of the United States a safe and ample anchorage, while the
numerous and rich islands surrounding it afforded absolutely safe
and comfortable camping grounds for the army of Gen. T. W. Sherman,
who was specially in charge of this expedition. The effect of this
Union victory was to give the fleet and army of the United States a
permanent and abundant base of operations against the whole coast of
South Carolina, and against either Charleston or Savannah, as the
Federal authorities might elect; but its worst result was the immediate
abandonment of the whole sea-island country around Beaufort, the
houses and estates of the planters being left to pillage and ruin, and
thousands of negro slaves falling into the hands of the enemy. General
Sherman wrote to his government, from Hilton Head, that the effect of
his victory was startling. Every white inhabitant had left the islands
of Hilton Head, St. Helena, Ladies, and Port Royal, and the beautiful
estates of the planters were at the mercy of hordes of negroes.
The loss of the forts had demonstrated the power of the Federal fleet,
and the impossibility of defending the island coast with the guns which
the State and the Confederacy could furnish. The 32 and 42 pounders
were no match for the 11-inch batteries of the fleet, and gunboats
of light draught, carrying such heavy guns, could enter the numerous
rivers and creeks and cut off forts or batteries at exposed points,
while larger vessels attacked them, as at Port Royal, in front. It was
evident that the rich islands of the coast were at the mercy of the
Federal fleet, whose numerous gunboats and armed steamers, unopposed by
forts or batteries, could cover the landing of troops at any point or
on any island selected.
On the capture of Port Royal, it was uncertain, of course, what General
Sherman's plans would be, or what force he had with which to move on
the railroad between Charleston and Savannah. The fleet was ample
for all aggressive purposes along the coast, but it was not known at
the time that the army numbered less than 15,000 men, all told. But
it was well known how easily a landing could be effected within a
few miles of the railroad bridges crossing the three upper branches
of the Broad river, the Coosawhatchie, Tulifinny and Pocotaligo, and
the rivers nearer to Charleston, the Combahee, Ashepoo and Edisto.
Bluffton, easily reached by gunboats, afforded a good landing and base
for operations against the railroad at Hardeeville, only 4 miles from
the Savannah river, and 15 from the city of Savannah. On this account,
General Ripley, assisted by the planters, caused the upper branches of
the Broad, and the other rivers toward Charleston to be obstructed, and
meanwhile stationed the troops at his command at points covering the
landings.
General Drayton, with a part of Martin's regiment of cavalry, under
Lieutenant-Colonel Colcock, and Heyward's and De Saussure's regiments,
was watching Bluffton and the roads to Hendersonville. Clingman's and
Radcliffe's North Carolina regiments, with artillery under Col. A. J.
Gonzales, Captain Trezevant's company of cavalry, and the Charleston
Light Dragoons and the Rutledge Riflemen, were stationed in front of
Grahamville, to watch the landings from the Broad. Colonel Edwards'
regiment and Moore's light battery were at Coosawhatchie, Colonel
Dunovant's at Pocotaligo, and Colonel Jones', with Tripp's company of
cavalry, in front of the important landing at Port Royal ferry. Colonel
Martin, with part of his regiment of cavalry, was in observation at
the landings on Combahee, Ashepoo and Edisto rivers. The idea of this
disposition, made by Ripley immediately upon the fall of Forts Walker
and Beauregard, was to guard the railroad bridges, and keep the troops
in hand to be moved for concentration in case any definite point was
attacked.
On the 8th of November, the day after Port Royal was taken, Gen. Robert
E. Lee took command of the department of South Carolina and Georgia, by
order of the President of the Confederacy. It was evident to him that
the mouths of the rivers and the sea islands, except those immediately
surrounding the harbor of Charleston, could not be defended with the
guns and troops at his command, and, disappointing and distressing as
such a view was to the governor and especially to the island planters,
whose homes and estates must be abandoned and ruined, General Lee
prepared for the inevitable. He wrote to General Ripley, in Charleston,
to review the whole subject and suggest what changes should be made.
"I am in favor," he wrote, "of abandoning all exposed points as far as
possible within reach of the enemy's fleet of gunboats, and of taking
interior positions, where all can meet on more equal terms. All our
resources should be applied to those positions." Subsequently the
government at Richmond ordered General Lee, by telegraph, to withdraw
all his forces from the islands to the mainland. When the order
was carried out, it was done at a terrible sacrifice, to which the
planters and citizens yielded in patient and noble submission, turning
their backs upon their homes and their property with self-sacrificing
devotion to the cause of Southern independence. Never were men and
women subjected to a greater test of the depth and strength of their
sentiments, or put to a severer trial of their patriotism, than were
the planters and their families, who abandoned their houses and estates
along the coast of South Carolina, and retired as refugees into the
interior, all the men who were able entering the army.
At the time of the fall of Forts Walker and Beauregard, Charleston
harbor was defended by Forts Moultrie and Sumter, Castle Pinckney and
Fort Johnson, and by batteries on Sullivan's and Morris islands. All
these were to be strengthened, and the harbor made secure against
any attack in front. To prevent the occupation of James island, the
mouth of Stono river was defended by forts built on Cole's and Battery
islands, and a line of defensive works built across the island. No
attempt had been made to erect forts or batteries in defense of the
inlets of Worth or South Edisto, but the harbor of Georgetown was
protected by works unfinished on Cat and South islands, for twenty
guns, the heaviest of which were 32-pounders.
When General Lee took command, November 8th, he established his
headquarters at Coosawhatchie, and divided the line of defense into
five military districts, from east to west, as follows: The First,
from the North Carolina line to the South Santee, under Col. A. M.
Manigault, Tenth volunteers, with headquarters at Georgetown; the
Second, from the South Santee to the Stono, under Gen. R. S. Ripley,
with headquarters at Charleston; the Third, from the Stono to the
Ashepoo, under Gen. N. G. Evans, with headquarters at Adams' run;
the Fourth, from Ashepoo to Port Royal entrance, under Gen. J. C.
Pemberton, with headquarters at Coosawhatchie; the Fifth, the remainder
of the line to the Savannah river, under Gen. T. F. Drayton, with
headquarters at Hardeeville.
On the 27th of December, General Lee wrote to Governor Pickens that his
movable force for the defense of the State, not including the garrisons
of the forts at Georgetown and those of Moultrie, Sumter, Johnson,
Castle Pinckney and the works for the defense of the approaches through
Stono, Wappoo, etc., which could not be removed from their posts,
amounted to 10,036 Confederate troops--the Fourth brigade, South
Carolina militia, 1,531 strong; Colonel Martin's mounted regiment, 567
strong; two regiments from North Carolina, Clingman's and Radcliffe's;
two regiments from Tennessee, the Eighth and Sixteenth, and Colonel
Starke's Virginia regiment; the Tennesseeans and Virginians making a
brigade under Brigadier-General Donelson. The above, with four field
batteries, made up the force scattered from Charleston to the Savannah
river, and stationed along the line, on the mainland, in front of the
headquarters above named.
Nothing of great importance occurred for the remainder of the year
1861 along the coast of South Carolina, except the sinking of a
"stone fleet" of some twenty vessels across the main ship channel on
December 20th, in Charleston harbor. This was done by the order of the
United States government to assist the blockade of the port, and was
pronounced by General Lee as an "achievement unworthy of any nation."
On January 1, 1862, at Port Royal ferry, was demonstrated the ease
with which a large force could be placed on the mainland under the
protection of the fleet batteries. Brig.-Gen. Isaac Stevens landed a
brigade of 3,000 men for the purpose of capturing a supposed battery
of heavy guns, which, it was believed, the Confederates had built at
the head of the causeway leading to Port Royal ferry. Landing from
Chisolm's island, some distance east of the small earthwork, Col.
James Jones, Fourteenth volunteers, had promptly withdrawn the guns in
the earthwork, except a 12-pounder, which was overturned in a ditch.
Believing the movement to be an attack in force upon the railroad,
Colonel Jones disposed his regiment and a part of the Twelfth, under
Lieut.-Col. Dixon Barnes, with a section of Leake's battery, and 42
mounted men, under Major Oswald, for resisting the attack, forming his
line about a mile from the ferry. But there was no engagement. The
deserted earthwork was easily captured, and the 12-pounder gun righted
on its carriage and hauled off, under the constant bombardment of
the vessels in the Coosaw river. The opposing troops caught glimpses
of each other, and fired accordingly, but not much harm was done on
either side. Colonel Jones lost Lieut. J. A. Powers and 6 men killed
and 20 wounded by the fire of the gunboats, and Colonel Barnes, 1 man
killed and 4 wounded; 32 casualties. The Federal general reported 2 men
killed, 12 wounded and 1 captured. During the winter and early spring
the fleet was busy exploring the rivers, sounding the channels, and
landing reconnoitering parties on the various islands.
Edisto island was garrisoned early in February, and the commander, Col.
Henry Moore, Forty-seventh New York, wrote to the adjutant-general in
Washington, on the 15th, that he was within 25 miles of Charleston;
considered Edisto island "the great key" to that city, and with a
reinforcement of 10,000 men could "in less than three days be in
Charleston."
It will be noted in this connection that early in March, General Lee
was called to Richmond and placed in command of the armies of the
Confederacy, and General Pemberton, promoted to major-general, was
assigned to the department of South Carolina and Georgia. Major-General
Hunter, of the Federal army, had assumed command instead of General
Sherman, the last of March, and reported to his government, "about
17,000 troops scattered along the coast from St. Augustine, Fla., to
North Edisto inlet." Of these troops, 12,230 were on the South Carolina
coast--4,500 on Hilton Head island; 3,600 at Beaufort; 1,400 on Edisto,
and the rest at other points. The force on Edisto was advanced to the
northern part of the island, with a strong guard on Little Edisto,
which touches the mainland and is cut off from the large island by
Watts' cut and a creek running across its northern neck. Communication
with the large island from Little Edisto is by a bridge and causeway,
about the middle of the creek's course.
This being the situation, General Evans, commanding the Third district,
with headquarters at Adams' run, determined to capture the guard on
Little Edisto and make an armed reconnoissance on the main island. The
project was intrusted to Col. P. F. Stevens, commanding the Holcombe
legion, and was quite successfully executed. On the morning of March
29th, before day, Colonel Stevens, with his legion, Nelson's battalion,
and a company of cavalry, attacked and dispersed the picket at Watts
cut, crossed and landed on the main island west of the bridge, which
communicated with Little Edisto. Moving south into the island, he
detached Maj. F. G. Palmer, with seven companies, 260 men, to attack
the picket at the bridge, cross over to Little Edisto, burn the bridge
behind him, and capture the force thus cut off on Little Edisto, which
was believed to be at least two companies. Palmer carried the bridge
by a charge, and crossing over, left two of his staff, Rev. John D.
McCullough, chaplain of the legion, and Mr. Irwin, with Lieutenant
Bishop's company of the legion, to burn the bridge, and pushed on after
the retreating force. Day had broken, but a heavy fog obscured every
object, and the attack on the Federals was made at great disadvantage.
Palmer captured a lieutenant and 20 men and non-commissioned officers,
the remainder of the force escaping in the fog. Colonel Stevens marched
within sound of the long roll beating in the camps in the interior,
and taking a few prisoners, returned to the mainland by Watts' cut,
and Palmer crossed his command and prisoners over at the north end
of Little Edisto in a small boat, which could only carry five men at
a time, flats which were on the way to him having failed to arrive.
Several of the Federal soldiers were killed and wounded in this affair,
the Confederates having two slightly wounded. But for the dense fog the
entire force on Little Edisto would have been captured.
General Pemberton, on assuming command, executed General Lee's purpose
and ordered the removal of the guns from Fort Palmetto on Cole's
island, at the mouth of the Stono, and from the works at the mouth of
Georgetown harbor. Georgetown was then at the mercy of the fleet, but
there was no help for it, for Port Royal had shown that the guns which
the Confederates could command were practically inefficient against
the batteries of the fleet. For the rear defense of Charleston, James
island must be the battleground, and the forces on the mainland, along
the line of the Charleston & Savannah railroad, must depend upon
rapid concentration to resist an advance from any one of the numerous
landings in front of that line. The regiment of regular South Carolina
infantry, and the regiment of regular artillery, splendidly drilled as
gunners, and officered by accomplished soldiers, garrisoned the harbor
defenses, and Ripley's energy and high capacity were constantly exerted
to secure a perfect defense of the city of Charleston.
The troops on James island and on the line of railroad, as reported
April 30, 1862, present for duty, numbered 22,275, rank and file,
stationed as follows: In the First district, Col. R. F. Graham, 1,254;
Second district, Brigadier-General Ripley, 8,672; Third district,
Brigadier-General Evans, 5,400; Fourth district, Col. P. H. Colquitt,
1,582; Fifth district, Col. P. H. Colquitt, 2,222; Sixth district,
Brigadier-General Drayton, 3,145; total, 22,275.
The above statement includes infantry, artillery and cavalry. They were
all South Carolina troops except Phillips' Georgia legion (infantry),
Thornton's Virginia battery, and a company of Georgia cavalry, under
Capt. T. H. Johnson. Manigault's Tenth volunteers and Moragné's
Nineteenth, with the two Tennessee regiments under Brigadier-General
Donelson, had been sent to Corinth to reinforce Beauregard in the west,
and Dunovant's Twelfth, Edwards' Thirteenth, McGowan's Fourteenth (Col.
James Jones having resigned), and Orr's rifles had gone to the aid of
General Johnston in Virginia. Such was the situation in South Carolina
at the close of April, 1862.
CHAPTER III.
SOUTH CAROLINIANS IN VIRGINIA--BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG--ELTHAM'S
LANDING--SEVEN PINES AND FAIR OAKS--NINE-MILE ROAD--GAINES'
MILL--SAVAGE STATION--FRAYSER'S FARM--MALVERN HILL.
In Virginia, Gen. George B. McClellan had been placed in command of the
great army which he had fully organized, and his headquarters had been
established at Fort Monroe early in April, preparatory to his advance
upon Richmond by way of the James river and the peninsula. Gen. Joseph
E. Johnston commanded the Confederate army for the defense of Richmond,
with headquarters at Yorktown, April 17th. Holding Yorktown and the
line which ran across the peninsula to the Warwick, until the 4th of
May, Johnston retired from Williamsburg. His army, about 53,000 strong,
was opposed by McClellan's splendidly equipped and organized army,
estimated by General Johnston at 133,000. It was Johnston's intention
to fall back slowly on the defenses of Richmond, and then, being joined
by the division of Huger from Norfolk, and other reinforcements which
he expected the Confederate government would order to his army, to give
McClellan battle in front of those defenses on more equal terms.
