From Winchester to Fredericksburg.
The brigade remained in camp in a beautiful grove, about four miles
beyond Winchester, until the last of October. Here the regiments were
thoroughly organized and put in good shape for the next campaign. Many
officers and non-commissioned officers had been killed, or totally
disabled in the various battles, and their places had to be filled by
election and promotion. All officers, from Colonel down, went up
by regular grades, leaving nothing but the Third Lieutenants to be
elected. The non-commissioned officers generally went up by promotion
also, where competent, or the Captains either promoted them by regular
grade or left the selection to the men of the company. We had lost
no field officer killed, except Lieutenant Colonel Garlington, of the
Third, and Major Rutherford was promoted to that position, and Captain
R.C. Maffett made Major. Several Lieutenants in all the regiments were
made Captains, and many new Lieutenants were chosen from the ranks, so
much so that the rolls of the various companies were very materially
changed, since the reorganization in April last. Many of the wounded
had returned, and large bodies of men had come in from the conscript
camps since the reorganization. The Seventh Regiment had lost heavier,
in officers and men, than any of the regiments. Colonel Aiken was
wounded at Sharpsburg, and never returned only for a short time,
but the regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Bland until
the resignation of Colonel Aiken, except when the former was himself
disabled by wounds.
Camp guards were kept up around the brigade, and regimental pickets,
some two or three miles distant, about every two weeks. We had company
and regimental drills about four times per week, and, in fact, we
drilled almost every day, now that we were not on the actual march.
The turn-pike road from Winchester to Staunton, ninety miles, for
weeks was perfectly lined with soldiers returning at the expiration
of their furloughs, or discharged from hospital, and our convalescent
sick and wounded from the Maryland campaign going homeward.
On the 27th or 28th of October orders came to move. Longstreet took
the lead, with McLaws' and Anderson's Divisions in front. General Lee
had divided his army into two corps; the Department of Richmond having
created the rank of Lieutenant General, raised Longstreet and Jackson
to that grade in Lee's Army. Longstreet's Corps consisted of McLaws'
Division, composed of Kershaw's, Barksdale's, Cobb's, and Semmes'
Brigades, and Anderson's, Hood's, Pickett's, and Ransom's Divisions.
Jackson's Corps consisted of D.H. Hill's, A.P. Hill's, Ewell's, and
Taliaferro's Divisions. We marched by way of Chester Gap over the Blue
Ridge, and came into camp near Culpepper on the 9th of November.
The enemy had crossed the Potomac and was moving southward, by easy
stages, on the east side of the mountain.
On the 5th of October General McClellan was removed from the command
of the Army of the Potomac and Major General Burnsides, a corps
commander, was made Commander-in-Chief in his stead. This change was
universally regretted by both armies, for the Northern Army had great
confidence in the little "Giant," while no officer in the Union Army
was ever held in higher esteem by the Southern soldiers than little
"Mack," as General McClellan was called. They admired him for his
unsurpassed courage, generalship, and his kind and gentlemanly
deportment, quite in contrast to the majority of Union commanders.
General Burnsides, who had succeeded McClellan, now divided his army
by corps in three grand divisions--General Sumner, commanding the
Right Grand Division, composed of the Second and Ninth Corps; General
Hooker, the center, with the Third and Fifth Corps; and General
Franklin, the left, with the First and Sixth Corps. So both armies
had undergone considerable changes, and were now moving along on
converging lines towards a meeting point to test the mettle of the new
commanders and organizations.
We remained in camp around Culpepper until the morning of the 18th
of November, when the march was resumed, by McLaws taking the road
leading to Fredericksburg, headed by General Longstreet in person, and
another division south along the line of the railroad in the direction
of the North Anna River, the other divisions of the corps remaining
stationary, awaiting developments. Jackson had not yet crossed the
Blue Ridge, and General Lee was only waiting and watching the move of
Burnsides before concentrating his army at any particular place. It
was unknown at this time whether the Federal commander would take the
route by way of Fredericksburg, or follow in a straight course and
make the North Anna his base of operations. The cavalry, making a
demonstration against the enemy's outposts, found the Union Army had
left and gone in the direction of Fredericksburg. Then Lee began the
concentration of his army by calling Jackson on the east side of the
Blue Ridge and Longstreet down on the south side of the Rappahannock.
