South Carolina *

CHAPTER 51 * SOUTH CAROLINA * South Carolina is one of the oldest states of the Union, and in the period before the Civil War occupied a position of leadership, especially in the South, far beyond her resources of population or wealth could account for. The state was divided economically and socially into two regions: the Low Country below the fall line, dominated by a planter aristocracy of wealth and political power; and the Up Country with its gradually emerging electorate of yeoman farmers. Her population in 1860 was 291,300 whites and 402,406 Negro slaves; there were some 141 Negroes to every 100 whites at the time. Although slave ownership was concentrated in the hands of a tiny but powerful minority, the property-owning white electorate as a whole remained unanimously pro-slavery throughout the 1850's. Furthermore, most South Carolinians were avowed secessionists-the state had indicated its sentiment in this direction as far back as 1832 by issuing an Ordinance of Nullification, and again in 1852 at the first Secession Convention. The only difference of opinion among her leaders was one of strategy: some advocating leaving the Union at once, others cautioning it be done only in conjunction with other Southern states. The legislature had in 1850 begun to prepare for secession and war, but its efforts during the next four years were more in the field of rhetoric than realism. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, however, renewed the state's determination to declare itself independent, and the election of Lincoln as President tipped the scales in favor of immediate secession. Charleston was at once the seaport, metropolis and social center of the state. In population it had no near rival in South Carolina and contained the only sizeable number of foreign immigrants in the state. Much of the "foreign" population of the state, and of Charleston itself, had actually arrived generations earlier; by 1860 the flow of immigrants had slowed to a trickle. Many of the older immigrant groups continued to live in distinctive colonies and preserve their native ways. This was reflected in the Volunteer Militia; among the military companies of Charleston were the Irish Volunteers, formed prior to 1822; the Scottish Union Light Infantry, organized in 1807; and the German Fusiliers, which carried its history back to 1775. In any other state in the South it would have been unusual to find such "foreign" companies older than 1840. In the 1850's South Carolina employed the dual militia system. Its beat, or common militia, comprised some 46 regiments of "Heavy Infantry," almost entirely unarmed, ununiformed and untrained. Its Volunteer Militia consisted of around 80 companies of light infantry, - --. -. -- .- Fig. 364. "Military of Charleston. S.C.," 1861. The multi-national aspect of the militia uniforms of Charleston is readily apparent in this contemporary woodcul reprinted from LaBree's Pictorial Barrles. i i riflemen and artillery. The LD or so Charleston compantes were rmrly well organlzea into higher commands; the others were just commencing to emerge from the "independent company" status. There was not, howeveriquite the-sharp distinction between the two classes of militia that was so obvious by the 1850's in man ~yother !states: Sc ~uthCart 'alr~ companies, of which there were over 50 in 1855, wer e conside:red to be :Volunte :erS but st ome were indifferently uniformed and loosely organized. Notwithstanding the presence of thk L$d.common militis divisions, brigades and regiments-even in Charleston itself-a start had been made toward the organization of Volunteer regiments and battalions. The 1st Regiment of Artillery of Charleston was the eldest by far, for it was descended from the Charleston Ancient Battalion of Artillery, organized i nd a regiment since 1797. Despite its reduction in companies in the 1830's and the c the regiment to a battalion in 1842, by 1843 it was again designated a regiment. The ~~l~~~ston Rifle Battalion was formed in 1853. and similar Volunteer battalions were established in Columbia (1854) and Beaufort (1858). Several of the independent companies in the state >" , ,. , : , . 'I /I boasted'ancient lineages. - Most unusual of all the South ~amlina'conunands&as the 17th Militia 1nfanVy~c~imentof Charleston, a Heavy Infantry unit, all of whose elements were uniformed volunteers. Some of the companies, furthermore, were amongthe oldest in the state: the German Fusiliers, as has been said, dated from 1775; and five others carriedtheirhistories back to the 1820's or earlier. There was, in brief, no shortage of ancient corps in Charleston nor; for that matter, in the stak '. I . 