Johnston's army at that time was composed of the divisions of Magruder
(commanded by D. R. Jones), Longstreet, D. H. Hill and G. W. Smith.
Magruder and Smith had passed beyond Williamsburg on the march to
Richmond, and Hill, encumbered with the trains and baggage, was
also moving beyond that point, on the afternoon of the 4th, when
Longstreet's rear guard was attacked, in front of Williamsburg, by the
Federal advance. This attack was met and checked by two brigades under
Brigadier-General McLaws (Semmes' and Kershaw's), with Manly's battery.
In this brief history, the writer is confined, by the plan of the work,
to the part taken in each action by the troops of South Carolina. The
grateful task of speaking of troops from other States is resigned with
the understanding that ample justice will be done them by writers who
have been selected to record the history of their courage, skill and
devotion as soldiers of the Confederacy.
In this affair of the afternoon of the 4th of May, Kershaw's brigade,
the Second, Third, Seventh and Eighth South Carolina, bore a part,
and though but little blood was spilled, the gallant conduct of the
brigade received the notice and commendation of General McLaws, who, in
reporting the action, said: "I call attention to the promptness with
which General Kershaw placed his men in the various positions assigned
him, and the readiness with which he seized on the advantage offered
by the ground as he advanced to the front.... His command obeyed
his orders with an alacrity and skill creditable to the gallant and
obedient soldiers composing it." The result of the combat was, that
McLaws checked the Federal advance, captured several prisoners, one
piece of artillery, three caissons, and disabled a battery, and lost
not exceeding 15 men killed, wounded and missing. A part of Stuart's
cavalry was also engaged, and that officer complimented the conduct
of the Hampton legion cavalry in high terms, for "a brilliant dash
upon the enemy's cavalry in front of Fort Magruder.... Disinterested
officers, spectators, speak in the most glowing terms of that portion
of my brigade."
It was evident to General Johnston that the safety of his trains
required that a more decided opposition be offered to the Federal
advance, and Longstreet's division was put in position to meet it on
the following morning. The battle which followed, accordingly, on the
5th, fulfilled the general's expectations, and was a bloody engagement,
continuing at intervals from early morning until near dark, the two
divisions (Longstreet's under Anderson and D. H. Hill's) repelling
the assaults of thirty-three regiments of infantry, six batteries of
artillery, and three regiments of cavalry.
The battle in front of Williamsburg was fought in terrible weather,
the whole country flooded by the rains, the roads almost impassable
for artillery, and the troops "wading in mud and slush," as General
Hill expressed it. On the morning of the 5th, Longstreet held the forts
and line in front of Williamsburg. Anderson's South Carolina brigade,
commanded by Col. Micah Jenkins, was stationed in Fort Magruder, and in
the redoubts and breastworks to the right and left of the fort. This
brigade was composed of the Palmetto sharpshooters, Lieut.-Col. Joseph
Walker; Fourth battalion, Maj. C. S. Mattison; Fifth, Col. John R.
Giles, and Sixth, Col. John Bratton, Lieut.-Col. J. M. Steedman.
The position at Fort Magruder was the center of Longstreet's line
and was the point at which the battle opened at 6 o'clock in the
morning. Major Mattison, commanding the pickets in front of Fort
Magruder, was sharply engaged, and being reinforced by a battalion of
the sharpshooters, had quite a picket battle before retiring to the
fort. The attack on Fort Magruder and on the redoubts and breastworks
to the right and left of it, was at once opened with artillery and
infantry, and the superiority of the Federal artillery and small-arms
put Jenkins' command at great disadvantage. But the artillery in
the fort and the redoubts was so well directed, the gallant gunners
stood so heroically to their guns, and were so firmly supported by
the Carolina infantry, that the Federal columns could not assault the
line, and were driven back and compelled by noon to change the point
of attack further to the Confederate left. Meanwhile, Longstreet was
assailing the Federal left, and gaining ground with the remainder of
his division, supported by reinforcements from Hill's, called back from
their march beyond Williamsburg. In the afternoon, General Hill brought
his whole division on the field, and reinforcing the center, commanded
by Anderson, and leading the left in person, a final advance was made
which ended the fighting by sunset, the Confederates occupying the
field, the Federals being repulsed from right to left.
In the defense of the center and left, Anderson's brigade, under
Jenkins, bore a conspicuous part. In Fort Magruder, the Richmond
howitzers and the Fayette artillery lost so many men by the fire of
the enemy, that details were made by Colonel Jenkins from the infantry
to relieve the men at the guns. By concentrating the artillery fire
on particular batteries in succession, and by volley firing at the
gunners, Jenkins compelled his assailants to shift their positions,
while the regiments of Bratton, Giles, Walker and Mattison poured their
well-directed fire into the threatening columns of Federal infantry.
At an important period of the battle on the right, when the Federal
left had been driven back and was exposed to the full fire of Fort
Magruder, every gun was turned upon it. In the afternoon, and just
before D. H. Hill's attack on his right, the Federal commander had
gained a position almost turning the Confederate left. At this critical
juncture, the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth South Carolina regiments,
with the Fourteenth Alabama, Major Royston, splendidly supported by
Dearing's and Stribling's batteries, and three guns under Lieutenant
Fortier, met the movement with firmness, and, aided by the fire from
Fort Magruder, checked and repulsed the Federal right, and held the
Confederate left intact.
General McClellan claimed a great victory at Williamsburg, basing his
claim upon the occupation of the town the next day, the capture of
300 prisoners and 1,000 wounded, and five guns. But the fact is, that
the battle was fought by General Johnston with two divisions of his
army, for no other purpose than to secure his trains and make good his
retreat upon Richmond, and this he accomplished. The divisions that
fought the battle slept on the field, and left their positions without
molestation on the morning of the 6th. Johnston marched only 12 miles
on the 6th, and was not pursued. Four hundred wounded were left at
Williamsburg because he had no ambulances, and the wagons were out of
reach on the march toward Richmond. Four hundred prisoners, several
stand of colors, and cannon were taken, and the Confederate loss, 1,560
killed and wounded, was only two-thirds that of the Federals.[A] With
these facts before us, Williamsburg cannot be considered a victory for
General McClellan.
[Footnote A: The loss of Jenkins' brigade was 10 killed and 75 wounded
(including Lieut. W. J. Campbell, mortally).]
Regarding the morale of the Confederate army at this period,
a distinguished commander of one of its divisions wrote: "Our
revolutionary sires did not suffer more at Valley Forge than did our
army at Yorktown, and in the retreat from it. Notwithstanding the
rain, cold, mud, hunger, watching and fatigue, I never heard a murmur,
nor witnessed a single act of insubordination. The want of discipline
manifested itself only in straggling, which is the curse of our army."
The security of General Johnston's march toward Richmond was seriously
threatened on the second day after the battle at Williamsburg, May 7th.
The menace came from the direction of Eltham's landing, at the head
of the York, where General McClellan was disembarking several of the
divisions of his army. Franklin's division had landed, and was in line
of battle well in front and covering the disembarkation of the other
divisions. In this position, Franklin's advance was within 3 miles of
Johnston's line of march, and his trains and artillery were in danger.
Gen. G. W. Smith's division, under Whiting, was halted at Barhamsville
(West Point) until the rest of the army had passed, and had been kept
fully apprised of the Federal position between Barhamsville and the
river. To keep the enemy back until the army had passed this point,
General Smith ordered Whiting's division to move out toward the river
and attack and drive back the Federal line. The attack was made by
Hood's Texas brigade and two commands of Hampton's brigade, with S. D.
Lee's artillery. The troops engaged on the Federal side composed the
division of Franklin.
It was a spirited affair, the Hampton legion infantry, commanded by
Lieut.-Col. J. B. Griffin and Maj. James Conner, and the Nineteenth
Georgia, Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson, vying with Hood's gallant Texans
in the steady advance. The Federals were driven back to the river line
and held their position firmly, and the guns of the fleet being opened
on the Confederates, Hood and Hampton withdrew their supports and
resumed the march that night toward New Kent Court House. Hood lost 8
killed and 28 wounded, and Hampton, 12 wounded. Forty-six prisoners
were taken. The reported loss of General Franklin was, killed 48,
wounded 110, captured 28; total 186.
After the affair, General Franklin reported it a success for his
division, and concluded by congratulating himself that he had
maintained his position. Hampton, in his report, complimented the
officers and men of the legion, and of the Nineteenth Georgia, and
mentioned particularly Lieutenant-Colonel Griffin, commanding his
infantry battalion, Major Conner, in command of skirmishers, and
Maj. Stephen D. Lee, commanding his artillery. In this affair the
Confederates had five regiments and a battery actually engaged, and
a brigade in support (but not engaged) on each flank. The return of
casualties by the Federal record shows losses in six regiments, and a
battery. The affair occurred for the most part in the woods east and
west of the road leading from Barhamsville to Eltham's landing, and
within range of the guns of the vessels in York river.
Arriving before the defenses of Richmond, General Johnston encamped
his army north and east of the city, with grand guards well out on the
roads leading from Richmond to the crossing of the Chickahominy, and in
the direction of the landings on the James. His cavalry, under Stuart,
was immediately in observation of the troops of Franklin at Eltham,
and of General McClellan's main advance from Williamsburg. The Federal
army moved up the peninsula by the roads leading to White House, on the
Pamunkey, and thence, on the north side of the Chickahominy, as far
as Mechanicsville. All the bridges, including the York river railroad
bridge crossing the Chickahominy, had been destroyed, and Johnston's
army was south of that stream. By the 20th of May, McClellan had
seized the crossings of the Chickahominy from Bottom's bridge up to
Meadow bridge, the latter point being immediately north of Richmond,
and within 5 miles of the defenses of the city. His left, at Bottom's
bridge, was about 12 miles in a direct line from the city's limits. The
general direction of the Chickahominy is from northwest to southeast,
between these points. By the 26th of May, the Third and Fourth corps
of the Federal army, under Generals Heintzelman and Keyes, had crossed
at Bottom's bridge, and by the 30th, the latter corps had intrenched
itself on the Richmond side of Seven Pines and Fair Oaks station, with
its right refused toward the Chickahominy swamp. The other corps of the
Federal army were north of the Chickahominy, opposite bridges which had
been constructed for their convenience in crossing. Heintzelman's corps
was in the vicinity of Bottom's bridge. There had been incessant rains,
and the whole country was flooded with water and the roads almost
impassable for artillery.
On the 30th of May, General Johnston determined to attack Keyes
on the 31st at Seven Pines, and crush his corps before it could be
reinforced from the north of the Chickahominy or to any extent by
Heintzelman from Bottom's bridge. To understand his plan of attack,
it will be necessary to explain the situation more minutely. Seven
Pines and Fair Oaks are about a mile apart, and distant from Richmond
about 7½ and 7 miles. Fair Oaks is on the railroad, and Seven Pines
on the Williamsburg road. Two roads which figure in this account, and
the railroad, run east from Richmond practically parallel for 5 miles,
the Nine-mile road to the north, below it the railroad, and further
south the Williamsburg road. At Old Tavern, 5 miles from Richmond, the
Nine-mile road turns southeast, crosses the railroad at Fair Oaks,
and joins the Williamsburg road at Seven Pines. About 2 miles from
Richmond, on the Williamsburg road, the Charles City road turns off
to the southeast. White Oak swamp lies between Seven Pines and the
Charles City road. To strike the corps at Seven Pines, the direct road
would be the Williamsburg road, with the Charles City road running to
the Federal left. To strike him at Fair Oaks, the direct road would be
the railroad, with the Nine-mile road coming to the same point (Fair
Oaks) from Old Tavern, and affording good points from which to turn the
Federal right.
Johnston's plan of attack was admirably considered. D. H. Hill's
division was to attack at Seven Pines by the Williamsburg road;
Brig.-Gen. Benjamin Huger's division was to attack the left flank by
the Charles City road; Longstreet's division was to attack at Fair
Oaks by the Nine-mile road, and W. H. C. Whiting's division was to
support the whole by guarding the Confederate left and watching against
reinforcements coming from the north side of the Chickahominy. The
plan was perfect, but it was not executed, except in one particular;
the attack assigned to D. H. Hill was a splendid achievement, and won
the main success of the day, May 31st. In securing that success, the
brigade of R. H. Anderson bore a most conspicuous part, and to describe
its operations is now the writer's duty.
The battle, which had been ordered to begin at an early hour in the
morning, was not opened until Hill led his splendid division to the
attack at 1 p. m. The four brigades of the division, Rodes and Rains
on the south of the road, and Garland and G. B. Anderson on the north
side, with Bondurant's and Carter's batteries, had beaten Casey's
Federal divisions with its supports, driven them back on the Federal
second line, at Seven Pines, captured eight guns, and was now attacking
the Federal line intrenched right and left across the Williamsburg
road, at Seven Pines, running toward Fair Oaks. Pressing his attack
on this position in front, and on the Federal left, Hill sent back
for another brigade to co-operate in the attack, by moving along the
railroad on his left and striking at the Federal right and rear. "In
a few moments," says General Hill, "the magnificent brigade of R. H.