We crossed the north fork of the Rappahannock at a rocky ford, two
miles above the junction of the Rapidan and just below the railroad
bridge, on a cold, blustery day, the water blue and cold as ice
itself, coming from the mountain springs of the Blue Ridge, not many
miles away. Some of the men took off their shoes and outer garments,
while others plunged in just as they marched from the road. Men
yelled, cursed, and laughed. Some climbed upon the rocks to allow
their feet and legs to warm up in the sun's rays, others held up one
foot for awhile, then the other, to allow the air to strike their
naked shins and warm them. Oh! it was dreadfully cold, but such fun!
The water being about three feet deep, we could easily see the rocks
and sands in the bottom. The men who had pulled off their shoes and
clothing suffered severely.
There was a man in my company who was as brave and as good a soldier
as ever lived, but beyond question the most awkward man in the army.
His comrades called him "mucus," as some one said that was the Latin
for "calf." This man would fall down any time and anywhere. Standing
in the road or resting on his rifle, he would fall--fall while
marching, or standing in his tent. I saw him climb on top of a box car
and then fall without the least provocation backwards into a ten-foot
ditch. But in all his falling he was never known to hurt himself, but
invariably blamed somebody for his fall. When he fell from the car,
and it standing perfectly still, he only said: "I wish the d----n car
would go on or stand still, one or the other." The road leading to
the river makes a bend here, and between the bend and river bank an
abutment of logs, filled in with stone to the height of fifteen
feet, was built to prevent the water from encroaching upon the land.
"Mucus," for no cause whatever that anyone could learn, quit the ranks
and walked out on this abutment and along down its side, keeping
near the edge of the water, but fifteen feet above, when, to the
unaccountability of all, he fell headlong down into the river. The
water at this point was not more than three or four feet deep, but
deep enough to drench him from head to foot. He rose up, and as usual,
quick to place the blame, said: "If I knew the d----n man who pushed
me off in the water, I'd put a ball in him." No one had been in twenty
feet of him. All the consolation he got was "how deep was the
water, 'Mucus'?" "Was the water cold?" But awkward as he was, he was
quick-witted and good at repartee. He answered the question "how deep
was the water?" "Deep enough to drown a d----n fool, if you don't
believe it, go down like I did and try it."
When we reached the other side we were told "no use to put on your
shoes or clothing, another river one mile ahead," the Rapidan here
joining the Rappahannock. Those who had partly disrobed put their
clothing under their arms, shoes in their hands, and went hurrying
along after the column in advance. These men, with their bare limbs,
resembled the Scotch Highlanders in the British Army, but their
modesty was put to the test; when about half-way to the other stream
they passed a large, old-fashioned Virginia residence, with balconies
above and below, and these filled with ladies of the surrounding
country, visitors to see the soldiers pass. It was an amusing sight no
less to the ladies of the house than to the men, to witness this long
line of soldiers rushing by with their coat-tails beating a tattoo
on their naked nether limbs. The other stream was not so wide, but
equally as cold and deep.
General Kershaw, sitting on his horse at this point, amusing himself
at the soldiers' plight, undertook to encourage and soothe their
ruffled feelings by giving words of cheer. "Go ahead, boys," remarked
the General, "and don't mind this; when I was in Mexico--" "But,
General, it wasn't so cold in Mexico, nor did they fight war in
winter, and a horse's legs are not so tender as a man's bare shins,"
were some of the answers given, and all took a merry laugh and went
scudding away.
Passing over, we entered the famous Wilderness, soon to be made
renowned by the clash of arms, where Lee and Hooker met and shook
the surrounding country with the thunder of their guns a few months
afterwards, and where Grant made the "echoes ring" and reverberate
on the 5th and 6th of May, the year following. We found, too, the
"Chancellor House," this lone, large, dismal-looking building standing
alone in this Wilderness and surrounded on all sides by an almost
impenetrable forest of scrubby oaks and tangled vines. The house was
a large, old-fashioned hotel, situated on a cleared plateau, a
piazza above and below, reaching around on three sides. It was called
"Chancellorsville," but where the "ville" came in, or for what the
structure was ever built, I am unable to tell. This place occupied
a prominent place in the picture of the Battle of Chancellorsville,
being for a time the headquarters of General Hooker, and around which
the greater part of his cannon were placed. We took up camp in rear of
Fredericksburg, about two miles south of the city.
