BIOGRAPHICAL.
MAJOR-GENERALS AND BRIGADIER-GENERALS, PROVISIONAL ARMY OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES, ACCREDITED TO SOUTH CAROLINA.
MAJOR-GENERALS AND BRIGADIER-GENERALS, PROVISIONAL ARMY OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES, ACCREDITED TO SOUTH CAROLINA.
Brigadier-General Barnard E. Bee was born at Charleston, S. C., in 1823, the son of Col. Barnard E. Bee, who removed to Texas in 1835, and grandson of Thomas Bee, the first Federal judge of the State of South Carolina. He was appointed as a cadet-at-large to the United States military academy, and was graduated in 1845, with promotion to brevet second lieutenant, Third infantry. Immediately afterward he served in the military occupation of Texas, and during the war with Mexico participated in the battles of 1846 at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, after which he was on recruiting service with promotion to second lieutenant. In 1847 he took part in the siege of Vera Cruz, and while storming the enemy's intrenched heights at Cerro Gordo, was wounded and earned the brevet of first lieutenant. His gallant record was continued in the conflicts at Contreras, Churubusco, Chapultepec and the City of Mexico, winning for him the rank of brevet captain and a sword of honor from South Carolina, his native State. After the close of this war he served as adjutant of the Third infantry at various army posts on the frontier, until the spring of 1855, with promotion to first lieutenant in 1851, and to captain of the Tenth infantry in 1855. For a short time he was detached at the cavalry school at Carlisle; then was on frontier duty in Minnesota; marched with Albert Sidney Johnston to Utah in 1857, and in that territory served as lieutenant-colonel of the volunteer battalion until the close of 1858. He was on duty at Fort Laramie, Dak., when he resigned in March, 1861, to enter the Confederateservice. First commissioned major of infantry, C. S. A., he was promoted to brigadier-general, provisional army, in June, and given command of the Third brigade of the army of the Shenandoah, under Brig.-Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, whose other brigade commanders were Colonels Jackson, Bartow and Elzey. Bee's command was composed of the Second and Eleventh Mississippi, Sixth North Carolina and Fourth Alabama regiments, and Imboden's battery. After participating in the maneuvers in the valley against Patterson, his brigade was the first to reinforce Beauregard at Manassas Junction, arriving there on July 20th. He selected the position for the artillery on the morning of the 21st near the Henry house, almost simultaneously with the placing of Rickett's battery on the opposite hill, and ordered the opening of the artillery fire which checked the Federal advance and made the subsequent victory possible. He was the ranking officer on this part of the field during the early hours of battle, and supported Evans with his own and Bartow's brigades, while Jackson followed and took position on the line he had selected. Forced back by Federal reinforcements, he rallied his troops, and during the confusion shouted the historic words: "Look at Jackson's brigade. It stands there like a stonewall." His gallant men soon reformed and drove the Federals from the Henry house plateau which they had gained, and soon afterward were in turn driven back by the enemy. In the second charge of the Confederates which swept the Federals from the disputed position, captured the Rickett and Griffin batteries, and won the day, General Bee fell mortally wounded near the Henry house, close to the spot where he gave his first orders for battle. He died the following morning, July 22, 1861, in the little cabin on the field where he had made his headquarters. The death of General Bee, in this first great battle of the war, caused universal mourning in the South. He wasan officer of tried courage and capacity, and had the promise of a glorious career in the great struggle into which he had entered with such generous enthusiasm.
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Brigadier-General Milledge Luke Bonham was born near Red Bank, Edgefield district, December 22, 1813, the son of Capt. James Bonham, who came from Virginia to South Carolina about the close of the last century, and married Sophie, daughter of Jacob Smith, niece of Capt. James Butler, head of an illustrious South Carolina family. The grandfather of General Bonham was Maj. Absalom Bonham, a native of Maryland and a soldier of the revolutionary war. General Bonham, after graduation at the South Carolina college, had his first military experience as a volunteer in the company of Capt. James Jones, in the Seminole war, and was promoted to brigade major, a position corresponding to adjutant-general of brigade. Subsequently, while beginning his career as a lawyer and legislator, he continued his association with the militia and attained the rank of major-general. When war began with Mexico he went to the front as lieutenant-colonel of the Twelfth United States infantry, and served with distinction, earning promotion to colonel, and remained in Mexico a year after the close of the war, as military governor of one of the provinces. Then returning home he resumed the practice of law, was elected solicitor of the southern circuit, and in 1856, upon the death of Preston S. Brooks, was chosen as the successor of that gentleman in Congress. Upon the secession of the State he promptly resigned and was appointed commander-in-chief of the South Carolina army, with the rank of major-general. In this capacity, and waiving all questions of rank and precedence, at the request of Governor Pickens, he served upon the coast in hearty co-operation with General Beauregard, sent there by the provisional government of the Confederate States. At a later date he was commissioned brigadier-general in theprovisional army, and he took to Richmond the first troops, not Virginian, that arrived for the defense of the capital. His regiments were commanded by Colonels Kershaw, Williams, Cash and Bacon, and were conspicuous in the operations before Washington and in the first battle of Manassas. Afterward, in consequence of a disagreement with the war department, he resigned and was elected to the Confederate Congress. In December, 1862, he was elected governor of the State, an office which he filled with credit. In January, 1865, he was appointed to command of a brigade of cavalry, in the organization of which he was engaged at the close of military operations. His subsequent career was marked by the same ardent patriotism. As a delegate to President Grant from the taxpayers' convention, and a supporter of the revolution of 1876, he rendered the State valuable service. He was the first railroad commissioner of South Carolina, in 1878, and subsequently chairman of the commission until his death, August 27, 1890. As a soldier he is described as "one of the finest looking officers in the entire army. His tall, graceful figure, commanding appearance, noble bearing and soldierly mien, all excited the admiration and confidence of his troops. He wore a broad-brimmed hat with a waving plume, and sat his horse with the knightly grace of Charles the Bold or Henry of Navarre. His soldiers were proud of him, and loved to do him homage. While he was a good disciplinarian, so far as the volunteer service required, he did not treat his officers with any air of superiority."