Anderson came to my support," and being ordered by Hill immediately
on his extreme left, it began its effective operations. General Hill
ordered Colonel Jenkins, with the Palmetto sharpshooters and the Sixth
South Carolina, Colonel Bratton, to march through the woods beyond his
extreme left to the railroad, move down it toward the Federal right
flank at Seven Pines, and strike at the rear of that position, while
the rest of Anderson's brigade attacked on the immediate left of Hill,
between Casey's captured line and the railroad, Anderson directing
his own and Jenkins' movements. The sequel will show how remarkably
well these battlefield orders were carried out. Jenkins, with his
own and Bratton's regiment, and the Twenty-seventh Georgia, from one
of Hill's left brigades, formed line of attack in the woods, facing
northeast, and gallantly moved against a portion of General Couch's
division posted there. General Anderson, with the Fourth and Fifth
South Carolina, under Major Mattison and Colonel Giles, on the right of
Jenkins and on the immediate left of Hill's attacking troops, formed
his line in the same wood facing with Jenkins' line, but some distance
from it, and, supported by artillery fire from Hill's line, attacked
in his front a portion of General Naglee's troops. Both attacks were
successful and Couch's and Naglee's troops were beaten. Reaching the
railroad, Jenkins halted and dressed his line, the Twenty-seventh
Georgia being now recalled. Meeting General Anderson at the railroad,
Colonel Jenkins was directed by him to move on. The sharpshooters and
the Sixth marched ahead, fighting, and penetrated the Federal line,
cutting off a part of those troops from Seven Pines. Changing front
forward on his right, Colonel Jenkins, with his two regiments, now
facing southwest, attacked the right of the position at Seven Pines
on Hill's extreme left. "At this point," he reports, "the enemy,
heavily reinforced, made a desperate stand and the fighting was within
75 yards." Pushing on, the Federals slowly gave ground, and the two
regiments kept in close support and perfect order. Fighting forward and
to his right, Jenkins reached the Williamsburg road, the Federal forces
in his front falling back and taking position in the woods south of
it, while the two South Carolina regiments formed in line in the road,
facing south. The little brigade was now in a most critical position,
in advance of Hill's line, with the foe in front, and troops coming up
the Williamsburg road to attack his left.
Colonel Jenkins determined, as he says in his report, "to break the
enemy in front before I could be reached by this new advance [coming up
the Williamsburg road on his left], and then by a change of front to
meet them." This was handsomely done, and sending two companies of the
Sharpshooters, Kilpatrick's and Martin's, under Maj. William Anderson,
to attack and check the Federal advance, the two regiments were formed
across the road, facing south, while Jenkins' adjutant, Captain
Seabrook, hurried back for reinforcements. General Anderson, who had
led the Fourth and Fifth forward on Hill's left in the general attack,
sent the Fifth to Jenkins, under Lieut.-Col. A. Jackson, the gallant
Colonel Giles having been killed; and the Twenty-seventh Georgia was
also sent forward to him by General Hill. Before his reinforcements
reached him, the Federal advance was so near that their commands and
cheers could be heard, and the two regiments had been advanced to
within 100 yards of them. The Twenty-seventh Georgia was the first to
come up, and being placed on the right, the Sharpshooters in the center
and the Sixth (Lieutenant-Colonel Steedman commanding, Colonel Bratton
being wounded) on the left, Jenkins boldly advanced to meet his foe.
"The two commands neared each other, to 30 or 40 yards," says Colonel
Jenkins, describing this struggle. "Losing heavily, I pressed on, and
the enemy sullenly and slowly gave way, leaving the ground carpeted
with dead and dying." By this time the Fifth South Carolina volunteers
came up at the double-quick. The Twenty-seventh Georgia (which had been
repulsed) rallied and came forward on the right. Jackson came up on the
right of the Georgians, "sweeping before him the rallied fragments who
had collected and resumed fire from the woods to the right, and thus,
at 7:40 p. m., we closed our busy day." A day of splendid achievement!
In his fighting and maneuvering, Colonel Jenkins had advanced on the
arc of a circle for more than 2 miles, fighting first northeast, then
east, then southeast, then due south, and lastly east. "We passed," he
said, "through two abatis of fallen timber, over four camps, and over
artillery twice, driving the enemy from three pieces. We never fought
twice in the same place, nor five minutes in one place, and, steadily
on the advance, were under fire from 3 p. m. to 7:40 p. m." Gen. G.
W. Smith, in his exhaustive and able book on the battles of Seven
Pines and Fair Oaks, makes the following comment on this remarkable
achievement: "It is believed that the annals of war show few, if any,
instances of more persistent, skillful and effective 'battlefield
fighting,' than was done by the South Carolina regiments, under Colonel
Jenkins, on the afternoon of May 31st." The losses were heavy, as might
be expected, but unhappily there is no official report of them. Colonel
Bratton, after the war, reported to General Smith that the Sixth lost
269 killed and wounded, out of 521 taken into the action. The loss of
the Sharpshooters must have been fully as large. Speaking generally of
his losses, Colonel Jenkins says: "In my two color companies, out of 80
men who entered, 40 were killed and wounded, and out of 11 in the color
guard, 10 were shot down. My colors, pierced by nine balls, passed
through four hands without touching the ground." Capt. J. Q. Carpenter,
commanding the color company, lost 16 out of 28, "and ever in their
front, the fatal ball pierced his heart, when he turned to his company
and said, 'Boys, I am killed, but you press on.'"
While the battle of Seven Pines was in progress, General McClellan at
2 p. m. had ordered General Sumner's corps to cross the Chickahominy
and go to the assistance of the Federal forces now being driven by
Hill's division and R. H. Anderson's brigade. In the first advance
of Jenkins, it will be recalled that he cut through General Couch's
forces, dividing them and leaving a part in rear of his left flank.
This force was composed of four regiments and a battery of artillery,
which retreated beyond (north of) Fair Oaks, and with the brigade of
Abercrombie, stationed at Fair Oaks, took up a defensive line at the
Adams house, facing Fair Oaks. This line was commanded by General Couch
in person. In this position, Couch was on the left flank and rear of
Hill's battle and in place to be reinforced by Sumner, who came to his
support in time to save him from destruction by the attack of that
portion of General Johnston's army, under General Johnston's immediate
direction, whose headquarters were at Old Tavern, about 2 miles from
Fair Oaks. Anxious for the safety of the Confederate left, and fearing
that it might be attacked by forces from the north of the Chickahominy,
General Johnston had ordered the brigades of Whiting, Hood, Pettigrew,
Hatton and Hampton, under Whiting, at about 4 p. m., to march by Fair
Oaks to attack the Federal right and rear. The head of these troops
(Whiting's brigade), reaching Fair Oaks, were fired upon by Couch's
battery at the Adams house, and by his advanced pickets. A halt was
made to take the battery, and to drive the Federal infantry out of
reach of the road, when followed the battle of Fair Oaks, the effort of
which was to keep Sumner and Couch from the field at Seven Pines, and
leave Hill's division and Anderson's brigade masters of the battle in
that quarter. But this was the main effect of the Confederate attack
at Fair Oaks, for the battery was not taken, and Couch, reinforced by
at least a strong division from Sumner's advance, with artillery, held
his position against the assaults of Whiting, Pettigrew, Hatton and
Hampton. The latter commanded the only South Carolinians who were in
the engagement at Fair Oaks, the infantry of his legion.
There is no report from General Hampton, but the reports of Generals
Johnston and G. W. Smith define his position in the affair on the left
of the Confederate attack. General Smith says, that as the musketry
fire of Whiting, Pettigrew and Hampton rapidly increased, opening the
attack on Couch, he rode into the woods where the troops were engaged,
and learned from Col. S. D. Lee, of the artillery, that "General
Hampton had driven the enemy some distance through the woods, but that
they were being rapidly reinforced [by Sumner], held a strong position,
and extended beyond Hampton's left. The firing indicated that Whiting
and Pettigrew were being fully occupied by the enemy in their immediate
front." Hatton coming up, he was put in immediately between Hampton and
Pettigrew, and Gen. G. W. Smith ordered the line forward to carry the
Federal position. The woods were dense, the undergrowth thick, and the
smoke so great that officers leading their troops could not see "more
than a limited number of their men at any one time." General Smith
continues: "Various attempts were made to charge the enemy, but without
that concert of action necessary to success.... On no part of the line
where I was, did the enemy at any time leave their cover or advance one
single foot. Our troops held their position close to the enemy's line
until it was too dark to distinguish friend from foe." The attack had
been in progress for nearly two hours when darkness put an end to it.
The gallant Hatton was killed, and that noble and accomplished soldier,
Pettigrew, had fallen, badly wounded, so near the Federal line that
he was made prisoner. Brig.-Gen. Wade Hampton was seriously wounded,
but kept his horse, had the ball extracted by Surg. E. S. Gaillard on
the field, and refused to leave his troops. In this affair, Whiting's
brigade (commanded by Col. E. M. Law) lost in killed, wounded and
missing, 356; Pettigrew's, 341; Hampton's, 329; and Hatton's, 244;
total, 1,270. The Hampton legion infantry, General Smith reported,
suffered a greater loss by far in proportion to its numbers than any
other regiment of the division, being 21 killed and 120 wounded out of
350. These numbers were furnished by Surg. John T. Darby, acting chief
surgeon of Whiting's division.
Near the close of the action, General Johnston was unhorsed and
seriously wounded by a fragment of shell, and the command of the
Confederate army devolved upon Maj.-Gen. G. W. Smith, next in rank, who
was succeeded by Gen. R. E. Lee on the following day.
On June 18th a reconnoissance was made on the Nine-mile road by Gen.
J. B. Kershaw, with two regiments of his South Carolina brigade, the
Second, Col. J. D. Kennedy, and the Third, Col. J. D. Nance. With the
Second on the left and the Third on the right of the road, the front
covered by four companies deployed as skirmishers, under Captain
Cuthbert, and two companies under Maj. W. D. Rutherford, Kershaw
advanced. The skirmishers were soon engaged, and those of the Federal
force were driven back on the supports. The two regiments advanced to
within 70 yards of the Federal line, developed his position, forces,
etc., and then Kershaw withdrew to camp. In this affair, Kershaw lost
1 killed and 11 wounded, among the latter Capt. G. B. Cuthbert, of the
Second, and Capt. F. N. Walker, of the Third. Private W. H. Thompson,
Company E, was killed, and "the gallant Sergt. H. D. Hanahan," of the
Second, lost a leg.
The situation of the Federal army at this time (toward the close of
June) determined General Lee to take the aggressive. The center and
left of General McClellan were south of the Chickahominy, strongly
intrenched and covered by the cutting of trees in the dense forests.
The extreme left rested on White Oak swamp, and the right of the center
on the Chickahominy at New bridge. The Federal right, under Fitz John
Porter, was well and strongly posted behind Beaver Dam creek, north
of the Chickahominy, with a grand guard at Mechanicsville in front,
and outposts still beyond, guarding the crossing. General Lee's
determination was to attack this right and separated wing with three of
his divisions, calling Jackson's corps to co-operate. Jackson's march,
from his victorious campaign in the valley, was so directed that he
was expected to be at Ashland, 15 miles north of Richmond, on the 24th
of June. From Ashland a march of 15 miles, toward Cold Harbor, would
place his corps on the right flank and rear of the Federal position at
Beaver Dam, while A. P. Hill, D. H. Hill and Longstreet, with their
divisions, crossing the river at Mechanicsville, should carry that
place and the strong position at Beaver Dam.
The morning of the 26th (Thursday) was fixed by Lee for this concerted
movement against McClellan's right wing. But Jackson did not reach
Ashland until the night of the 25th, his march having been delayed
by obstructions put in his way by the Federal outposts, many bridges
being burned over streams crossing his march. It was after sunrise on
the 26th before Jackson left Ashland. He marched past the right flank
of the Federal position, at Beaver Dam, and went into camp 3 miles
in the rear of that flank, at Hundley's corner, in the evening. In
consequence, the bloody battle fought on the 26th, along Beaver Dam,
by the gallant division of A. P. Hill and Ripley's brigade of D. H.
Hill's division, was fought without Jackson's assistance. The Federal
position behind Beaver Dam was heroically assailed; but it was too
strong to be carried by Hill and Ripley, who suffered heavy losses.
With Ripley was Capt. A. Burnet Rhett's South Carolina battery, who
built a bridge, crossed the creek and, pushing up close to the enemy,
were in action until 10 o'clock at night, losing 11 wounded. They were
particularly complimented by A. P. Hill. With A. P. Hill were the South
Carolina batteries of Capts. W. K. Bachman and D. G. McIntosh, the
latter of which (Pee Dee artillery) probably fired the first gun at
Mechanicsville, and fired 160 rounds from each gun before night stopped
the fight. The brigade of General Gregg did not become actively engaged
on the 26th.
The position of Jackson, on the right and rear, and the divisions of D.
H. Hill and Longstreet in front, all fresh and ready for attack in the
early morning of the 27th, made the position of General Porter behind
Beaver Dam untenable, and he promptly retreated and took up a strong
position 3 miles further down the river.
On Friday morning (27th), A. P. Hill was ordered forward toward
Gaines' mill, the South Carolinians in advance. Gregg formed a line of
battle with the First volunteers, Col. D. H. Hamilton, and the Twelfth,
Col. Dixon Barnes, with skirmishers thrown out under Captains Cordero
and Miller; and the Thirteenth, Col. O. E. Edwards, and First Rifles,
Col. J. Foster Marshall, and Crenshaw's battery in support. They moved
forward across the creek, and through the discarded accouterments and
burning stores of the enemy, until coming out in an open, Cordero's
company was fired upon by artillery in front and Lieutenant Heise was
wounded. This apparently hostile force, according to the report of
General Gregg, proved to be Stonewall Jackson's command, with which
communication was at once opened. After a conference between Hill
and Jackson, Gregg marched on, and presently was stopped by General
Lee, who gave him further instructions. Longstreet, soon afterward,
informed Gregg that he was moving on a parallel road to the right.
The skirmishers became briskly engaged at Gaines' mill, but Gregg
soon ordered them forward at double-quick, and they gallantly drove
the Federal skirmishers before them. The brigade followed and bridged
Powhite creek. Hill reported of the crossing of the Powhite: "His
whole brigade being over, he made the handsomest charge in line I have
seen during the war." Gregg continued his advance, part of the time at
double-quick and with continual skirmish firing, descended the hollow
beyond Cold Harbor, driving out the enemy, and formed in line of battle
on the hillside beyond. He found the enemy above him and desired to
attack, but being refused, lay in position until 4 p. m., the artillery
firing going on overhead.