While here we received into our brigade the Fifteenth South Carolina
Regiment, commanded by Colonel DeSaussure, and the Third Battalion,
composed of eight companies and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Rice.
As these are new additions, it will be necessary to give a brief
sketch of their organization and movements prior to their connection
with Kershaw's Brigade.
Soon after the battle of Bull Run or First Manassas, the Richmond
Government made a call upon the different States for a new levy to
meet the call of President Lincoln for three hundred thousand more
troops to put down the Rebellion. The companies that were to compose
the Fifteenth Regiment assembled at the old camping ground at
Lightwood Knot Spring, three miles above Columbia. They were:
Company A----Captain Brown, Richland.
Company B----Captain Gist, Union.
Company C----Captain Lewie, Lexington.
Company D----Captain Warren, Kershaw.
Company E----Captain Davis, Fairfield.
Company F----Captain Boyd, Union.
Company G----Captain McKitchen, Williamsburg.
Company H----Captain Farr, Union.
Company I----Captain Koon, Lexington.
Company K----Captain Bird, ----
(These names are given from the best information obtainable and may
not be exactly correct, but as the fortunes of war soon made radical
changes it is of little moment at this late date.) These companies
elected for their field officers:
Colonel----Wm. DeSaussure.
Lieutenant Colonel----Joseph Gist.
Major ----
The regiment remained in camp undergoing a thorough course of
instruction until Hilton Head, on the coast of South Carolina, was
threatened; then the Fifteenth was ordered in the field and hurried to
that place, reaching it on the afternoon of the day before the battle
of that name. The Fifteenth, with the Third Battalion and other State
troops, was placed under the command of Brigadier General Drayton,
also of South Carolina, and put in position. The next day, by some
indiscretion of General Drayton, or so supposed at that time, the
Fifteenth was placed in such position as to be greatly exposed to the
heavy fire from the war vessels in the harbor. This caused the loss of
some thirty or forty in killed and wounded. The slaughter would have
been much greater had it not been for the courage and quick perception
of Colonel DeSaussure in maneuvering them into a place of safety.
After the battle the regiment lay for some time about Hardeesville and
Bluffton doing guard and picket duty, still keeping up their course
of daily drills. They were then sent to James Island, and were held in
reserve at the battle of Secessionville. After the great Seven Days'
Battles around Richmond it and the Third Battalion were ordered to
Virginia and placed with a regiment from Alabama and one from Georgia
in a brigade under General Drayton. They went into camp below Richmond
as a part of a division commanded by Brigadier General D.R. Jones, in
the corps commanded by Longstreet. When Lee began his march northward
they broke camp on the 13th of August, and followed the lead of
Longstreet to Gordonsville, and from thence on to Maryland. They were
on the field during the bloody battle of Second Manassas, but not
actually engaged, being held in the reserve line on the extreme right.
At South Mountain they received their first baptism of fire in a
battle with infantry. On the memorable 17th of September at Sharpsburg
they were confirmed as veteran soldiers in an additional baptism of
blood. However, as yet considered raw and undisciplined troops, they
conducted themselves on each of these trying occasions like trained
soldiers. Colonel DeSaussure was one of the most gallant and efficient
officers that South Carolina ever produced. He was a Mexican War
veteran and a born soldier. His attainments were such as fitted him
for much higher position in the service than he had yet acquired. Had
not the fortunes of war laid him low not many miles distant one year
later, he would have shown, no doubt, as one of the brightest stars in
the constellation of great Generals that South Carolina ever produced.
After the return to Virginia Drayton's Brigade was broken up, and the
Fifteenth and Third Battalion were assigned to the brigade of General
J.B. Kershaw, and began its service in that organization on the
heights of Fredericksburg.
* * * * *
THE THIRD BATTALION.