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Brigadier-General John Bratton was born at Winnsboro, S. C., March 7, 1831, the son of Dr. William Bratton by his second wife, Isabella Means. He is a descendant of Col. William Bratton, of Virginia, who removed to York county, S. C., and was a conspicuous figure in the war of the revolution. John Bratton was graduated at the South Carolina college in 1850, and a few years later embarkedin the practice of medicine at his native town, having completed a professional course at the Charleston college. In 1861 he enlisted in the first call for ten regiments of troops, as a private, and being promoted captain, served in that capacity during the bombardment of Fort Sumter, and until the State troops were called upon to enlist in the Confederate service. His company declining to respond, he again enlisted as a private, and with twenty-three men of his old command helped to fill up a company for the Sixth regiment. This was soon ordered to Virginia, where he went as second lieutenant of Company C. Except for the engagement at Dranesville, the year for which the regiment enlisted was uneventful, but toward the close he attracted the favorable attention of General Johnston by advocating the enlistment of his regiment as a whole for the war, and though this proposition failed, he was enabled to re-enlist the first company of one year's men of Johnston's army. It followed that a battalion of six companies of the Sixth was re-enlisted, and he was soon elected to the command, and promoted colonel when the regiment was filled up. He commanded his regiment with gallantry in Jenkins' brigade, Longstreet's corps, at Williamsburg, Seven Pines, the Seven Days' battles, and the succeeding campaigns of the army of Northern Virginia, and in the Chickamauga and Knoxville campaigns, where he was in command of the brigade while Jenkins had charge of Hood's division. After the death of Jenkins at the battle of the Wilderness, he was at once promoted brigadier-general on the urgent request of General Lee, and he continued to lead this famous brigade to the end. At Appomattox, so well had his gallant men held together, he had the largest brigade in the army, a little over 1,500 men, and in fact it was larger than some of the divisions. His brigade alone made an orderly march to Danville and secured railroad transportation for a part of their homeward journey. When General Bratton reached home he gave hisattention to planting, and in 1866 was elected to the legislature. In 1876 he was the chairman of the South Carolina delegation to the national Democratic convention, in 1880 was chairman of the State committee of his party, and in 1881 was elected comptroller of the State to fill an unexpired term. He was a stalwart lieutenant of Gen. Wade Hampton in the famous campaign of 1876, was elected to Congress in 1884, and was his party's candidate for governor in 1890. Having been for many years identified with the agricultural interests of the State, he was selected as the one man likely to unify his party. With the single purpose of mitigating the evils attending division among the whites, he sacrificed himself on the shrine of duty, as he saw it, and though defeated, again won the admiration of all classes. Until his death at Winnsboro, January 12, 1898, he held firmly the unalloyed love and respect of the people.