General Lee thus describes Porter's position, at which the battle of
Gaines' Mill, or Cold Harbor, was fought on the afternoon and evening
of the 27th of June:
He occupied a range of hills resting in the vicinity of the McGehee
house and his left near that of Dr. Gaines, on a wooded bluff,
which rose abruptly from a deep ravine. The ravine was filled with
sharpshooters, to whom its banks gave great protection. A second line
of infantry was stationed on the side of the hill behind a breastwork
of trees above the first; a third occupied the crest, strengthened
with rifle trenches and crowned with artillery. The approach to this
position was over an open plain, about a quarter of a mile wide,
commanded by this triple line of fire and swept by the heavy batteries
south of the Chickahominy. In front of his center and right the ground
was generally open, bounded on the side of our approach by a wood,
with dense and tangled undergrowth and traversed by a sluggish stream
which converted the soil into a deep morass.
Old Cold Harbor was in front of the Federal right, and Gaines' mill in
front of his right center, the length of his line being about 2 miles
and running in a curve from the "wooded bluff" on his left to a swamp
on his right. The attack on this position was made by two roads running
parallel with the Chickahominy, one going to the Federal left, and the
other by Gaines' mill, opposite his right center. Longstreet attacked
on the former, and A. P. Hill on the latter, D. H. Hill and Jackson
attacking from the direction of the Federal front and right. At 4 p.
m. A. P. Hill ordered his whole division forward, and the desperate
struggle began, in which every inch of ground was to be won by a great
sacrifice of life, and to be disputed with heroic firmness. Gregg, who
was first engaged, fought his way through the tangled wood and the
boggy morass to the foot of the main position, when, confronted by a
determined and unfaltering resistance, and his lines torn by artillery
from the crest in front and by a battery on his right flank, he could
make no further progress. Marshall was ordered to take the battery on
the right, and advanced gallantly, Perrin's, Joseph Norton's, Miller's
and Miles Norton's companies in front, under Lieutenant-Colonel
Ledbetter. The battery was withdrawn, but its support in the woods,
composed of a strong body of troops, among them the New York Zouaves,
held the ground in a fierce combat. The Zouaves attacking on the left
flank, Lieutenant Higgins promptly assembled 30 riflemen, and held
them in check. The attack being pressed anew, the regiment, having
lost 81 killed and 234 wounded out of 537, and being unsupported, was
forced to retire to its former position. But Marshall's gallant charge
and contest had driven off the battery, and Gregg ordered the First,
Twelfth and Thirteenth forward again. The struggle for the crest was
renewed with heroic zeal and courage, and met with splendid firmness,
driving Gregg back a second time. A third advance was ordered, and now
the Fourteenth, Col. Samuel McGowan, being by Gregg's request relieved
from outpost duty, was conducted by his aide, Capt. Harry Hammond, to
his right flank. Passing through Crenshaw's guns, McGowan's men moved
right forward, supported by the other shattered regiments of Gregg's
brigade. "Tired as they were," says Gregg, "by two days and nights of
outpost duty, and by a rapid march under a burning sun, they advanced
with a cheer and at a double-quick. Leading his regiment to the right
of the Thirteenth and across the hollow, Colonel McGowan arrived just
in time to repulse the advance of the enemy and prevent them from
establishing a battery on the brow of the hill." With varying success,
backward and forward, Gregg struggled to gain and pierce the Federal
line, but not until the final and united charge of Lee's whole line
was made at 7 o'clock, and when Hood had gained the "wooded bluff" and
turned the Federal left, did the Confederate commands mount the whole
line of defense and drive its heroic defenders from the field.
Gregg lost 829 (estimated) killed and wounded. The severest losses in
the brigade fell on the Rifles, the Fourteenth and the Twelfth. The
Rifles lost 319, the Fourteenth, 291, and the Twelfth, 155. At one
time every one of the color-guards of the First volunteers was shot
down around Colonel Hamilton, who took the colors. The color-bearer,
Sergeant Taylor, fell with the colors in his grasp, as he was planting
them forward of the line, and Corporal Hayne, seeing Colonel Hamilton
take the flag, seized it, and gallantly going forward, fell mortally
wounded. Private Spillman, of Company K, then took the flag and
carried it to the final charge in triumph to victory. He was promoted
color-bearer on the field for gallant conduct. Among the lamented
dead of the First was the gallant and accomplished Lieut.-Col. A. M.
Smith, who left a sick bed to take his place in his country's service.
In the Twelfth, Colonel Barnes was wounded, but did not leave the
field. Lieut. J. W. Delaney, commanding Company B, was killed in the
first assault; Captain Vallandingham lost a leg, and Captains Miller,
McMeekin and Bookter were wounded. In the Thirteenth, which was mainly
in support, the loss was not so heavy, 8 killed and 40 wounded. In the
Fourteenth, Colonel McGowan and Maj. W. J. Carter were wounded, as were
also Captains Brown, Taggart and Edward Croft, and Lieutenants Brunson,
O. W. Allen, Stevens, McCarley, Dorrah and Carter; and the gallant
Lieut. O. C. Plunkett, Company H, was killed on the field. The First
Rifles (known as Orr's Rifles) suffered terribly. Its gallant adjutant,
J. B. Sloan, Captains Hawthorne and Hennegan, Lieutenants Brown and
McFall, and Sergeant-Major McGee died heroically leading in Marshall's
charge. In Gregg's battle, a section of Capt. D. G. Mcintosh's battery
was called into action late in the afternoon, too late to take an
active part in the battle, as the enemy's artillery in front had been
silenced, or had retired. He lost 1 man killed and 2 wounded, and 5
horses killed.
The other South Carolina troops at the battle of Gaines' Mill were with
Hood and Longstreet. The brigades of Hood and Law composed Whiting's
gallant division, which had marched from Ashland as the advance of
Jackson's corps. They went into battle in the late afternoon, after A.
P. Hill had been fighting for two hours.[B] With Hood was the Hampton
legion infantry, under Lieut.-Col. M. W. Gary, and with Longstreet was
R. H. Anderson's South Carolina brigade. These troops had the honor of
taking part in Longstreet's and Whiting's final charge along the front
and flank of the Federal left, and were among the first to gain the
coveted crest and pierce and turn his flank, capture his artillery and
decide the day.
[Footnote B: While waiting for Jackson, Lee ordered Longstreet to make
a feint on the right, which became an assault, Whiting coming up in
time to join on Longstreet's left.]
Hood moved to the final assault with Hampton's legion on his left.
On the left of the legion was Law's splendid brigade. Immediately on
Hood's right was Pickett's brigade, and in support of Pickett the
brigades of Wilcox, Pryor and Featherston. Thus, in the decisive
charge, ordered by General Lee all along the battle line, they were
hurled against and around the "wooded bluff" on the Federal left. In
this grand assault, R. H. Anderson's brigade was divided, part of it
supporting Pickett and part Wilcox. The writer regrets that neither
General Anderson nor any one of his regimental commanders has a report
of the battle on file. The same is true of the Hampton legion, Colonel
Gary.
General Hood reports that he ordered the legion "to gain the crest of
the hill in the woods and hold it, which they did." General Longstreet,
reporting the action of his brigade, refers specially to the gallantry
of General Anderson and Colonel Jenkins, these officers commanding the
separated parts of the brigade of Anderson. In the official returns,
the loss of Anderson at Gaines' Mill and Glendale (Frayser's Farm) is
given in total at 787. The losses of the Fourth, Fifth and Palmetto
sharpshooters at Gaines' Mill are reported as 173. The losses of the
Second Rifles and Sixth South Carolina at this battle are not given
separately from Glendale. Hood reports the legion's loss at only 20.
Anderson's and Gary's losses at Gaines' Mill could not have been more
than 350, which was less than a half of Gregg's loss. Anderson and Gary
were only engaged in the last attack, and Gregg was fighting from the
opening of the battle to its close, with a short rest in the afternoon.
Referring to the gallant conduct of officers as well as soldiers,
General Longstreet remarks in his report upon the battle of Gaines'
Mill, that "there was more individual gallantry displayed on this
field than any I have seen." General Whiting, in closing his report,
pays the same tribute to a number of soldiers, and especially remarks
upon the conduct of Maj. John Haskell, of D. R. Jones' staff, who had
volunteered to carry information of the Federal movements to General
Lee, as they were observed from the south side of the Chickahominy,
and acted on General Longstreet's staff, as a volunteer aide. General
Whiting says:
Though not on my staff, I should not do right were I not to mention
here the chivalrous daring of young Major Haskell, of South Carolina.
His personal bearing in a most deadly fire, his example and directions
contributed not a little to the enthusiasm of the charge of the Third
brigade. I regret to say that the brave young officer received a
terrible wound from a shell (losing his right arm), but walked from
the field as heroically as he had gone into the fire.
The South Carolina batteries were more fortunate in their losses than
the infantry commands. Rhett, whose horse was shot under him, lost
2 wounded at Gaines' Mill; Bachman's battery (German Artillery) and
McIntosh's, only a few men each. The nature upon the ground was not
favorable to the Confederate artillery, and the batteries engaged under
great disadvantage.
Under cover of night, following the 27th, General Porter made good his
retreat by the bridges he had built across the Chickahominy, passing in
rear of McClellan's fortified line on the south side, and destroying
his bridges behind him. His defense was beyond criticism. Reinforced
from the south side by Slocum's division, he saved the army of
McClellan by inflicting a heavy blow on the victorious columns of Lee,
and by his able retreat at night. The timely arrival of two brigades,
coming up just as Porter's line was carried, covered his retreat
and successfully checked the disordered pursuit of the victorious
Confederates.
General McClellan does not estimate his loss in this battle separately
from those which immediately followed, but acknowledges the loss of
twenty-two pieces of artillery. Over 5,000 prisoners were taken by the
Confederates, and thousands of arms gathered from the fields and the
short line of Porter's retreat to the river.
McClellan's rear guard, Sumner's corps, and Smith's division of
Franklin's corps, made a stand on the 29th at Savage Station, covering
the crossing of White Oak swamp against Magruder's corps. The South
Carolina troops with Magruder were the brigade of General Kershaw and
Capt. James F. Hart's Washington artillery. Hart's battery was with D.
R. Jones' division. The Second, Col. John D. Kennedy; Third, Col. James
D. Nance; Seventh, Col. D. Wyatt Aiken, and the Eighth, Col. John W.
Henagan, with Kemper's battery, composed Kershaw's brigade of McLaws'
division.
Early in the morning of the 29th (Sunday), Kershaw was ordered to
advance on the Nine-mile road and develop the Federal position.
Kennedy, covered by a line of skirmishers under Maj. F. Gaillard, made
the advance and found the enemy beyond Fair Oaks, at Allen's farm. The
skirmishing became general and the enemy opened an artillery fire.
Having been repeatedly cautioned to avoid a collision with General
Jackson's forces, Kershaw restrained the fire of his men, and sent a
battle-flag to be waved on the railroad. He was then ordered back till
Magruder's other troops should take position.
At 3 p. m. Kershaw advanced along the railroad toward Savage Station.
The enemy had retreated, and when found again were in position on the
Williamsburg road, occupying the rifle-pits and intrenchments made,
doubtless, in McClellan's advance prior to the battle of Seven Pines.
The Second and Third were thrown forward toward the left and formed to
charge the position, while Kemper's battery opened a rapid fire that
drove back the enemy without the aid of the infantry,[C] and Kershaw
moved on to fight his battle at Savage's farm.
[Footnote C: Called by Sumner the battle of Allen's Farm.]
His line ran from the railroad to near the Williamsburg road. The
battle began in earnest at 5:30 p. m. by the opening of Sumner's
artillery on Kershaw's skirmishers under Gaillard and Rutherford,
and lasted into the night. Kemper took position in the Williamsburg
road, the Eighth on his right, in support, and the Second, Third, and
Seventh on his left. Kershaw ordered his left regiments to charge, and
they dashed into the wood, driving through to the open beyond. In this
charge a heavy loss was inflicted upon the opposing force, which was
thrown into much disorder, and many prisoners taken. But Kershaw could
not maintain his position. Kemper and the Eighth were attacked and his
right flank turned. To meet this emergency, he ordered his line back to
the original position from which he had charged the wood, and at the
critical moment Semmes' brigade attacked the force that had turned his
right. Semmes, supported by Kemper's fire and the Eighth, drove back
the flanking column, and Kershaw repelled the assault on his front.
Night had come and Kershaw's battle was over. Major-General McLaws
says: "The South Carolina brigade carried into action 1,496 men and
lost in killed 47, wounded 234, missing 9; total 290." Semmes had only
two regiments engaged and lost 64, and the loss in other commands of
Magruder's force was only 36 in killed and wounded, which shows that
Magruder's battle to beat McClellan's rear was fought by the brigades
of Kershaw and Semmes, and only two regiments of the latter at that.
The brunt fell on the gallant command of Kershaw and his splendid
battery. Hart's battery, which operated with Jones' division on
Kershaw's left, lost 5 men wounded, 2 mortally. Hart engaged the enemy
from D. R. Jones' right, "compelling the retreat out of view of the
enemy's infantry."
Jones put his division in admirable position on Kershaw's left for
attack, but he reports: "Scarcely had this disposition been made
when I received orders from General Magruder to fall back to the
railroad bridge with my whole command to support the right of his
line." This unfortunate order was inspired by Magruder's overrating
the movement which turned Kershaw's right, and which Semmes checked,
at little cost. But for Jones' withdrawal at the moment he was about
to attack, Savage Station might have been a harder blow to General
McClellan. McLaws compliments his brigade commanders in high terms.
Of Kershaw he says: "I beg leave to call attention to the gallantry,
cool, yet daring courage and skill in the management of his gallant
command exhibited by Brigadier-General Kershaw." Kershaw praises
the gallantry, self-possession and efficiency of his regimental
commanders, and the conduct of the men and officers. Lieut.-Col.
B. C. Garlington, of the Third, was killed, sword in hand, at the
head of his regiment. Lieut.-Col. A. D. Goodwyn, of the Second, and
Lieut.-Col. Elbert Bland, of the Seventh, were severely wounded and
honorably mentioned by Kershaw. Gaillard was distinguished in command
of the skirmishers. Kemper added to the laurels he won at Vienna,
Bull Run and Manassas. Captain Holmes and Lieutenants Doby and W. M.
Dwight, of the staff, were active and gallant in dispatching the orders
of their chief. The Second lost Captain Bartlett, "one of the most
gallant and conscientious officers belonging to it;" and Lieutenant
Perry, Company H, was severely wounded. The Third, besides its gallant
lieutenant-colonel, lost Capt. S. M. Lanford and Lieut. J. T. Ray.