I am indebted to Colonel W.G. Rice for a brief sketch of the Third
Battalion, or as it was more generally known in the army, "James'
Battalion," after its first commander, (who fell at South Mountain,
Md.,) up to the time of joining the brigade:
"On the fall of Hilton Head and the occupation of Port Royal by the
enemy, the Governor of South Carolina issued a call for volunteers for
State service. Among the companies offering their services were four
from Laurens County. Lieutenant Geo. S. James having resigned from
the United States Army, and being personally known to several of the
officers of said four companies, they united in forming a battalion
and electing him Major. The companies became known thereafter as:
"Company A--Captain W.G. Rice.
Company B--Captain J.G. Williams.
Company C--Captain J.M. Shumate.
Company D--Captain G.M. Gunnels.
"All of Laurens County, the organization being effected at Camp
Hampton, near Columbia, November, 1861, and where Major James assumed
command. In December the battalion was ordered to Charleston, and
from thence to White Point, near the coast. Here the battalion
was strengthened by three more companies, making it now a compound
battalion and entitled to a Lieutenant Colonel and Major. The
additional companies were:
"Company E, from Laurens--Captain M.M. Hunter.
Company F, from Richland--Captain D.B. Miller.
Company G, from Fairfield--Captain A.P. Irby.
"Major James was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and Captain W.G.
Rice, as senior Captain, made Major, while Lieutenant J.M. Townsend
was raised to the grade of Captain in place of Major Rice.
"In April, 1862, a reorganization was ordered, and the troops enlisted
in the Confederate States' service. Both Colonel James and Major Rice
were elected to their former positions, with the following company
commanders:
"J.M. Townsend--Captain Company A.
O.A. Watson--Captain Company B.
William Huggins--Captain Company C.
G.M. Gunnels--Captain Company D.
W.H. Fowler--Captain Company E.
D.B. Miller--Captain Company F.
B.M. Whitener--Captain Company G.
"Early in June the battalion was ordered to James' Island, arriving
there two days before the battle of Secessionville, but not
participating in it. A short while afterwards it was ordered to
Richmond, and there remained until the great forward movement of
General Lee's, which resulted in the Second Manassas Battle and the
invasion of Maryland. The battalion was now brigaded with Philip's
Georgia Legion, Fiftieth and Fifty-first Georgia, and Fifteenth South
Carolina Regiments, and commanded by Brigadier General Drayton. The
battalion was under fire at Waterloo Bridge and at Thoroughfare Gap,
and the brigade held the extreme right of Lee's Army at the Second
Manassas Battle, but was not seriously engaged. The topography of the
country was such that while the incessant roar of artillery could be
distinctly heard during the day, no infantry could be heard, and the
extreme right did not hear of the result of the great battle until
General Robert Toombs marched by and shouted to his fellow Georgians:
'Another great and glorious Bull Run.' After repeated marches and
counter-marches during the day, night put an end to the bloody
struggle, and the troops lay down to rest. A perfect tornado of shot
and shell tore through the woods all around us until deep darkness
fell and the enemy withdrew, leaving the entire field to the
Confederates."
After resting for nearly a week at Frederick City, Md., the battalion,
with the Fifteenth South Carolina and the Georgians of Drayton's
Brigade, was ordered to re-enforce General D.H. Hill, who was guarding
Lee's rear at Crompton's Gap, in South Mountain. Here the South
Carolinians were for the first time thoroughly baptized with fire and
blood, and in which the gallant Colonel James lost his life. Of this
battle Colonel Rice says:
"Late in the evening of September 14th the brigade reached the
battlefield and deployed in an old disused road that crossed the
mountain some four hundred yards to the right of the turn-pike. No
enemy in sight. Failing to drive D.H. Hill from their front, the
Federals made a detour and approached him by the flank. Two hundred
yards from the road mentioned above was a belt of woods saddling the
mountain, and at this point running parallel with the road. General
Drayton, not seeing the enemy, ordered forward Captain Miller's
Company as skirmishers to ascertain their whereabouts. Captain Miller
had advanced but a short distance when he met the enemy in force.