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Major-General Matthew Calbraith Butler was born near Greenville, S. C., March 6, 1836. His father was Dr. William Butler, an assistant surgeon in the United States navy, and a congressman in 1841; his mother, Jane T., daughter of Captain Perry, U. S. N., of Newport, R. I., and sister of Commodore Oliver H. Perry and Matthew Calbraith Perry. Judge A. P. Butler, United States senator, and Gov. Pierce M. Butler, colonel of the Palmetto regiment and killed at Churubusco, were his uncles; his grandfather, Gen. William Butler, was a gallant officer of the revolutionary army, and his great-grandfather, Capt. James Butler, a native of Loudoun county, Va., was the founder of the family in North Carolina. In childhood he accompanied his father to Arkansas, but after the latter's death returned to South Carolina in 1851, and made his home with Senator A. P. Butler near Edgefield. He was educated at the South Carolina college, and then reading law was admitted to practice in 1857. In the following year he was marriedto Maria, daughter of Gov. F. W. Pickens. He was elected to the legislature in 1860, but before the conclusion of his term, entered the military service of his State as captain of a company of cavalry in Hampton's legion. This command took a distinguished part in the first battle of Manassas, and Captain Butler was promoted major to date from July 21st, the beginning of his famous career in the cavalry of the army of Northern Virginia. He commanded the cavalry of the legion under Stuart in the withdrawal of the troops from Yorktown, and was warmly commended for gallantry at Williamsburg. In August, 1862, he was promoted to colonel of the Second regiment, South Carolina cavalry, Hampton's brigade, and in this rank he participated in the Second Manassas and Maryland campaigns, winning favorable mention for gallant leadership in the affair at Monocacy bridge, and in Stuart's Chambersburg raid. He commanded the main part of his brigade in the Dumfries expedition of December, 1862, and in June, 1863, he was one of the most conspicuous leaders in the famous cavalry battle of Brandy Station. Here he was severely wounded by a shell, losing his right foot, and promotion to brigadier-general followed in September. Returning to service before his wound healed he was sent home to recover. He succeeded General Hampton in brigade command, and took part in the fall campaigns of the army in 1863, and throughout the famous struggle of 1864, at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and before Richmond in opposition to Sheridan, he was one of the heroic figures of this last great campaign of the Confederate armies. The reports of Sheridan himself attest the splendid fighting of Butler and his brigade at Hawe's Shop and Cold Harbor. At Trevilian Station he was in command of Hampton's division, and repulsed seven distinct and determined assaults by the largely superior forces under Sheridan, his command occupying the most important point of the Confederate line and fighting as infantry. In Septemberhe was promoted major-general, and in the spring of 1865 he was detached with a small division for the campaign against Sherman in the Carolinas. He commanded the rear guard of Hardee's army at the evacuation of Columbia and Cheraw, and at the last had division command of cavalry, his forces and Gen. Joe Wheeler's forming the command of Lieut.-Gen. Wade Hampton. The close of the war left him in financial ruin, but he bravely met the exigencies of the occasion, and in a short time attained national repute for the firmness and boldness with which he handled the political questions which concerned the essentials of the reorganized social life. While he powerfully advocated obedience to the reconstruction measures as the law, law being preferable to chaos, he receded at no time from a persistent opposition to infringements on good government, and was largely instrumental in securing the election of Gov. Wade Hampton. In 1876 he was elected to the United States Senate, where his admission was met by a storm of partisan protest which is memorable in the history of the nation, but his career of eighteen years in that exalted body vindicated the good judgment and patriotism of the State which deputed him as its representative. In the stormy days of sectional debate in Congress he was one of the foremost champions of the South, but at a later period he was enabled to make a splendid record in constructive statesmanship by his staunch advocacy of a strong navy, of civil service reform, and other measures now settled in national policy. After the expiration of his service in the Senate, March, 1895, he engaged in the practice of law at Washington, D. C. In 1898 he was appointed a major-general in the volunteer army of the United States, for the war with Spain, and after peace was secured he served as a member of the commission for the removal of the Spanish forces from Cuba.
M. C. BUTLER
M. C. BUTLER
Brigadier-General Ellison Capers, a descendant of an English family which settled in South Carolina among the earliest colonists, was born in Charleston, October 14, 1837. His father, grandfather and several generations of the name, belonged to the parishes of St. Thomas and St. Denis, in Charleston county, in the territory originally called Berkeley county. His mother was of Irish extraction, her father, William McGill, having settled in Kershaw county, upon coming from Ireland. William Capers, the grandfather of Ellison, was a soldier of the revolution, a lieutenant in the Second South Carolina regiment, and after the fall of Charleston in 1780, one of Marion's captains in his famous partisan brigade, in which his only brother, G. Sinclair Capers, held the same rank. Several thrilling incidents in the career of these two gallant partisan captains are related by Judge James, of South Carolina, in his life of Marion. They were both planters. William Capers, father of Ellison, was born on his father's plantation, "Bull Head," in St. Thomas parish, about 20 miles north of Charleston, January 25, 1790. He was graduated at the South Carolina college in Columbia, entered the Methodist ministry in 1808, and devoted his life and brilliant talents to his sacred calling. He was elected and consecrated a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal church South, in 1845, and died at his home in Anderson, S. C., January 29, 1855. Ellison Capers, the fourth son of his marriage with Susan McGill, was graduated at the South Carolina military academy in November, 1857. The next year he was a resident graduate and assistant professor of mathematics and belles lettres in his alma mater. In 1859 he married Charlotte Rebecca, fourth daughter of John Gendron and Catherine Cotourier Palmer, of Cherry Grove plantation, St. John's, Berkeley, S. C. In the fall of this year he was appointed assistant professor of mathematics in the South Carolina military academy at Charleston with the rank of second lieutenant. The active state of affairs inCharleston during the summer and fall of 1860 roused the military spirit of the people, and the First regiment of Rifles was organized in Charleston, of which Lieutenant Capers was unanimously elected major. He served with this regiment at Castle Pinckney, and