Colonel Nance mentioned especially Capt. D. M. H. Langston and Maj. W.
D. Rutherford. The Seventh did not suffer as severely as the Third,
losing 82 killed and wounded. The Eighth, which was mainly in support
of Kemper's battery, lost but 2 killed and 8 wounded.
It appears from General Sumner's report, that three corps, his own,
Franklin's and Heintzelman's, were under his command and put in line
of battle at Savage Station. Heintzelman (15,000) was ordered to hold
the Williamsburg road, but before the attack by Kershaw, General
Heintzelman left the field, and crossed White Oak swamp. Sumner speaks
of the assault by Kershaw and Semmes as being met by Burns' brigade,
"supported and reinforced by two lines in reserve, and finally by the
Sixty-ninth New York (Irish) regiment." He also speaks of Brooks'
brigade "holding a wood on the left," "doing excellent service," and
though wounded, "keeping his command until the close of the battle."
He says the action was "continued with great obstinacy until some time
after dark, when we drove the enemy from the field." It is evident that
Kershaw attacked Generals Burns and Brooks, the Sixty-ninth New York,
and "two lines in reserve." The reader may determine whether Kershaw
and Semmes were "driven from the field" of Savage Station.
Sumner, having successfully guarded the passage of White Oak swamp by
his unequal battle with Kershaw's and Semmes' brigades and Kemper's
battery, followed Heintzelman's retreat at night, and crossing White
Oak marched to Glendale, near the junction of the Charles City and Long
Bridge roads. The passage across White Oak was skillfully broken up
and the roads approaching it obstructed. Franklin, with two divisions
and a brigade, stood on the south side, with batteries well posted, to
dispute the crossing. This he did throughout the whole of the 30th,
keeping Jackson's corps on the north side and effectually preventing
his taking any part in the battle of that day. While Jackson was
thundering at Franklin with his artillery, and Franklin was preventing
his passage of White Oak, McClellan was posting the divisions of
Hooker, McCall, Sedgwick, Kearny and Slocum in line of battle across
the Long Bridge road, confronting the expected advance of Lee down the
Charles City and Darbytown roads.
The troops of Lee that had won the bloody battle of the 27th, north
of the Chickahominy, did not cross that river in pursuit of McClellan
until the morning of the 29th, at which time General Lee became assured
that his able antagonist was retreating upon the James. His orders, as
in the case of the first assault on the 26th, were faultless. Jackson
was to cross at Grapevine bridge and press the rear of the retreat;
Magruder was to attack the flank on the Williamsburg road; Huger to
move down the Charles City road, and Longstreet and A. P. Hill down the
Darbytown to the Long Bridge road; and Holmes to cross from the south
side of the James and march down the New Market road. A glance at a
good map will show that this plan was perfect in its conception. But
McClellan was fully equal to this great emergency, and put White Oak
swamp on his right, guarded by Franklin, and his five divisions in his
center to meet the advance upon him down the Charles City and Darbytown
roads, and selected a veritable Gibraltar for his left, crowned by
artillery and defended by a fleet of gunboats and Porter's and Keyes'
corps.
In carrying out Lee's plan, everything miscarried but the movements
of Longstreet and A. P. Hill. We have seen how Kershaw and Semmes and
Kemper alone carried out Magruder's flank attack on the Williamsburg
road. On the 30th he was ordered to the Darbytown road and reached
it in time to come into effective battle on Longstreet's right, but
Holmes, moving on Malvern hill, saw that he had not force sufficient
to attack, sent for aid, and Magruder was sent to him. Neither of
these divisions was engaged on the 30th. Huger reported his march
obstructed by trees thrown across the road, had an affair with
outposts in his front, and was so badly balked in his march that he
did not reach the field of battle on the 30th. Jackson, whom Franklin
stopped at White Oak, served no other purpose on the 30th than to keep
Franklin's division and his artillery too busily engaged to join the
five divisions at Frayser's farm. All this reflects the highest credit
upon the military genius of McClellan, who directed the details of his
masterly retreat.
Longstreet, in advance, came up with the Federal battle line, as above
described, on the morning of the 30th. A. P. Hill was closed up on his
march. Finding the enemy drawn up across his road, in front of the
point where the Charles City road falls into it (Long Bridge road),
he put his division in line of battle, with A. P. Hill in reserve,
and waited anxiously to hear from Huger on his left, and Magruder and
Holmes on his right. He felt sure that Jackson, crossing White Oak,
would be in time to fall on the Federal right and rear. General Lee
and the President were both at his headquarters when a Federal battery
opened in his immediate front. A shell from this battery exploded so
near the group as to wound one of the couriers and kill several horses.
At this moment (4 p. m.) artillery fire was heard back on the Charles
City road, and Longstreet, taking it for the signal of Huger that he
was near at hand, ordered one of his batteries to reply, and the battle
of Frayser's Farm was opened. The artillery on the Charles City road
was Huger's affair with one of Franklin's outposts. R. H. Anderson, the
senior brigadier, was assigned by Longstreet to the immediate direction
of his front, and Colonel Jenkins commanded the South Carolina brigade,
the first engaged in battle. He was ordered to silence the battery
in front with his sharpshooters, but he preferred to capture it, and
led his brigade forward, charged, drove back McCall's division, and
seized Randol's battery. Longstreet's whole division now engaged, the
troops in his front being those of McCall's and Kearny's divisions. The
battle was forward for a time and McCall and Kearny gave ground, but
Slocum reinforced Kearny against the Confederate left, and Sedgwick
and Hooker against the right, so that Longstreet's right was pushed
back and his left checked and pressed. He was compelled to assume the
defensive, and ordered up A. P. Hill to his immediate support. Gregg's
South Carolina brigade was thrown into the battle on the extreme left.
Hill restored the battle to its first aggressive stage, and McCall's
division was forced to retire, and that general fell into Longstreet's
hands. Longstreet and Hill, with their twelve brigades, drove one of
the Federal divisions from the field, and successfully resisted the
attacks of the other four, gaining ground forward and holding in the
end of the struggle all that they gained. Gregg, on the left, and
Jenkins, in the center, bore their full share of the great contest, the
latter capturing the battery of Randol, which, being retaken, was again
captured by Hill's advance.
The battle lasted well into the night, the Federal divisions leaving
the field under the cover of darkness, followed by Franklin from White
Oak, to take their places in McClellan's last line on the James river.
There is no report from either R. H. Anderson, Gregg or Jenkins.
Longstreet specially mentions Anderson, Jenkins and Captain Kilpatrick
of the Palmetto sharpshooters in his report, for distinguished conduct.
A. P. Hill reports that Gregg was sent by General Longstreet's request
to support the brigades of Pryor and Featherston, and pushed their
battle forward. Featherston being wounded and for a time in the
enemy's hands, his brigade was driven back and scattered, "when," says
Hill, "Colonel McGowan, with the Fourteenth South Carolina, retrieved
our ground." Special mention is made by General Hill in his report
of Colonels McGowan, Edwards and Hamilton, and Lieutenant-Colonel
Simpson, of the Fourteenth. Gregg lost 12 killed and 105 wounded, the
heaviest loss falling on the Fourteenth. Jenkins lost over 450, 234
of these from the Sharpshooters, the remainder being nearly equally
divided among the other regiments. Longstreet and Hill took fourteen
pieces of artillery, thousands of arms, several stand of colors and
hundreds of prisoners. The battle that General Lee had planned to be
fought by all the divisions of his army was actually fought by two.
The Federal commanders greatly exaggerate the Confederate strength
in the battle. Before Gaines' Mill, A. P. Hill had 14,000 troops.
He could not have had more than 10,000 in his division at Frayser's
Farm. Nor could Longstreet's division have been larger. Kershaw
carried only 1,496 into the battle of Savage Station, and his was one
of Longstreet's best brigades. In McClellan's five divisions there
were fifteen brigades, which, at 1,500 each, would make his force at
Frayser's Farm greater than Longstreet's and Hill's by at least 2,500.
It must be remembered, too, that A. P. Hill was not put into the fight
until very late, when Longstreet had been engaged alone with the five
divisions. It was a stubborn battle, and well contested on both sides,
but the advantage was clearly with the Confederates.
In the battle of Malvern Hill, which followed the day after Frayser's
Farm, but one of Lee's South Carolina brigades was seriously engaged,
that of Kershaw. McClellan rapidly and skillfully concentrated his army
on the night of the 30th of June and the morning of July 1st. He thus
describes his position and concentration: "The left and center of our
lines rested on Malvern hill, while the right curved backward through a
wooded country toward a point below Haxall's, on James river. Malvern
hill is an elevated plateau about a mile and a half by three-fourths of
a mile in area, well cleared of timber, with several converging roads
running over it." In front of this position there was a good range for
artillery, and on its left (west) the plateau falls off abruptly into
a ravine. Expecting attack from the front and left of his position,
McClellan made those points strongest and massed his artillery there,
sixty pieces of artillery and ten siege guns being "so disposed on the
high ground that a concentrated fire could be brought to bear on any
point in his front or left." Commodore Rodgers placed his flotilla to
command both flanks. The general line faced north and was nearly at
right angles to the line of McClellan's retreat from Frayser's farm and
distant about 3½ miles from that battlefield.
Before this unassailable position General Lee brought up his whole
army. He resolved to attack with Magruder, Holmes and Huger, holding
A. P. Hill and Longstreet in reserve. To Magruder was assigned the
attack on Porter's position--the strongest on Malvern hill--supported
by Holmes, whose small division was in line on Magruder's right, facing
east. The attack was planned by Lee to be general along his whole
line; Holmes, then Magruder, then Huger, then Jackson. In spite of
McClellan's artillery, if this attack could have been made by noon, and
made by the whole line in a grand charge for the batteries, the Federal
army, already so terribly shaken, would have been unable to resist it,
and Lee's antagonist would have been literally driven to his gunboats.
Instead of all this, no attack was made until late in the evening.
Holmes did not attack at all, deeming it "perfect madness;" Magruder
and Huger, from the difficulty of communication with their commands,
and the wooded character of the country, put in their brigades one
after another, to charge across the open and up Malvern hill against
nearly one hundred guns, supported by the Federal army, in full view,
with the field and the woods swept by the gunboat batteries. Jackson
sent D. H. Hill and Whiting forward, in order, and supported them with
brigades from his own and Ewell's division, and they met a bloody
repulse; but they did not make the attack until after Magruder's and
Huger's brigades had been successively repulsed, some of them from the
very crown of the hill.
It was 6 o'clock before Kershaw was ordered forward. His description
of his advance will indicate what doubtless happened to other gallant
brigades. Being in McLaws' line, on the farm adjoining Crew's farm,
he was ordered by one of Magruder's staff to "advance and attack the
enemy's battery." Having no other instructions, in total ignorance
of the country, or the position of the foe, Kershaw marched half a
mile forward in a wood, nearing the sound of battle and moving really
immediately against Porter's front, his artillery sweeping the open
and the woods through which Kershaw was marching. Reaching at last
the open, passing "three lines of troops" who had preceded him in
the attack, he moved up a ravine to the slopes of Malvern hill. The
artillery and infantry fire in front and flank was thinning his ranks,
when his friends in rear (Twenty-sixth Georgia) by mistake opened
fire upon him. At this crisis he ordered the whole brigade to retire
and reform further to the right. While reforming on the Second South
Carolina, General Ewell called him to support immediately a brigade he
was about to lead against "the enemy's battery," and was so urgent,
that without waiting for the rest of his brigade, he led the Second in
support of Ewell's gallant and useless charge, and with this affair,
night having fully come, Kershaw's brigade had done the part assigned
to it at Malvern hill. The long march to this point, after the battle
of Savage Station, with its losses, had reduced the strength of the
brigade. Kershaw took into the advance on Malvern hill 956 men and
lost 164. The attack on Malvern hill failed of its purpose, but one
thing it did accomplish; the repeated assaults were so gallant and
determined, and pressed so near the enemy's guns, and inflicted so
great a loss upon him, and so many brigades rested at night so close
up to his defense, that he lost confidence in his ability to continue
his successful defense on Malvern hill, and gave up the position during
the night, leaving his dead unburied, his wounded in Confederate hands,
and property and stores of great value on the field. His retreat was to
a strong camp at Harrison's landing, immediately under the protection
of Commodore Rodgers' flotilla.
With Malvern Hill, Lee's battles with McClellan in front of Richmond
practically ended. McClellan reported his total losses, from June 26th
to July 1st, inclusive, at 15,249. Lee, for the same time, reported his
total loss at 18,351. In McClellan's report he acknowledges the capture
of 5,958 of his army, under the head of missing; but clearly he is
wide of the mark according to the actual count in Richmond. As General
Lee reported: "More than 10,000 prisoners, including officers of rank,
52 pieces of artillery, and upward of 35,000 stand of small-arms were
captured. The stores and supplies of every description which fell into
our hands were great in amount and value, but small in comparison with
those destroyed by the enemy."
CHAPTER IV.
THE COAST OF SOUTH CAROLINA, SUMMER OF 1862--OPERATIONS UNDER
GENERAL PEMBERTON--ENGAGEMENT AT OLD POCOTALIGO--CAMPAIGN ON JAMES
ISLAND--BATTLE OF SECESSIONVILLE.
At the close of the spring of 1862, the Federal army in South Carolina,
under General Hunter, had not made lodgment on the mainland. The
enemy's gunboats, commanding the waters surrounding the islands, made
ineffectual attacks on several of the batteries on shore.
On May 29th, a small force under Colonel Christ, of the Fiftieth
Pennsylvania regiment, a company of cavalry and one company of the
Eighth Michigan regiment, crossing at Port Royal ferry, made an attack
at Old Pocotaligo with a view of reaching and cutting the Charleston &
Savannah railroad. This force was met by the Rutledge mounted riflemen,
Capt. W. L. Trenholm, and two companies, A and D, of the First
battalion of South Carolina cavalry, the whole under Maj. J. H. Morgan.
A spirited engagement followed along the banks of Screven's canal, but
the Confederates, numbering only seventy-six men, were forced back to a
point three-quarters of a mile beyond Old Pocotaligo, where they took
up a strong position.