1'" at large. .L:+ y,,,, 'south darolina also boasted one of the celebiated military ackdemies of the South, com- monly called the Citadel, It dated from 1842 when the legislature converted the Arsenal at Columbia and the Citadel and Magilzine at Charleston into military schools. Originally they were intended as two distinct institutions, but in time cadets attended the Arsenal fdr their first year's instructioh, and then went to the Citadel for the remaining three years. On 28 January 1861 the legislature combined the twd sbhools into the South Carolina Military Academy, but with the provision that each academy was to retairl its original name. Collectively, the cadet corps at both'academies was designaied as the EIattdion of State Cadets. This battalion was apparently never assembled as such during the Civil War, although the cadets of each academy saw periods of active service. Hostilities achially opened on9 January 1861 when the Star of the West was fired on by the battery served by Citadel cadets under Major P. F. Stevens. The last shots of the war in South Carolina were probably those fired at Captain J. P. Thomas' company of Arsenal Academy cadets, a fed miles north of Williamston on 1 May 1865. ~braham~incoln'selection as President 'in November 1860 was the signal for South Carolina to leave the Union. On'17 December the legislature authorized Governor Francis W. Pickens to call from the militia, or receive as volunteers, men and units sufficient to create an active force of sixteen iilfahtry regiments;four squadrons (or two regiments) of cavalry, the 1st Regiment of Artillery of Charleston, .md the artillery. companies'of Columbia, Georgetown, and Beaufort. ' Shortly thereafter--on '20 ~ecember-&uth darolina seceeded, &d a we& later Major Robert Anderson, U:S. Army, made his mjidnight rr .from Fort Moultrie to the stronger Fort Sumter. The die was now cast. * -,,* , ,, Immediately after ~nderson'smove Oovemor "Pickensord ered - elen&&s of the ist Regi- ment of Rifles and the 1st Regiment 6f ~rtillery'to'seize and ga~$son Ca:stle Pinclcney, and Fort < . ultrie. Within a n he' VoluriteerSMili ngth and were bej :red into active st lent of otller "Volu he. goven. -. nor calla S was constituted and-plac he hostilce attitude of the Nc E as the "I outh Canolina,", th Fig. 366, Washing ry* Charleston, Sbeth C 51. Woodcut from Harpei 's Weekly, 2 February for one year. Recruiting began at once ,ma by early rebruary mere.. naa been msea: 1st Regiment of Infantry (Andetson's 1st Regulars), 1st Battalion of Artillery (Ripley's), and Major Lucas' Dismounted Dragoon Battalion. ' Simultaneously the governor issued a call for eight one-year infantry regimentsi These were raised in the main in rural areas and more by individual volunteering than by the incorporation of existing companies. The number of units'was subsequently increased and resulted in the Ist- 11 th Regiments of Volunteers. On 2; the 2nd (Palmetto) Regir nent was considered a reconstitution of the Palmetto Reg$ment rais,ed in South Carolina in 1$$46 for ttie Mexican War, Seven were organized in time to.- 2-t-A uure paifhi- the First Battle of Bull Run. Two other commands were formed in the first four months of the w ar. One *as the I1st (Orr's) Regiment of Rifles, the fmt regiment raised "fo s and dur bing the Hrar.'! It w as made 1 of lheh from the extreme westefn pM of the state. The.A orner-.led. was."--.. *LAme celebrateuA namp~dntTl;u-r Legion, raised and commanded by Coldnel Wade Han ilptoti wh ~icheven tudly comprised ati infantry battalion, a cavalry battalion of four CompanieS,, and two batteries'of artillery. So great was Hampton's popularity that 73 cornpaides are said to have ask ed to be atdmitted 1to its ranl ts. A large amount of money was expend(:d upon ir kent, muc :hof it co:ming fro1n Hmptlon himself. South Carolina had raised the regiments listed above first for its own defense as a sovereign state and later in response to calls from the Confederate War Department. On 30 June Governor Pickens summed up what had been accomplished by that time. Ten infantry regiments had been mustered into Confederate service and seven of these sent to Virginia; three, plus the two regular battalions, were being retained in South Carolina for local defense; four infantry regiments and Hampton's Legion were still being formed. "I can get men a plenty," he wrote, "but the difficulty will be as to arms." These figures did not include the Volunteer Militia under arms-"about 1,800 men, well medand equipped, in the city [Charleston] . the best trained troops in the State . in many respects equal to regulars." For these Governor Pickens planned "a thorough reorganization." Actually,~. by then he had released most of the Volunteer Militia from active duty; thereafter, as individuals and by companies, they joined the new war regiments. Only one regiment, apparently, entered Confederate service as a unit: the 17th Militia reorganized as the 1st (Charleston) Battalion in 1862 and was mustered in as such.

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