on Morris, Sullivan's, James and John's islands. His regiment also constituted a part of the army under Beauregard during the attack on Fort Sumter. He continued to serve in the vicinity of Charleston until November, when he resigned the rank of lieutenant-colonel to which he had been promoted, in order that he might enter the Confederate service. Satisfied that a terrible struggle was before his people, he resigned his professorship at the military academy and united with Col. Clement H. Stevens, of Charleston, in enlisting a regiment for the war. The regiment was mustered into the Confederate service as the Twenty-fourth South Carolina volunteer infantry, April 1, 1862, with Clement H. Stevens as colonel, Ellison Capers, lieutenant-colonel, and H. J. Hammond, major; on the 4th of April was ordered to Coles' island, and on the 25th of May was transferred to James island. On June 3d, Companies A, B, D and E, and the Charleston battalion, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Capers, opened the James Island campaign. In this engagement Colonel Capers led the attack, and for his courageous and skillful management of this affair he was commended in general orders. At the battle of Secessionville, the Twenty-fourth was again engaged, and Colonel Capers was praised in orders. He was next detailed to command a battery of siege guns at Clark's house. Except a short service at Pocotaligo the regiment was on James island until December 15, 1862, when it was ordered to North Carolina to the relief of Wilmington, and stationed at the railroad crossing of Northeast river on Island Ford road. On February 13th it was returnedto South Carolina and placed on duty in the Third military district (W. S. Walker's). Lieutenant-Colonel Capers, with part of his regiment and other commands, was detached to command the district between Combahee and Ashepoo rivers. Charleston being threatened with attack, the regiment was ordered back to Secessionville, April 5, 1863. On May 6th it left South Carolina for Jackson, Miss., being assigned to Gist's brigade, and eight days later, while commanding the regiment in the battle at Jackson, Lieutenant-Colonel Capers was wounded. About the last of August, Gist's brigade was sent to General Bragg. It participated in the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, and in the former Capers was again wounded. During the winter at Dalton in January, 1864, Colonel Stevens was promoted to brigadier-general and placed in charge of the brigade formerly commanded by Gen. Claudius C. Wilson. It was while leading this brigade that General Stevens received his mortal wound at Peachtree creek, July 20, 1864. Lieutenant-Colonel Capers was promoted to the colonelcy of the Twenty-fourth, which he led through the Atlanta and Tennessee campaigns until the battle of Franklin, where he was wounded and Gist was killed. On March 1, 1865, on the recommendations of Generals Johnston, Hardee and Cheatham, he was commissioned brigadier-general and assigned to the command of Gist's brigade. After the war General Capers was elected secretary of state of South Carolina, December, 1866. In 1867 he entered the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal church. He was for twenty years rector at Greenville, S. C., for one year at Selma, Ala., and for six years at Trinity, Columbia. In 1889 the degree of D. D. was conferred on him by the university of South Carolina. On May 4, 1893, he was elected bishop by the convention of South Carolina on the first ballot, and on July 20, 1893, was consecrated in this sacred office.
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Brigadier-General James Chestnut, a gallant South Carolinian, distinguished as a general officer, also served as aide-de-camp on the staff of President Davis, in which connection his biography is given in the first volume of this work.
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Brigadier-General James Conner was born at Charleston, the son of Henry W. Conner, of that city. After his graduation at the South Carolina college in 1849, he read law under James L. Petigru, and was admitted to practice in 1852. In 1856 his ability as a lawyer was recognized by appointment as United States district attorney, an office which he resigned in 1860 on account of the prospect of secession by his State. He was associated with Judge Magrath and Hon. W. F. Colcock on a committee which visited the legislature and urged the calling of a convention, and after the passage of the ordinance he devoted himself to preparation for the field. Though appointed Confederate States attorney for the district, he refused to leave the military service and deputed his official duties. He entered the Confederate service as captain of the Montgomery Guards, and in May, 1861, was chosen captain of Company A, Washington light infantry, Hampton's legion. He was promoted major to date from the first battle of Manassas, and in June, 1862, became colonel of the Twenty-second North Carolina regiment. Being disabled for duty, he was detailed as one of the judges of the military court of the Second corps, with the rank of colonel of cavalry. On June 1, 1864, he was promoted brigadier-general, and was assigned to command of McGowan's and Lane's brigades. Subsequently, as acting major-general, he commanded a division consisting of the brigades of McGowan, Lane and Bushrod Johnson. On the return of General McGowan to duty, General Conner was assigned permanently to the command of Kershaw's old brigade. In 1865 he was promoted to major-general, and the commission was made out, and forwarded, but failed to reach him in the confusion of the final days of the Confederacy. He was at the bombardment of Fort Sumter, 1861, and participated in the battles of First Manassas, Yorktown, New Stone Point, West Point, Seven Pines, Mechanicsville, Chancellorsville, Riddle's Shop, Darby's Farm, Fussell's Mill, Petersburg, Jerusalem Plank Road, Reams' Station, Winchester, Port Republic and Cedar Creek. He was severely wounded in the leg at Mechanicsville, and again in the same leg near Fisher's Hill, October, 1864, compelling the amputation of the limb. At First Manassas the command of the legion was given him as senior captain, by Colonel Hampton, when the latter was wounded, and Captain Conner gallantly led in the charge upon Rickett's battery. As commander of Kershaw's South Carolinians he was greatly beloved by his men. After his return to Charleston he resumed the practice of law, in which he gained distinction. For many years he was assistant counsel and then solicitor of the South Carolina railroad, and for the bank of Charleston, and for some time was receiver of the Greenville & Columbia railroad. In 1876 he was chairman of the Democratic executive committee of the State, and was nominated and elected attorney-general of the State, on the ticket headed by General Hampton. During the exciting period of this campaign he was in command of the rifle-clubs which were depended upon for the preservation of order, and his calmness and self-control were of great value to the State. His performance of the duties of attorney-general elicited the warm official commendation of Governor Hampton, and thanks were tendered him by the legislature in the name of the people of the State.