Col. W. S. Walker, commanding the Third military district, having
arrived on the field, directed this movement and awaited the second
attack. The first attack had been made at 10:30 a. m., and the
Confederates were not dislodged until 1 o'clock. At 4 o'clock Captain
Elliott brought up three pieces of his Beaufort battery, and Captains
Izard and Wyman, with their companies (I and F) of the Eleventh
South Carolina, also reinforced Walker. Later Col. J. H. Means, with
his regiment, 400 strong, came up to Colonel Walker's aid. But his
dispositions were not to be tried by the Federals. Colonel Christ,
though he had now with him a reinforcement of Connecticut artillery,
determined not to attack, and being covered by the woods in his
retreat, was far on his way to Garden's corners before Walker got
information of it and began the pursuit. He succeeded in crossing Port
Royal ferry at night in flats which were in readiness, before he could
be engaged by the Confederates.
Elliott put his guns in position at the ferry next morning and battered
the ferry-house which sheltered the Federal picket, and destroyed the
flats. In this affair Christ reported a loss of 2 killed and 9 wounded,
and Walker, 2 killed, 6 wounded and 1 missing. The Federal commander
estimated the Confederate force at from 600 to 800, but in the actual
engagement along Screven's canal, Walker had only 76 men, rank and
file; 110 men, armed for the most part only with sabers, being held
a mile in rear with the horses, under orders to charge in case of a
disaster in front.
Colonel Walker, in his official report, mentions in special praise the
conduct of Capt. W. L. Trenholm and his riflemen; Lieut. R. M. Skinner
and his small command of the First battalion cavalry; Captain Elliott,
of the Beaufort artillery; Capt. W. W. Elliott, acting ordnance
officer; Lieut. L. J. Walker, of the Rutledge riflemen; Lieut. E. H.
Barnwell, acting assistant adjutant-general; Corp. W. H. Jeffers, and
Privates J. D. Taylor and W. K. Steadman of the riflemen.
This attempt, like all others, failed to reach the railroad, and served
only to inspire Walker and other commanders along its line to increased
watchfulness. Thus closed the spring campaign on the coast of South
Carolina.
An event occurred in Charleston harbor on the morning of May 13th
which, no doubt, determined the movement of a large force against the
Confederate position on James island. This was the abduction of the
steamer Planter by a portion of the crew, who took the steamer out
of the harbor and turned her over to the Federal fleet. The Planter
was a swift, light-draught vessel, employed in transporting ordnance
and stores to the forts and batteries of the harbor and the vicinity.
She had a white captain, mate and engineer, and a crew of eight
intelligent negroes. The day before her abduction she had been loaded
at Southern wharf with heavy ordnance for the Middle Ground battery in
the harbor, consisting of a banded rifle 42, an 8-inch columbiad, an
8-inch howitzer, and a 32-pounder. She carried for her own defense a
32-pounder and a 24-pounder howitzer. The captain, mate and engineer,
contrary to written orders, were in the city, when four of the crew,
under the leadership of one of their number, Jacob Small, fired up
and boldly ran out of the harbor before daylight, the Planter being
taken for a guard boat by the forts and allowed to pass. The crew were
well-informed men and thoroughly acquainted with the situation around
Charleston, and especially with the recent removal of the guns from the
Georgetown defenses and from Cole's island, at the mouth of Stono river.
All this information was, of course, carried to the Federal commanders.
Great excitement followed in the city, and all the troops and posts
were ordered to be ready for attack, especially by way of the land. The
abandonment of Fort Palmetto at the mouth of the Stono left the way
open to the Federal fleet to enter that river, and to General Hunter
to land a large force on James island. Following the plan which he had
adopted after the fall of Port Royal harbor, General Pemberton gave up
the defense of the sea islands and the harbor of Georgetown, and made
the Charleston & Savannah railroad his main line south of Charleston,
drawing in the defenses on James island to a line running across the
island from Secessionville on its left to Fort Pemberton, on the Stono,
on its right.
This policy was unpopular with the governor, the military generally
and the people, and made General Pemberton, an honest and patriotic
soldier, both unpopular and mistrusted. The idea was abroad that he did
not mean to defend the city to the last; that he was not confident of
success, and that he was not equal to the emergency. These sentiments
were freely communicated to General Lee and to President Davis by
the governor and by prominent citizens of the State. General Ripley,
who commanded the harbor defenses and the forces on James island,
regarded the abandonment of Fort Palmetto as a fatal mistake, and at
his request, he was ordered to join General Lee in front of Richmond.
General Ripley had shown great energy and unusual ability as an
artillery officer, and possessed the full confidence of the military
and the people. He had made the Palmetto a strong battery and had
put in command an accomplished officer, Maj. J. J. Lucas, with his
artillery battalion supported by infantry. Cole's island, on which Fort
Palmetto was situated, was surrounded by creeks and marshes, and the
causeway in its rear ran along the river to Battery island, and thence
by causeway to James island. Battery island was immediately on the
river and was also strongly fortified. General Pemberton was satisfied
that the Federal boats could run by both forts, and with their superior
guns command the approach from James island so effectually as to make
it impossible to send relief to either point. In this view of the
situation he was fortified by the judgment of General Lee. Possessing
the courage of his military convictions, the heavy guns from both
positions were removed early in May, and by General Ripley's order were
put in position at Elliott's cut and on the lines east of James Island
creek. Cole's island was occupied by a battalion of the Twenty-fourth
South Carolina volunteer infantry, in observation, under Lieut.-Col.
Ellison Capers, with instructions to prevent barges or small boats
entering the Stono, or landing detachments on either Cole's or Battery
island.
How far Major-General Pemberton communicated his views respecting the
immediate defense of Charleston to his subordinates or to Governor
Pickens, is not known, but to General Lee he wrote, on May 21st, after
the gunboats had entered the Stono and anchored off Battery island,
that he favored the abandonment of Forts Sumter and Moultrie and the
defense of Charleston from the city itself. This remarkable judgment
was expressed to General Lee in an official letter dated at Charleston,
May 21, 1862, addressed to Col. A. L. Long, military secretary. The
following are extracts:
I don't suppose there is any immediate intention of attacking
Charleston.... Our land defenses on James island, however, are very
strong. The battery constructed at Elliott's cut, on Stono river
(not yet entirely completed), mounts only eight guns. I desire to
make it twenty, but under present arrangements cannot effect it.
[This battery, gradually strengthened, became a splendid fort, and
as its history will show, did gallant service against repeated
attacks. It was named Fort Pemberton, in honor of the major-general
commanding.] I do not regard Charleston as strong. What under the old
system of warfare was our strength, is now our great weakness. The
many approaches by water and the recent proof of the practicability
of their gunboats passing our batteries [Port Royal] have made the
defense of this city a very difficult problem to solve. To obstruct
2,000 yards of channel (and this with relation to the forts, Sumter
and Moultrie, is decided upon as the most feasible) looks almost like
an impossibility. Every effort, however, is being made to accomplish
it. I am decidedly of the opinion that the most effectual defense of
the city of Charleston can and should be made from and around the
city itself. I believe that when the enemy is prepared to assault the
forts at the entrance of the harbor, he will do so with such force and
with such appliances as will reduce it to a question of time only.
Our great reliance being in these works, when they fall our means of
defense will be inadequate to hold the city; but with the guns now
within their walls, I am satisfied that however great might be the
injury to the city itself from bombardment, his fleet could be kept
from polluting its streets. This has been for some time my opinion,
and I am glad to find many gentlemen of eminence and intelligence who
entirely concur with me.... The forts should not only be dismounted,
but destroyed. They will be of no use after the termination of this
war in their present condition, for I take it, impregnable ironclad
batteries must take the place of stone and mortar. I propose this
subject for the serious consideration of the department.
These views of General Pemberton were certainly known to the "eminent
gentlemen" who agreed in them, but they were not shared by Governor
Pickens and his able council, nor by the military, nor by the citizens
generally. Forts Sumter and Moultrie, garrisoned by well drilled and
disciplined soldiers, commanded by accomplished and gallant officers,
were the pride and hope of old Charleston, as they stood on either side
of her great sea gate equipped and eager for her defense. Their history
was destined to prove how well this confidence was placed.
Members of the governor's council addressed a communication to General
Pemberton, which expressed the apprehensions as well as the fixed
purpose of the State authorities. The members of the council proposed
to the general specific interrogatories, to which they asked, in
the most respectful terms, his immediate reply. He was asked: (1)
If in the event of his determining, for military considerations, to
retire the Confederate troops from Charleston, would he consider it
an interference with his authority for the governor and council to
undertake its defense? (2) Would he be willing to advise the governor
and council in such an emergency? (3) Would he be willing to give any
assistance in his power?
General Pemberton replied promptly, assuring the gentlemen who had
addressed him the interrogations of his appreciation of the situation
and of his hearty willingness to promote in any way the defense of the
city, and asking that any plans for defensive works undertaken by the
governor and council be submitted to him. Meanwhile he was doing all
in his power to strengthen the defenses on James island and to hold
his forces well in hand to be concentrated at the point of attack.
General Pemberton had under his command for the defense of Charleston
and on the line of the Charleston & Savannah railroad, about 20,000
effectives, and in the department of Georgia about 10,000 from which he
could draw reinforcements in the event of an attack on Charleston.
General Hunter, commanding the Federal forces in South Carolina,
reported an aggregate of 16,989 effectives, stationed along the coast
from Tybee, Ga., to Edisto island. These troops were commanded by
Brigadier-Generals Benham, Viele, Stevens, Wright and Gilmore, and were
mainly concentrated on Daufuskie island, at Hilton Head and Beaufort,
and on Edisto island. The Federal force was greatly overestimated
by the Confederates, and it was believed that an army of at least
25,000 or 30,000 could be thrown upon James or John's island in an
advance upon Charleston from that direction, while a powerful fleet of
armored vessels might be expected to attack by the harbor. The Federal
commander, with a similar overestimate of the Confederate forces,
wrote to Washington in the latter part of April, 1862, rating General
Pemberton's forces as follows: At Savannah, 30,000; at Charleston,
25,000; at Augusta, 10,000; a total of 65,000! He was doubtless better
informed by the intelligent crew of the Planter, and then determined
upon the occupation of James island.
The Planter was stolen by her negro crew on the 13th of May, and two
gunboats entered the Stono on the 20th following. The channel was open,
the guns were all gone from the forts on Cole's and Battery islands,
and the gunboats threw their 11-inch shells with perfect impunity
on the right and left as they ran up the river. They anchored beyond
Battery island, which would have effectually cut off the retreat of
the battalion under Colonel Capers, if no other means of escape had
been provided. By the energy and forethought of Col. C. H. Stevens,
commanding the Twenty-fourth volunteers, an interior causeway had
been thrown up, and bridges built, running from Cole's island to
James island, right through the marsh and over the creeks, and by
this causeway Colonel Capers retreated without the loss of a man,
having burned the military barracks at Fort Palmetto and removed the
small supply of stores. It was now evident that the Federals planned
a lodgment on James island, for the number of their boats increased
gradually in the river, and on the 2d of June, General Benham landed a
part of his command at Battery island, under Brig.-Gen. I. I. Stevens.
Here they were secure under the guns of the fleet in the Stono. By June
5th another division under Gen. H. G. Wright, having marched across
Seabrook and John's island from North Edisto, had crossed the Stono
from Legaréville to Grimball's on James island. These two divisions
constituted the force of General Benham, that of Wright covering his
left on the Stono, and that of Stevens his right, immediately in
front of Secessionville. The gunboats in the Stono, firing by signals
from the Federal camps and advance pickets, enfiladed their front and
afforded effective support.
On the early morning of June 3d, the day after General Stevens had
landed, the first affair of the James island campaign took place. The
One Hundredth Pennsylvania regiment had been advanced as far as the
causeway crossing the marsh at Rivers' place, where the Charleston
Riflemen and the Beauregard light infantry, Lieutenant Lynch and
Captain White commanding, were on outpost duty. On the causeway
in their front, three seacoast 24-pounder howitzers, of Captain
Chichester's battery, were bogged so badly in an attempt to take them
across, the evening before, that they had been left in this position,
and were now covered by the rifles of the Pennsylvanians.
Lieut.-Col. Ellison Capers, with four companies of the Twenty-fourth
volunteers, was sent before day, on the 3d, to extricate the guns. He
found Captain White and Lieutenant Lynch holding the Federal regiment
in check, and, ordering them to join his command, at once made his
dispositions for attack. A sharp conflict in the pines beyond the
causeway drove the enemy back to the cover of a ditch and bank beyond,
and this position being assaulted and carried, the Federals fell back
across an old field and took shelter in a row of negro houses at
Legaré's place. At this point of the engagement, Lieut.-Col. P. C.
Gaillard, commanding the Charleston battalion, came up to the support
of Colonel Capers. The following is his report to Colonel Capers of the
affair which followed his arrival:
Learning on Tuesday morning, the 3d instant, that you were engaged
with the enemy at Legaré's, and that they were in larger force than
yourself, I assembled the five companies of my battalion (one, the
Charleston Riflemen, being already with you) to reinforce you.... Soon
after joining, you called upon me for three companies to join in a
charge upon the buildings occupied by the enemy. The Irish Volunteers,
Sumter Guards and Calhoun Guards were designated for that duty, and
well did they respond.... I joined in the charge also, but seeing you
up with them, I fell back (by your order) to take charge of the line
in rear.
The three companies named above, with the Evans Guard of the
Twenty-fourth volunteers, the Charleston Riflemen and Beauregard
light infantry, were led in the charge on the houses by their gallant
officers, Captain Gooding, Lieutenant Lynch, Captain Ryan, Captain
White, Lieut. Ward Hopkins and Captain Miles, and stormed and silenced
the Federals at the houses. Some of them surrendered, but most
retreated to their supports in the direction of Battery island. The
gunboats, in full view in the Stono, opened a fire on the Confederates,
and the enemy's supports, Twenty-eighth Massachusetts and Eighth
Michigan, coming rapidly up, a retreat was ordered, and with a Federal
captain and 20 other prisoners, Colonel Capers fell back to the
position held by Colonel Gaillard. The enemy did not advance further
than Legaré's, and the affair was over. The adjutant of the Charleston
battalion, Lieut. Henry Walker, was wounded at the houses and fell into
the enemy's hands. In this affair 9 men of the Twenty-fourth and 8 of
the Charleston battalion were wounded.