General Drayton ordered the command to forward and drive them from the
woods. In the execution of this order some confusion arose, and a part
of the brigade gave way, leaving the battalion in a very peculiar and
isolated condition. There was a low rock fence running at right angles
to the battle line, and behind this the battalion sought to protect
itself, but it seemed and was in reality a deathtrap, for it presented
its right flank to the enemy. It thus became only a question of a very
short time when it must either leave the field or surrender. Right
nobly did this little band of heroes hold their ground against
overwhelming numbers, and their front was never successfully
approached; but as both flanks were so mercilessly assailed, a short
time was sufficient to almost annihilate them. Colonel James was twice
admonished by his second in command of his untenable position, and
that death or surrender was inevitable if he persisted in holding
his ground, but without avail. The true soldier that he was preferred
death to yielding. Just as night approached and firing began to cease,
Colonel James was pierced through the breast with a minnie ball, from
the effects of which he soon died."
Colonel Rice was dangerously wounded and left on the field for dead.
But recovering consciousness, he found himself within the enemy's
lines, that portion of his command nearest him having been withdrawn
some distance in the rectifying of the lines. Colonel Rice escaped
capture by crawling in a deep wash in the road, and was rescued by
some skirmishers who were advancing to establish a new line. Colonel
Rice gives this information in a foot-note: "The road in which the
brigade was stationed was as all roads crossing hills, much washed and
worn down, thus giving the troops therein stationed the advantage
of first class breastworks. I do not know that the Fifteenth
South Carolina and the other portion of the brigade were thus
sheltered--have heard indeed that all were not--but within my vision
the position was most admirable, now almost impregnable with good
troops to defend it. To leave such a position was suicidal, especially
when we were ordered to march through open ground and attack the
enemy, sheltered behind trees and rocks. This is my estimate at least,
and the result proved most disastrous to the brigade and General
Drayton himself, as he was soon afterwards relieved of his command."
It has been the aim of the writer of this History not to criticize,
condemn, nor make any comments upon the motives or acts of any of
the officers whom he should have cause to mention, and he somewhat
reluctantly gives space to Colonel Rice's stricture of General
Drayton. It is difficult for officers in subaltern position to
understand all that their superiors do and do not. The Generals, from
their positions, can see differently from those in the line amid the
smoke of battle, and they often give commands hard to comprehend from
minor officers' point of view. General Drayton was an accomplished
and gallant officer, and while he might have been rash and reckless at
South Mountain, still it is hard to conceive his being relieved of his
command through the charge of "rashness," especially when his brigade
held up successfully for so long a time one of the most stubborn
battles of the war.
At the Battle of Sharpsburg or Antietam, the little remnant of the
battalion was again engaged. On Lee's return to Virginia, and during
the last days of November or early in December, the Third Battalion
and the Fifteenth Regiment were transferred to Kershaw's Brigade, and
from thence on it will be treated as a part of the old First Brigade.
At Fredericksburg, on the day of the great battle, the battalion held
the railroad cut running from near the city to the right of Mayree's
Hill, and was well protected by a bluff and the railroad, consequently
did not suffer as great a loss as the other regiments of the brigade.
* * * * *
COLONEL GEORGE S. JAMES.
The first commander of the Third Battalion, and who fell at South
Mountain, was born in Laurens County, in 1829. He was the second son
of John S. James, a prominent lawyer of Laurens, who, meeting with
misfortune and losing a handsome fortune, attempted to retain it
by moving to Columbia and engaging in mercantile pursuits. This he
followed with success. Colonel George S. James received his early
education in the academies of the up-country. While yet a youth
some seventeen years of age, war with Mexico was declared, and his
patriotic and chivalric spirit sent him at once to the ranks of the
Palmetto Regiment, and he shared the triumphs and fortunes of that
command to the close of the war.
After his return to his native State, he entered the South Carolina
College, along with many others, who in after years made their State
and themselves immortal by their fiery zeal in the War of Secession.
At the college young James was a great favorite of all who knew him
best, and while not a close student of text-books, he was an extensive
reader, always delighting his friends with wit and humor. The student
life, however, failed to satisfy his adventurous spirit, and wandering
away to the far distant West, seeking adventure or congenial pursuits,
he received a commission of Lieutenant in the United States Army.
The storm cloud of war, so long hovering over the land, was now about
to burst, and Lieutenant James seeing separation and perhaps war
inevitable, resigned his commission, and hastened to offer his sword
to his native State. He commanded a battery at Fort Johnson, on James'
Island, and shared with General Ruffin the honor of firing the first
gun at Fort Sumter, a shot that was to electrify the world and put in
motion two of the grandest and mightiest armies of all times.
* * * * *