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Brigadier-General Thomas Fenwick Drayton was born in South Carolina about 1807, of an ancestral line distinguished in the history of the State. His grandfather,William Drayton, born in South Carolina in 1733, was educated in law at the Temple, London; was appointed chief justice of the province of East Florida in 1768, and after the revolution was judge of admiralty, associate justice of the supreme court, and first United States district judge. His father, William Drayton, born in 1776, a lawyer, entered the United States service as lieutenant-colonel in 1812; was promoted colonel, and later inspector-general; was associated with Generals Scott and Macomb in the preparation of a system of infantry tactics; resigned in 1815, afterward served in Congress 1825-33, and was a warm friend and supporter of President Jackson. General Drayton was graduated at the United States military academy in 1828, in the class of Jefferson Davis, and was in the service as second lieutenant of Sixth infantry until his resignation in 1836. Subsequently he was occupied as a civil engineer at Charleston, Louisville and Cincinnati for two years, then becoming a planter in St. Luke's parish. He served as captain of South Carolina militia five years, was a member of the board of ordnance of the State, a State senator 1853-61, and president of the Charleston & Savannah railroad 1853-56. September 25, 1861, he was commissioned brigadier-general, provisional army of the Confederate States, and was assigned to the command of the Third military district of the State. He was in command of the Confederate forces during the bombardment and capture of Forts Walker and Beauregard, at Port Royal entrance, in November, 1861, on which occasion his brother, Capt. Percival Drayton, commanded the steamer Pocahontas, one of the Federal vessels under Admiral DuPont. He was in charge of the Fifth military district, under Gen. R. E. Lee, and the Sixth and Fourth districts under Pemberton, in the same region, with headquarters at Hardeeville. During the Second Manassas and Maryland campaigns he commanded a brigade composed of the Fifteenth South Carolina, and two Georgia regiments, which, with Toombs' Georgia brigade, constituted the division of D. R. Jones, Longstreet's corps, and participated in the battles of Thoroughfare Gap and Second Manassas, South Mountain and Sharpsburg. In August, 1863, he was ordered to report to Gen. T. H. Holmes, at Little Rock, Ark., and was there assigned to command of a brigade of Sterling Price's division, consisting of Missouri and Arkansas troops. From the beginning of 1864 he was in command of this division in Arkansas, until Gen. Kirby Smith relieved Holmes, when he was transferred to the command of the West sub-district of Mexico. He was also in command of the Texas cavalry division composed of the brigades of Slaughter and H. E. McCullough. In the spring of 1865 he was a member of the board of inquiry demanded by General Price after his Missouri expedition. After the close of hostilities, General Drayton farmed in Dooly county, Ga., until 1872, afterward was an insurance agent, and in 1878 removed to Charlotte, N. C., as president of the South Carolina immigration society. He died at Florence, February 18, 1891.
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Brigadier-General John Dunovant held the rank of major of infantry in the State army during the initial operations of the war of the Confederacy, and during the bombardment of Fort Sumter was present at Fort Moultrie, doing all that was in his power. Subsequently he became colonel of the First regiment of infantry, and was stationed for some time on Sullivan's island and at Fort Moultrie. Later in 1862 he was given command of the Fifth regiment, South Carolina cavalry, in which capacity he served in the State, until ordered to Virginia in March, 1864. There he and his regiment were under the brigade command of Gen. M. C. Butler, in Wade Hampton's division of Stuart's cavalry. The regiment under his leadership did admirable service, General Ransom reported, at the battle of Drewry's Bluff, May 16th, and subsequently in the encounters with Sheridan'scavalry, he shared the services of Butler's brigade at Cold Harbor, Trevilian's and other important conflicts. On August 2, 1864, President Davis suggested to General Lee, Dunovant's promotion to temporary rank as brigadier-general, and it was soon afterward ordered. In this capacity he had brigade command under General Hampton until, in the fighting north of the James river, following the capture of Fort Harrison, he was killed October 1, 1864. On receipt of news of the death of the gallant soldier, General Lee replied to General Hampton: "I grieve with you at the loss of General Dunovant and Dr. Fontaine, two officers whom it will be difficult to replace."