The engagement just described, and a reconnoissance in front of
Grimball's on the 10th of June, gallantly made by the Forty-seventh
Georgia regiment, fully developed the positions and force of the
Federal army on James island. General Pemberton was active and
efficient in strengthening the lines of defense and in concentrating
troops on the island. By June 15th a force fully equal to that of
the Federal army was encamped behind the batteries, and on the lines
of defense from Fort Pemberton on the Stono, at Elliott's, cut, to
Secessionville on the extreme east, under Brig.-Gens. N. G. Evans, W.
D. Smith and S. R. Gist, the former in chief command. Col. Johnson
Hagood, First volunteers, commanded the advance guard, composed of
his own regiment, the Twenty-fourth, Col. C. H. Stevens; the Eutaw
battalion, Lieut.-Col. C. H. Simonton, and the Fourth Louisiana
battalion, Lieut.-Col. J. McEnery. This force was encamped outside
the line of defense, and was charged with guarding the front of the
Confederate line, except the immediate front of Secessionville, which
was protected by its own outposts.
Secessionville is situated on a peninsula cut from the east side of the
island by an arm of Lighthouse creek, a bold tidewater stream which
empties into the harbor of Charleston, east of Fort Johnson. At the
point of the peninsula of Secessionville where the battery was erected,
the peninsula is narrowest, probably not more than half regimental
front, and on either side of it run the tidewaters of Lighthouse creek
and Big Folly creek, bordered by impracticable marshes. The banks of
the peninsula in front and in rear of the battery were fringed by a
thick growth of myrtle bushes. Col. T. G. Lamar was in command of the
fort at Secessionville (afterward called Fort Lamar, in his honor) and
its infantry supports. The garrison consisted of Companies I and B of
Lamar's regiment of South Carolina artillery, Capts. G. D. Keitt and
Samuel J. Reid; and the infantry support was composed of two battalions
of infantry, the Charleston battalion, Lieut.-Col. P. C. Gaillard, and
the Pee Dee battalion, Lieut.-Col. A. D. Smith. The battery mounted
an 8-inch columbiad, two 24-pounder rifles, several 18-pounders, and
a mortar. A gunboat battery on the east bank, anchored in Big Folly
creek, and commanded by Capt. F. N. Bonneau, would have been an
effective ally, had not its guns just been moved on shore to be added
to those of the fort.
In the early morning of June 16th, the Secessionville picket was
on duty at Rivers' place, a mile in front of the fort, and the
Twenty-fourth, with six companies of the First South Carolina and one
of the Forty-seventh Georgia, was covering the front of the east lines,
under command of Col. C. H. Stevens. In the fort a gun detachment was
awake and on the watch, but the remainder of the garrison was fast
asleep.
At 1 o'clock a. m., Gen. N. G. Evans had started 100 picked men from
Colonel Goodlett's Twenty-second regiment, under Capt. Joshua Jamison,
as a fatigue party, to go over the bridge to Fort Lamar and assist in
mounting Captain Bonneau's guns in the fort. These men reached the fort
about daylight. Just at dawn the Secessionville picket was surprised
and several of them captured. The main picket force ran in and gave
the first notice to Lamar of the enemy's rapid advance on his position.
The garrison was aroused and at the guns and on the flanks just in
time to meet the gallant assault of the Eighth Michigan, Seventh
Connecticut, Seventy-ninth New York, Twenty-eighth Massachusetts, One
Hundredth Pennsylvania and Forty-sixth New York, with Rockwell's and
Strahan's light batteries and a company of engineers. The six regiments
were moved forward in two lines, both under the immediate direction of
Gen. I. I. Stevens, and each commanded by its senior colonel. As they
advanced the peninsula narrowed, and when within short range of the
works, the left regiment of the front line, the Seventh Connecticut,
was crowded into the marsh. Just at this juncture Lamar fired the
8-inch columbiad charged with canister, and in rapid succession the
24's and 18's, and the mortar opened. The whole line wavered and was
broken in some confusion. Urged on by their officers, the Connecticut,
Michigan and New York regiments pressed forward, the latter two in
larger numbers gaining ground. Groups of men and officers of these
two regiments gained the ditch and both flanks of the work, and some
of them mounted the work. They were met by the galling fire of the
infantry of Gaillard and Smith, and were either killed or captured.
Meanwhile the 100 men under Jamison, sent to mount Bonneau's guns,
arrived and promptly took their places on the parapet, adding their
rifles to the fire of the Charleston and Pee Dee battalions.
A number of the assaulting force, moving along the marsh under cover
of the myrtle bushes, gained a lodgment on the right flank and in rear
of the work, and were doing serious execution by their fire, hid as
they were, and shielded by the bank of the peninsula. But they were
soon dislodged by the rifles of the Fourth Louisiana battalion, sent
by Colonel Hagood to reinforce the garrison as soon as he learned that
the fort was being attacked. The Louisianians coming up at a run were
promptly put into position by their gallant commander, Colonel McEnery,
and drove the Federals from the myrtles into the marsh or out into
the field. Two 24-pounders, in battery on the west flank of the fort
and west of the creek and marsh, had been silent up to this moment.
Colonel Hagood, who had moved promptly down the Battery Island road to
check any advance by that way, and protect the right front of the fort,
noting the silence of the flank battery, dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel
Capers to open the fire of these guns. Finding a small detachment of
Lamar's artillery at the guns, under Lieutenant Kitching, a prompt and
gallant response to the order to open fire was made, and under the
direction of Colonel Capers solid shot and shell were delivered along
the line of the myrtles, and into the regiments vainly endeavoring to
form on the field in front of the work. The sun was now fully up and
Lamar's victory was achieved, though both sides continued to fire until
the Federal regiments had withdrawn from range.
During the assault upon the fort, a column of forty companies of
infantry, two batteries of artillery and a squadron of cavalry, about
2,500 strong, under Brigadier-General Wright, advanced along the
Battery Island road and up the west side of Lighthouse creek, as a
covering force for the protection of the left and rear of the troops
assaulting Secessionville. This force was made up of the Third New
Hampshire, and companies of the Third Rhode Island, Ninety-seventh
Pennsylvania, Sixth Connecticut, Forty-seventh New York, Forty-fifth
Pennsylvania, and First New York engineers. The advance of Hagood down
the Battery Island road, with a portion of the First and Twenty-fourth
South Carolina and the Eutaw battalion, brought him in contact with
General Wright's advance, which he checked and repelled. The Eutaw
battalion was placed behind an obstruction of felled timber on the
east of the road, and four companies of the Twenty-fourth still
further to the left and immediately in front of the enemy's advance.
One piece of Boyce's battery, under Lieutenant Jeter, was put in
position immediately on the right of the Twenty-fourth and the four
companies of the First south of the road. Jeter opened fire on the
enemy, in full view at Hill's place, and immediately Wright's artillery
replied, shelling the whole front of Hagood's force and throwing solid
shot at Jeter's gun. The Third Rhode Island advanced to charge the
position, but was handsomely repulsed by Colonels Stevens and Simonton
and the effective fire of Jeter. By this time the contest in front
of Secessionville having been determined, General Wright retired his
troops to their intrenched positions, and the battle of Secessionville
was ended.
After the first repulse, the fort was again in danger from the fire
of infantry and artillery in its rear and right flank by a portion
of Wright's column, which had marched up the west bank of Lighthouse
creek and were in position south and east of Hill's negro houses. It
was this force that McEnery attacked as he came up, firing at short
range across the creek. They were ultimately driven off by the fire of
the 24-pounders in front of Clark's house, above alluded to, and by
Hagood's troops. The latter were well posted, and when assaulted easily
repulsed the attack. Lieutenant Jeter with his guns did good service in
this affair; indeed, the position of General Wright's column at Hill's
houses, though for a short time it took the work at Secessionville in
flank and rear, was between the infantry fire of McEnery at the fort
and Hagood's force and the 24-pounder battery at Clark's house. If
Colonel Hagood had had his whole advance guard under his command, with
Boyce's entire battery, he could have moved immediately against General
Wright's column, striking him in flank and rear. On the contrary, if
Wright had known that Hagood had with him only the total strength of a
good regiment, with one piece of artillery, he would doubtless have
attacked with his entire force instead of with a portion of the Rhode
Island regiment only.
The force assaulting the fort numbered, of all arms, 3,562. It was
defended by two companies of artillery, three battalions of infantry,
and 100 picked men under Captain Jamison, a total of less than 1,000
men. Wright's column could not have been less than 2,500 to 3,000 of
all arms. Hagood's force did not exceed 700 men, with one piece of
artillery. The Confederate troops actually engaged did not exceed 1,800.
General Stevens reported a loss of 529 men and officers in his
assaulting column; General Wright, 129; making an aggregate of 658.
Colonel Hagood took 12 prisoners and counted 12 dead in front of
Colonel Stevens' four companies, and 8 in front of the Eutaw battalion.
More than the number reported by General Stevens were buried on the
field, and while that general reports 1 officer and 30 men made
prisoners, by actual count the Confederates took 65 wounded and 42
unwounded prisoners. The total Federal loss could not have been less
than 750 to 800.
The Confederates lost in killed, wounded and missing, 204 officers and
men, as follows: Forty-seventh Georgia, 1 killed; Fourth Louisiana,
6 killed, 22 wounded; Lamar's artillery, 15 killed, 39 wounded, 1
missing; Charleston battalion, 10 killed, 40 wounded, 2 missing; Pee
Dee battalion, 3 killed, 23 wounded, 3 missing; First volunteers, 1
wounded; Twenty-second volunteers, 10 killed, 8 wounded; Twenty-fourth
volunteers, 3 killed, 7 wounded, 2 missing; Eutaw battalion, 4 killed,
14 wounded; total, 5 officers and 47 men killed, 12 officers and 132
men wounded, 8 missing; aggregate 204.
Among the gallant dead were Capt. Henry C. King and Lieut. John J.
Edwards, of the Charleston battalion; Capt. Samuel J. Reed, of Lamar's
artillery; Lieut. Richard W. Greer, of the Eutaw battalion, and
Lieut. B. A. Graham, of the Forty-seventh Georgia. Colonel Lamar and
Lieutenant-Colonel Gaillard were both wounded severely. Also among the
wounded were Captain Walker, of the Fourth Louisiana; Capts. J. A.
Blake, F. T. Miles and R. P. Smith, and Lieuts. J. W. Axson, George
Brown, John Burke and F. R. Lynch of the Charleston battalion; Lieut.
J. G. Beatty of the Pee Dee battalion; Lieut. F. W. Andrews of the
Twenty-fourth, and Lieut. Samuel J. Berger of the Eutaw battalion.
It was a gallant assault on the part of the Federals and came near
being a complete surprise. But for the heroic conduct of the garrison
in standing to their guns, and the persistent and gallant support of
the Charleston and Pee Dee battalions and Jamison's men, who fought on
the parapet and on the flanks, the Michigan and New York regiments and
the Seventh Connecticut would have swarmed over the work at the first
assault, closely followed by their supports.
The news of the victory at Secessionville was heralded to every quarter
of the State and the Confederacy, and filled the hearts of soldiers and
people with joy and thanksgiving. General Pemberton congratulated the
troops engaged in orders, and especially acknowledged the heroism and
ability of Lamar and his garrison. In published orders, the following
officers and soldiers were specially mentioned for good conduct: Col.
T. G. Lamar, Lieut.-Cols. P. C. Gaillard, A. D. Smith, John McEnery
and Ellison Capers; Majs. David Ramsay and J. H. Hudson; Capts. Samuel
J. Reed, Henry C. King, F. T. Miles, G. D. Keitt, W. W. McCreery, F.
N. Bonneau, R. E. Elliott, S. J. Corrie, H. W. Carr, Joshua Jamison,
Samuel S. Tompkins and W. H. Ryan; Asst. Surg. James Evans; Lieutenants
Hall and Matthews, C. S. N.; Adjt. E. J. Frederick; Lieuts. W. H.
Rodgers, J. B. Kitching, J. B. Humbert, W. S. Barton, J. W. Moseley,
T. P. Oliver, John A. Bellinger, W. M. Johnson, J. W. Lancaster, L.
S. Hill, H. H. Sally, J. B. Cobb, William Beckham, George Brown, A. A.
Allemand, James Campbell and R. A. Blum; Sergt. W. H. Hendricks, and
Privates Joseph Tennent, J. Campbell Martin, and T. Grange Simons, Jr.
Maj. David Ramsay, who succeeded to the command of the Charleston
battalion on the wounding of Lieutenant-Colonel Gaillard, closes his
brief report with this appropriate and just tribute, applicable to
each of the commands engaged in the battle of Secessionville. "I have
mentioned those especially noticeable, but can only repeat that I
refrain from enumerating others because it would be to furnish a roll
of those engaged."
Signally repulsed at Secessionville, and convinced of the strength of
the line of defense across the island, the Federal commander-in-chief
abandoned the campaign, evacuated James island the last of June, and
aggregated the main portion of his troops at Hilton Head, Beaufort and
North Edisto. There were left only the gunboats in the lower Stono,
and the blockading fleet off the bar to menace Charleston. The troops
which had reinforced the command of General Gist on James island were
returned to their former stations on the coast and at Savannah, and the
heroes of Secessionville were toasted on every hand.
During the remainder of the summer, several affairs occurred along the
coast which illustrated the watchfulness and gallantry of the South
Carolina soldiers. An expedition to Fenwick's island was organized and
successfully conducted by Maj. R. J. Jeffords, commanding the Sixth
battalion South Carolina cavalry, and the enemy's positions in the
surrounding waters and on the adjacent islands fully reported to Col.
W. S. Walker, commanding the Third district. On the 14th of August, the
Federal gunboats, having entered Winyaw bay, steamed up Black river
as far as Mrs. Sparkman's plantation, 20 miles above Georgetown. Maj.
W. P. Emanuel, commanding in that quarter, with a section of Wood's
battery and all his troops south of the river, marched at once to Mrs.