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Brigadier-General Stephen Elliott, Jr., was born at Beaufort, S. C., in 1832, son of Stephen Elliott, first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal diocese of Georgia and provisional bishop of Florida; and grandson of Stephen Elliott, a distinguished naturalist. He passed his youth on the plantation, devoted to manly sports. At the beginning of the formation of the Confederate States, he organized and equipped a light battery, known as the Beaufort artillery, of which he was commissioned captain. He was present at the bombardment of Fort Sumter, aiming several shots from the siege guns, and during his subsequent service in the State he became famous for daring and skillful fighting. On guard in 1861 in the vicinity of Port Royal harbor, he put twenty of his boys on the tug Lady Davis, and ran out to sea to find a prize. With indomitable pluck, accompanied by good fortune, he captured a sailing vessel, of 1,200 tons, and brought her in to Beaufort. Subsequently he was ordered to Bay Point, the other side of Port Royal entrance being held by the German volunteers under Captain Wagener. There he fought a Federal fleet for two hours, until his guns were dismounted. After the Federals occupied the coast islands, he engaged in numerous daring raids. During one night he burned fourteen plantation settlements;again he surprised a picket post successfully, and in August, 1862, he commanded an expedition against a Federal force on Pinckney island, which was very successful and gained for him the unstinted commendation of his superiors. His activity also turned to the direction of inventing floating torpedoes, with which he blew up a tender in St. Helena bay. He was promoted to chief of artillery of the Third military district, including Beaufort, near where, in April, 1863, he captured the Federal steamer George Washington. Promotion followed to major and then to lieutenant-colonel. Twice he met the enemy in open field at Pocotaligo, where his guns put the invaders to flight. In command of the Charleston battalion he occupied Fort Sumter, September 5, 1863, and held the ruins of the famous citadel against the enemy until May, 1864. Then as colonel of Holcombe's legion he was ordered to Petersburg, Va., and was soon promoted to brigadier-general and assigned to the command of N. G. Evans' old brigade, which included the legion. He served actively in the defense of Petersburg, his brigade, a part of Bushrod Johnson's division, holding that important part of the line selected by the Federals as the point to be mined, and carried by an assaulting party. Two of his regiments, the Eighteenth and Twenty-second, occupied the works blown up on the morning of July 30th, and the immense displacement of earth which formed the crater maimed and buried many of the command. But, undismayed, General Elliott and his brigade received the onslaught made through the breach of the Confederate intrenchments. In the words of the division commander, "Brigadier-General Elliott, the gallant commander of the brigade which occupied the salient, was making prompt disposition of his forces to assault the enemy and reoccupy the remaining portion of the trenches when he was dangerously wounded." Entirely disabled for further service he returned to his home at Beaufort, and died from the effects of his wound, March 21, 1866.
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Brigadier-General Nathan George Evans was born in Marion county, S. C., February 6, 1824, the third son of Thomas Evans, who married Jane Beverly Daniel, of Virginia. He was graduated at Randolph-Macon college before he was eighteen, and at the United States military academy, which he entered by appointment of John C. Calhoun, in 1848. With a lieutenancy in the Second Dragoons, he was first on duty at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., whence he marched to the Rocky mountains in 1849. In 1850 to 1853 he served in New Mexico, and began a famous career as an Indian fighter, which was continued in Texas and Indian Territory after his promotion to captain in 1856, in various combats with the hostile Comanches. At the battle of Wachita Village, October 1, 1858, his command defeated a large body of the Comanches, and he killed two of their noted chieftains in a hand-to-hand fight. For this he was voted a handsome sword by the legislature of South Carolina. In 1860 he was married to a sister of Gen. M. W. Gary, of Abbeville county. He resigned from the old army in February, 1861, being then stationed in Texas, and taking farewell of his colonel, Robert E. Lee, proceeded to Montgomery, and was commissioned major of cavalry, C. S. A. Being assigned to duty as adjutant-general of the South Carolina army, he was present at the bombardment of Fort Sumter and was soon afterward promoted colonel. Joining the army under General Beauregard at Manassas Junction, Va., he had a command on the field during the first encounter at Blackburn's ford, and again in the great battle of July 21, 1861. At the opening of the latter engagement, his forces, consisting of the Fourth South Carolina regiment, a battalion of Louisiana volunteers, Terry's squadron of cavalry, and a section of Latham's battery, were stationed at the stone bridge, where he held the enemy in check in front, until he perceived in operation the flank movement which was the Federal plan of battle. Instantly without waiting for orders hethrew his little command in a new line, facing the enemy, and alone held him in check until reinforced by General Bee. With great intrepidity he and his men held their ground against great odds until the Confederate army could adapt itself to this unexpected attack. As remarked by a Northern historian: "Evans' action was probably one of the best pieces of soldiership on either side during the campaign, but it seems to have received no special commendation from his superiors." General Beauregard commended his "dauntless conduct and imperturbable coolness," but it was not until after the fight at Leesburg that he was promoted. This latter engagement, known also as Ball's Bluff, was fought in October, near the Potomac river, by his brigade, mainly Mississippians, and a splendid victory was gained over largely superior numbers, with great loss to the enemy. His promotion to brigadier-general was made to date from this memorable affair, and South Carolina again, through her general assembly, gave him a vote of thanks and presented him with a gold medal. In 1862 he commanded a brigade consisting of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-second and Twenty-third regiments, and Holcombe's legion, South Carolina troops, and was mentioned by General Longstreet among the officers most prominently distinguished in the battles of Second Manassas and Sharpsburg. In the latter fight he commanded his division. Thereafter his service was mainly rendered in South Carolina. In 1863 he moved to the support of Johnston against Grant. After the fall of Richmond he accompanied President Davis as far as Cokesbury, S. C. A year later he engaged in business at Charleston, but was mainly occupied as a teacher at Midway, Ala., until his death at that place, November 30, 1868. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee has written of him: "'Shanks' Evans, as he was called, was a graduate of the military academy, a native South Carolinian, served in the celebrated old Second Dragoons, and was a good type of the rip-roaring, scorn-all-care element, which so largely abounded in that regiment. Evans had the honor of opening the fight (First Manassas), we might say fired the first gun of the war."