Sparkman's and boldly attacked the boats with rifles and battery. The
enemy's force that had landed was compelled to re-embark, and the boats
soon steamed down the river, shelling the banks on their way. Major
Emanuel threw his mounted infantry forward at every available bluff,
and gave the boats a spirited fight on their return to Georgetown. A
picket force on Pinckney island was surprised and captured at dawn
of the 21st of August, by Captains Elliott and Mickler. This was an
incursion far into the enemy's lines, and at the risk of being cut off
by his gunboats, which were in the immediate vicinity. The lieutenant
commanding the Federal picket was killed, with 14 of his men, and 36
were captured, 4 of whom were wounded. The expedition left Bear island
in nine boats, 120 strong, detachments from the Eleventh volunteers,
Captains Mickler, Leadbetter and Wescoat commanding, and from the
Beaufort artillery, Lieutenant Stuart commanding, the whole directed by
Capts. Stephen Elliott and John H. Mickler. The affair was well planned
and gallantly executed, with the loss of only 8 men wounded on the part
of the Confederates.
CHAPTER V.
GENERAL BEAUREGARD IN COMMAND--THE DEFENSES OF CHARLESTON--DISPOSITION
OF TROOPS--BATTLE OF POCOTALIGO--REPULSE OF ENEMY AT COOSAWHATCHIE
BRIDGE--OPERATIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA--BATTLE OF KINSTON--DEFENSE OF
GOLDSBORO.
On the 29th of August, General Beauregard, who had been in command of
the army in Mississippi, was ordered to take charge in South Carolina.
General Pemberton was directed to report for duty at Richmond. His
policy of abandoning the attempt to defend the mouth of Broad river
and the harbor of Georgetown, and especially his removal of the guns
from the mouth of the Stono, had made him unpopular; but his energy,
ability and patriotism commanded the respect of the military, and the
government at Richmond reposed in him the highest confidence. Upon
taking the command at Charleston in September, General Beauregard
made a careful inspection of the department, and writing to Richmond,
expressed his admiration for the amount and character of defensive
work which General Pemberton had done, especially in the defense of
Charleston.
Having requested General Pemberton to give his views upon the
situation, and particularly as to the forces, guns, etc., necessary to
the proper defense of the cities of Charleston and Savannah and their
dependencies, General Beauregard received the following reply from
Pemberton, dated September 24, 1862:
I have the honor to state in answer to your inquiry, that in my
opinion this department can be successfully defended against any
reasonable force which it is probable the enemy may bring against it
[by the following forces], to wit:
James island: 10,000 infantry, 1,000 heavy artillery, 500 cavalry, 6
field batteries. Morris island: 1,000 infantry, 250 heavy artillery,
50 cavalry. Sullivan's island: 1,500 infantry, 800 heavy artillery,
50 cavalry, 1 field battery. Christ Church: 1,000 infantry, 100 heavy
artillery, 200 cavalry, 1 field battery. St. Andrew's: 2,000 infantry
(movable column), 200 heavy artillery, 200 cavalry, 2 field batteries.
Second military district: 5,000 infantry, 800 cavalry, 200 heavy
artillery, 2 field batteries. Third military district: 5,000 troops
of all arms. Savannah: 10,000 infantry, 1,200 heavy artillery, 2,000
cavalry, 8 field batteries. Fort Sumter: 500 heavy artillery, 100
riflemen. Georgetown (merely for preventing marauding, the defense of
Winyaw bay requiring obstructions and a numerous heavy artillery, both
of which are entirely out of the question): 7 companies of cavalry, 3
batteries of artillery, 3 companies of infantry. The above estimate
is based upon the supposition that attacks may be made simultaneously
upon different points.
Upon this communication, General Beauregard endorsed: "Approved as the
minimum force required, as above stated, to guard with security the
department of South Carolina and Georgia."
General Beauregard was warmly received by the governor and council of
South Carolina, by the military and by the citizens. Governor Pickens
addressed him the following letter a few days after his taking command:
Dear General: I enclose the within to you, being a letter from myself
to General Lee, dated May 23d, and one from him in reply, dated May
29th, containing an order to General Pemberton relating to the defense
of Charleston. It strikes me that the defense of Charleston is now of
the last importance to the Confederacy, and in my very full interview
yesterday, I took the liberty of urging that Fort Sumter was the key
to the harbor and in fact was almost absolutely essential to enable
the South to hold communication with the foreign world.... I am
rejoiced to see you here again, as there is no general who could have
been selected to whom South Carolina would look with more confidence
for her defense than yourself. Our whole coast involves the most
complicated difficulties in defense, and all the highest range of
science in war is required to make that defense successful. Feeling
the greatest confidence in your abilities, and well knowing that
this position is well suited to your peculiar talents and scientific
knowledge, it affords me the greatest pleasure to co-operate with you
in anything that you may suggest, and to offer you all the resources
of the State that I may be able to command.
After an inspection of the harbor defenses, and the lines and work on
James island, General Beauregard reported the result of his examination
in the following letter, of date October 3, 1862, addressed to
Adjutant-General Cooper at Richmond:
Accompanied by Major-General Pemberton, Brigadier-General Jordan,
my chief of staff, Colonel Gonzales, chief of artillery, and
Lieut.-Col. George Lay, on a tour of inspection, under orders of the
war department, on September 16th I proceeded to inspect the harbor
defenses, beginning with four new sand batteries, in barbette, near
the west end of Sullivan's island, bearing on and commanding the
floating boom under construction across the channel thence to Fort
Sumter. Those batteries are not finished, but two guns, 10-inch
columbiads, were in position, one only being ready for service and
the magazines not yet built. The boom is composed of railroad iron,
strongly linked together with heavy iron links and bands, protected
and buoyed by spars of timber of the same length with the bars of
iron, and banded closely together with iron. The bars are suspended
four feet under water, and the whole structure is anchored every
sixth section with an anchor. About one-fourth of this boom is
laid. I am informed that it has been tested by running against it a
heavily-loaded vessel towed by a steamboat. This test it resisted,
parting the towline, a 10-inch hawser. It was also proposed to lay
another line about 100 yards in rear of that now under construction,
if sufficient time is allowed and enough chains and anchors can be
procured. In addition, a rope obstruction has been prepared to place
in advance of the wooden and iron boom for the purpose of entangling
the enemy's propellers while under fire of our heavy guns in the
adjacent forts and batteries.
It is proper for me to notice that since my inspection the plan of the
boom was found to be defective, at least in one particular; the great
length of it made it unable to bear the pressure of the tide, and the
boom parted in several places. This, it is hoped by the projector, may
be remedied by breaking the continuous character of the barrier and
laying it in sections, and on that plan it is now being carried on....
The armament of the four new sand batteries is to consist, as
planned, of seven 10 and one 8 inch columbiad, and two 42-pounder
rifle guns. Fort Sumter has thirty-eight heavy guns above the caliber
of 32-pounders, and Fort Moultrie nine, bearing at once on the
obstructions. There will be also two strong ironclad gunboats, each
armed with four guns, to give important, indeed vital, assistance.
These, I am advised, will be completed before the 15th instant, and
could even now yield some aid in an emergency. I regard them as
absolutely indispensable to the successful defense of the harbor. The
Neck battery on Morris island [afterward Battery Wagner] was next
visited, which was found incomplete, wanting at least two weeks' work
to finish it according to plan, and needing a closed gorge to secure
against surprise. It was erected to defend that approach to Fort
Sumter. In addition, a few rifled guns ought to be placed to bear on
the main channel.
Subsequently I visited a small work, Fort Ripley, now under
construction in cribs in the bay, about midway between Fort Johnson
and Castle Pinckney. It is nearly ready for its armament of five heavy
guns in barbette, but must be protected outside to the high-water mark
by rubbish before it can be relied on. A series of similar smaller
works erected in the shallow water nearer to the mouth of the harbor
would materially add to the strength of our defenses. I did not visit
Castle Pinckney, the armament of which is nine 24-pounders and one
24-pounder rifled gun. I am well acquainted with this work, and regard
it as nearly worthless at this juncture.
On the 17th of September, accompanied by Major-General Pemberton,
I inspected the defensive lines on James island from the Wappoo to
Mellichamp's, a distance of about 3 miles. These lines consist of a
system of forts, redoubts, redans, _cremailleres_, not very properly
arranged and located, with the exception of Fort Pemberton, on the
Stono and some of the redoubts; and in my opinion a simpler system,
one requiring a smaller force to hold and defend, might have been
originally devised with advantage. However, this line ought to serve
our purpose with a proper force of about 3 men for every 2 yards of
development. Each redoubt and redan has at least one heavy gun in
position. That part of the lines between Dill's creek and the Wappoo
will be completed in two weeks. Fort Pemberton is a strong work, and
has an armament of twenty guns of various calibers. There are two
batteries on the Ashley river and the entrances of Dill's and Wappoo
creeks, but for want of guns the works are without armaments, except
the battery at Lawton's, which has four 32-pounders in position,
which, however, are of little use against any probable attack.
On the 18th, accompanied as on the previous days, I inspected Forts
Sumter and Moultrie, which were found in fine order and condition,
considering the repairs in progress at the latter work. The armament
of Moultrie consists of thirty-eight guns of various calibers,
from 24-pounders to 8-inch columbiads, with a garrison of some 300
effective men. The armament of Sumter consists of seventy-nine guns
of all calibers, from 32-pounders to 10-inch columbiads, and seven
10-inch mortars. It has a garrison of about 350 effective men. The
barracks are being cut down to protect them from the fire of the
enemy.... Battery Beauregard, across Sullivan's island, in advance of
Fort Moultrie, to defend the approach from the east, is armed with
five guns. The work at the eastern extremity of the island, placed to
defend the interior approach by water to the rear and west of Long
island, is a redoubt armed with eight guns (two 32-pounders and six
small guns). I am informed by General Pemberton that all these works
are sufficiently garrisoned.
My conclusions are as follows: That when the works contemplated
and in progress for the defense of the harbor, especially when the
obstructions and ironclad gunboats shall have been completed and are
properly armed with guns of the heaviest caliber, the enemy's fleet
will find it extremely difficult to penetrate sufficiently within
the harbor to injure or reduce the city; but until these works are
finished, armed as indicated, and properly garrisoned, the city cannot
be regarded as protected.
Accompanied as on previous days, on the 19th of September I examined
the works at Secessionville, which are irregular and of poor
construction. A force of some 200 men was still at work increasing and
strengthening them. The position is naturally strong, being surrounded
by two marshes and a wide creek, except on one side [the front],
where there is a very narrow strip of level ground, along which the
abolitionists made their attack, which was a surprise, when they were
defeated by one-fifth of their numbers. I do not see the necessity or
advantage of holding in force this advanced position. A strong picket
would be sufficient. The armament of this work consists of two 8-inch
naval guns, one 18-pounder howitzer, six 32-pounders, one 32-pounder
and two 24-pounder rifled guns, and two 10-inch mortars. All of which
is respectfully submitted, etc.
This communication gives a clear view of the character of the defenses
of Charleston in October, 1862, and shows also the activity and
engineering skill of General Pemberton, under whose direction the
works, for the most part, were prosecuted after the abandonment of
Cole's island early in May. The position for the fort at Secessionville
was originally selected by Col. Lewis M. Hatch of Charleston, whose
practical knowledge of the waters and islands surrounding Charleston
and patriotic zeal in planning for their defense made his services most
valuable, especially at the beginning of the defensive work, when so
very few military men in Charleston had made a study of the approaches
by land and water to the city. The victory of the 16th of June bore
ample testimony to the value of the exact spot on which Fort Lamar
stood.
In July, Col. Johnson Hagood was promoted to brigadier-general, and
the First regiment came under the command of Col. Thomas Glover.
Early in August, Generals Drayton and Evans were sent from South
Carolina to reinforce General Lee, in Virginia. These generals took
with them the First regiment, Colonel Glover; the Fifteenth, Col. W.
D. De Saussure; the Seventeenth, Col. (Governor) J. H. Means; the
Eighteenth, Col. J. M. Gadberry; the Twenty-second, Col. Joseph Abney;
the Twenty-third, Col. H. L. Benbow; Holcombe legion, Col. P. F.
Stevens; Third battalion, Lieut.-Col. G. S. James, and Capt. R. Boyce's
battery, all South Carolina organizations. Upon taking command, General
Beauregard assigned Gen. S. R. Gist to command the First district,
with headquarters at Charleston. This district embraced the coast from
the North Carolina line to Rantowles creek, and included the islands
touching the harbor. Col. R. F. Graham commanded on Morris island, Col.
L. M. Keitt on Sullivan's island, Col. C. H. Stevens on James island,
and Major Emanuel at Georgetown. Lieut.-Col. William Butler, First
regular infantry, commanded at Fort Moultrie, and Maj. Alfred Rhett,
of the First regular artillery, at Fort Sumter. Fort Pemberton on the
Stono was commanded by Maj. J. J. Lucas, and the post of Secessionville
by Lieutenant-Colonel Capers. General Gist had under his command 133
companies of all arms. In this enumeration by companies were included
the following South Carolina regiments: First regular artillery, First
regular infantry, First volunteer artillery, Twentieth, Twenty-first,
Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth volunteers, ten companies each.
Brigadier-General Hagood, in charge of the Second military district,
with headquarters at Adams' run, had in his command one regiment (the
Sixteenth), Smith's and Nelson's battalions of infantry, two companies
of cavalry, the Stono scouts, and two batteries (the Washington and
Morrison artillery)--twenty-nine companies of all arms, all South
Carolinians.
Col. W. S. Walker, commanding the Third military district, with
headquarters at McPhersonville, had under his orders an aggregate of
forty companies of all arms, as follows: Eleventh volunteers, First and
Second battalions of sharpshooters, Third regiment of cavalry, First,
Second and Sixth battalions of cavalry, Rutledge mounted riflemen,
Charleston dragoons, Kirk's partisan rangers, Elliott's Beaufort
artillery, Kavanaugh's Lafayette battery, all South Carolina commands,
and Nelson's Virginia battery. The whole Confederate force in South
Carolina upon General Beauregard's assuming command, September 24,
1862, amounted to 202 companies of all arms, and aggregated 12,544
officers and soldiers present for duty.
On October 22d, the battle of Old Pocotaligo was fought by Col. W.
S. Walker, with a small force of infantry, dismounted cavalry, and
sections from two batteries of artillery, amounting in all to 675
men and officers. On the same day the railroad and turnpike bridges
crossing the Coosawhat
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