Brig.-Gen.John Dunovant.Brig.-Gen.James Chestnut.Brig.-Gen.Barnard E. Bee.Maj.-Gen.M. C. Butler.Brig.-Gen.John Bratton.Brig.-Gen.M. L. Bonham.Brig.-Gen.N. G. Evans.Brig.-Gen.Stephen Elliott, Jr.Maj.-Gen.M. W. Gary.Brig.-Gen.Thos. F. Drayton.
Brig.-Gen.John Dunovant.Brig.-Gen.James Chestnut.Brig.-Gen.Barnard E. Bee.Maj.-Gen.M. C. Butler.Brig.-Gen.John Bratton.Brig.-Gen.M. L. Bonham.Brig.-Gen.N. G. Evans.Brig.-Gen.Stephen Elliott, Jr.Maj.-Gen.M. W. Gary.Brig.-Gen.Thos. F. Drayton.
Brigadier-General Samuel W. Ferguson was born and reared at Charleston, and was graduated at the United States military academy in 1857. As a lieutenant of dragoons he participated in the Utah expedition under Albert Sidney Johnston, and in 1859-60 was on duty at Fort Walla Walla, Washington. When informed of the result of the presidential election of 1860, he resigned his commission and returned to Charleston, and on March 1, 1861, entered the service of his native State with the rank of captain. Being appointed aide-de-camp to General Beauregard, he received the formal surrender of Major Anderson, raised the first Confederate flag and posted the first guards at Fort Sumter. He was then sent to deliver to the Congress at Montgomery the flag used at Fort Moultrie, the first standard of the Confederacy struck by a hostile shot. He remained on Beauregard's staff and took an active part in the battle of Shiloh, on the second day being assigned to command a brigade of the Second corps. At the battle of Farmington he was also on duty with General Beauregard. At the same time he held the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-eighth Mississippi regiment cavalry, and subsequently, stationed at Vicksburg, he had command of cavalry and outlying pickets until detailed for special duty along the Yazoo delta, opposing with cavalry and artillery the advance of the Federal transports. During Grant's preliminary movements against Vicksburg he thwarted the attempt of Sherman and Porter to reach the city in the rear by way of Deer creek. In 1863 he was promoted to brigadier-general. He was active in command of cavalry in harassing Sherman's movement to Chattanooga, and during the Georgia campaign of 1864 his brigade of Alabamians and Mississippians, withArmstrong's and Ross' brigades, formed the cavalry of the army of Mississippi, under command of Gen. W. H. Jackson, operating on the left wing of Johnston's army. He defeated Wilder's "lightning brigade," and displayed gallantry on every field. When Sherman began his march to Savannah, he harassed the Federal flank until within a few miles of Savannah, when he left his horses on the South Carolina side of the river, after swimming it, and entering Savannah with his men as infantry, covered the rear of Hardee's army at the evacuation. He subsequently operated in southern Georgia until ordered to Danville, Va., but on reaching Greensboro was ordered back, escorting President Davis from Charlotte to Abbeville, and as far as Washington, Ga., where his command was disbanded. He then made his home in Mississippi, and practiced law at Greenville. In 1876 he was made president of the board of Mississippi levee commission for several counties, and in 1883 became a member of the United States river commission. In 1894 he returned to his native city of Charleston, and devoted himself to the profession of civil engineering. In 1898 he offered his services for the war with Spain.
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Brigadier-General Martin Witherspoon Gary was born in 1831 at Cokesbury, Abbeville county, the third son of Dr. Thomas Reeder Gary. He was educated at the South Carolina college and Harvard college, graduating at the latter institution in 1854. Then studying law he was admitted to the bar in 1855, and soon acquired distinction in both law and politics. As a member of the South Carolina legislature in 1860 and 1861, he advocated secession, and when the ordinance was enacted, at once went into the military service as captain of the Watson Guards, which became Company B of the Hampton legion. At First Manassas the command of the legion devolved upon him after Colonel Hampton was wounded, Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson killed and Captain Connerdisabled. At the reorganization in 1862 he was elected lieutenant-colonel of the infantry of the legion, a battalion of eight companies, and after it was filled to a regiment, he was promoted colonel. He participated in the battles around Richmond, at Second Manassas, Boonsboro and Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and with Longstreet at Suffolk, Chickamauga, Bean's Station, Campbell's Station and Knoxville. His command was subsequently mounted as cavalry, and served on the north side of the James before Richmond. After the fight at Riddle's Shop, in June, 1864, he was promoted brigadier-general, his cavalry brigade including the Hampton legion, Seventh South Carolina, Seventh Georgia and Twenty-fourth Virginia regiments, and Harkerson's artillery. He led the brigade in all the heavy fighting north of the James during the siege, and was the last to leave Richmond. Capt. Clement Sulivane, left behind to destroy the bridge after Gary had crossed, relates that at daylight April 3d, when the Union troops were in sight advancing, and a mob was ravaging the storehouses, "a long line of cavalry in gray turned into Fourteenth street, and sword in hand galloped straight down to the river; Gary had come. The mob scattered right and left before the armed horsemen, who reined up at the canal. Presently a single company of cavalry appeared in sight, and rode at headlong speed to the bridge. 'My rear guard!' exclaimed Gary. Touching his hat to me, he called out, 'All over, good-bye!' and trotted over the bridge." Joining Lee's rear guard he was one of the heroes of Fitzhugh Lee's command, engaged in incessant fighting until Appomattox Court House was reached. There he did not surrender, but cut his way through the Federal lines, and rode to Greensboro, where he took command of about 200 men of his brigade on their way to Virginia, and escorted the President and his cabinet to Cokesbury, S. C. The cabinet held one of their last meetings in his mother's house atthat place. Then resuming the practice of law, he continued in that profession until his death at Edgefield, April 9, 1881. He was a noted figure in the exciting political campaign of 1876, and for four years thereafter held a seat in the State senate.
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Brigadier-General States R. Gist was a descendant of that gallant Marylander, Gen. Mordecai Gist, who distinguished himself at the battle of Camden in 1780, and at the Combahee in 1782, and subsequently resided at Charleston, at his death leaving two sons who bore the names of Independent and States. At the organization of the army of South Carolina early in 1861, States R. Gist was assigned to the position of adjutant and inspector general, in which capacity he rendered valuable service in the preparation for the occupation of Charleston harbor and the reduction of Fort Sumter. He went to Virginia as a volunteer aide to General Bee, and at the critical moment in the first battle of Manassas, when Gen. J. E. Johnston rode to the front with the colors of the Fourth Alabama at his side, Beauregard relates that "noticing Col. S. R. Gist, an aide to General Bee, a young man whom I had known as adjutant-general of South Carolina, and whom I greatly esteemed, I presented him as an able and brave commander to the stricken regiment, who cheered their new leader, and maintained under him to the end of the day, their previous gallant behavior." Subsequently he resumed his duties as adjutant-general, organizing South Carolina troops for the war, until in March, 1862, he was commissioned brigadier-general in the Confederate service, and ordered to report to General Pemberton, then in command of the department. He was after this on duty on the South Carolina coast, in command east of James island in June, on that island from July; temporarily in command of the first district, and in December, 1862, in command of the troops ordered to the relief of Wilmington, until May, 1863, when he was ordered to take command of a brigade and go to the assistance of General Pemberton in Mississippi. Reaching Jackson his command formed part of the troops under J. E. Johnston, took part in the engagement of May 14th at Jackson, marched to the Big Black river just before the surrender of Vicksburg, and then returning to Jackson was besieged by Sherman. His brigade comprised the Forty-sixth Georgia, Fourteenth Mississippi and Twenty-fourth South Carolina, the Sixteenth South Carolina soon afterward being substituted for the Mississippi regiment, and was assigned to the division of Gen. W. H. T. Walker. He fought gallantly at Chickamauga, commanding during part of the battle Ector's and Wilson's brigades, his own brigade being led by Colonel Colquitt, and on Sunday commanding Walker's division. At an important stage of the fight Gen. D. H. Hill called for Gist's brigade for dangerous duty, in the performance of which it suffered severely. He continued in conspicuous and valuable service; during the battle of Missionary Ridge commanded Walker's division, and throughout the Atlanta campaign of 1864 was identified with that division. After the fall of General Walker he was transferred to Cheatham's division, which he commanded for some time during the fall campaign of that year. At the terribly destructive battle of Franklin, Tenn., he was one of the noblest of the brave men whose lives were sacrificed. Attended by Capt. H. D. Garden and Lieut. Frank Trenholm, of his staff, he rode down the front, and after ordering the charge and waving his hat to the Twenty-fourth, rode away in the smoke of battle, never more to be seen by the men he had commanded on so many fields. His horse was shot, and he was leading the right of the brigade on foot when he fell, pierced through the heart.