Chapter XXI (2)

Brigadier-General Ellison Capers, a descendant of an English family which settled in South Carolina among the earliest colonists, was born in Charleston, October 14, 1837. His father, grandfather and several generations of the name, belonged to the parishes of St. Thomas and St. Denis, in Charleston county, in the territory originally called Berkeley county. His mother was of Irish extraction, her father, William McGill, having settled in Kershaw county, upon coming from Ireland. William Capers, the grandfather of Ellison, was a soldier of the revolution, a lieutenant in the Second South Carolina regiment, and after the fall of Charleston in 1780, one of Marion's captains in his famous partisan brigade, in which his only brother, G. Sinclair Capers, held the same rank. Several thrilling incidents in the career of these two gallant partisan captains are related by Judge James, of South Carolina, in his life of Marion. They were both planters. William Capers, father of Ellison, was born on his father's plantation, "Bull Head," in St. Thomas parish, about 20 miles north of Charleston, January 25, 1790. He was graduated at the South Carolina college in Columbia, entered the Methodist ministry in 1808, and devoted his life and brilliant talents to his sacred calling. He was elected and consecrated a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal church South, in 1845, and died at his home in Anderson, S. C., January 29, 1855. Ellison Capers, the fourth son of his marriage with Susan McGill, was graduated at the South Carolina military academy in November, 1857. The next year he was a resident graduate and assistant professor of mathematics and belles lettres in his alma mater. In 1859 he married Charlotte Rebecca, fourth daughter of John Gendron and Catherine Cotourier Palmer, of Cherry Grove plantation, St. John's, Berkeley, S. C. In the fall of this year he was appointed assistant professor of mathematics in the South Carolina military academy at Charleston with the rank of second lieutenant. The active state of affairs in Charleston during the summer and fall of 1860 roused the military spirit of the people, and the First regiment of Rifles was organized in Charleston, of which Lieutenant Capers was unanimously elected major. He served with this regiment at Castle Pinckney, and on Morris, Sullivan's, James and John's islands. His regiment also constituted a part of the army under Beauregard during the attack on Fort Sumter. He continued to serve in the vicinity of Charleston until November, when he resigned the rank of lieutenant-colonel to which he had been promoted, in order that he might enter the Confederate service. Satisfied that a terrible struggle was before his people, he resigned his professorship at the military academy and united with Col. Clement H. Stevens, of Charleston, in enlisting a regiment for the war. The regiment was mustered into the Confederate service as the Twenty-fourth South Carolina volunteer infantry, April 1, 1862, with Clement H. Stevens as colonel, Ellison Capers, lieutenant-colonel, and H. J. Hammond, major; on the 4th of April was ordered to Coles' island, and on the 25th of May was transferred to James island. On June 3d, Companies A, B, D and E, and the Charleston battalion, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Capers, opened the James Island campaign. In this engagement Colonel Capers led the attack, and for his courageous and skillful management of this affair he was commended in general orders. At the battle of Secessionville, the Twenty-fourth was again engaged, and Colonel Capers was praised in orders. He was next detailed to command a battery of siege guns at Clark's house. Except a short service at Pocotaligo the regiment was on James island until December 15, 1862, when it was ordered to North Carolina to the relief of Wilmington, and stationed at the railroad crossing of Northeast river on Island Ford road. On February 13th it was returned to South Carolina and placed on duty in the Third military district (W. S. Walker's). Lieutenant-Colonel Capers, with part of his regiment and other commands, was detached to command the district between Combahee and Ashepoo rivers. Charleston being threatened with attack, the regiment was ordered back to Secessionville, April 5, 1863. On May 6th it left South Carolina for Jackson, Miss., being assigned to Gist's brigade, and eight days later, while commanding the regiment in the battle at Jackson, Lieutenant-Colonel Capers was wounded. About the last of August, Gist's brigade was sent to General Bragg. It participated in the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, and in the former Capers was again wounded. During the winter at Dalton in January, 1864, Colonel Stevens was promoted to brigadier-general and placed in charge of the brigade formerly commanded by Gen. Claudius C. Wilson. It was while leading this brigade that General Stevens received his mortal wound at Peachtree creek, July 20, 1864. Lieutenant-Colonel Capers was promoted to the colonelcy of the Twenty-fourth, which he led through the Atlanta and Tennessee campaigns until the battle of Franklin, where he was wounded and Gist was killed. On March 1, 1865, on the recommendations of Generals Johnston, Hardee and Cheatham, he was commissioned brigadier-general and assigned to the command of Gist's brigade. After the war General Capers was elected secretary of state of South Carolina, December, 1866. In 1867 he entered the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal church. He was for twenty years rector at Greenville, S. C., for one year at Selma, Ala., and for six years at Trinity, Columbia. In 1889 the degree of D. D. was conferred on him by the university of South Carolina. On May 4, 1893, he was elected bishop by the convention of South Carolina on the first ballot, and on July 20, 1893, was consecrated in this sacred office.

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Brigadier-General James Chestnut, a gallant South Carolinian, distinguished as a general officer, also served as aide-de-camp on the staff of President Davis, in which connection his biography is given in the first volume of this work.

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Brigadier-General James Conner was born at Charleston, the son of Henry W. Conner, of that city. After his graduation at the South Carolina college in 1849, he read law under James L. Petigru, and was admitted to practice in 1852. In 1856 his ability as a lawyer was recognized by appointment as United States district attorney, an office which he resigned in 1860 on account of the prospect of secession by his State. He was associated with Judge Magrath and Hon. W. F. Colcock on a committee which visited the legislature and urged the calling of a convention, and after the passage of the ordinance he devoted himself to preparation for the field. Though appointed Confederate States attorney for the district, he refused to leave the military service and deputed his official duties. He entered the Confederate service as captain of the Montgomery Guards, and in May, 1861, was chosen captain of Company A, Washington light infantry, Hampton's legion. He was promoted major to date from the first battle of Manassas, and in June, 1862, became colonel of the Twenty-second North Carolina regiment. Being disabled for duty, he was detailed as one of the judges of the military court of the Second corps, with the rank of colonel of cavalry. On June 1, 1864, he was promoted brigadier-general, and was assigned to command of McGowan's and Lane's brigades. Subsequently, as acting major-general, he commanded a division consisting of the brigades of McGowan, Lane and Bushrod Johnson. On the return of General McGowan to duty, General Conner was assigned permanently to the command of Kershaw's old brigade. In 1865 he was promoted to major-general, and the commission was made out, and forwarded, but failed to reach him in the confusion of the final days of the Confederacy. He was at the bombardment of Fort Sumter, 1861, and participated in the battles of First Manassas, Yorktown, New Stone Point, West Point, Seven Pines, Mechanicsville, Chancellorsville, Riddle's Shop, Darby's Farm, Fussell's Mill, Petersburg, Jerusalem Plank Road, Reams' Station, Winchester, Port Republic and Cedar Creek. He was severely wounded in the leg at Mechanicsville, and again in the same leg near Fisher's Hill, October, 1864, compelling the amputation of the limb. At First Manassas the command of the legion was given him as senior captain, by Colonel Hampton, when the latter was wounded, and Captain Conner gallantly led in the charge upon Rickett's battery. As commander of Kershaw's South Carolinians he was greatly beloved by his men. After his return to Charleston he resumed the practice of law, in which he gained distinction. For many years he was assistant counsel and then solicitor of the South Carolina railroad, and for the bank of Charleston, and for some time was receiver of the Greenville & Columbia railroad. In 1876 he was chairman of the Democratic executive committee of the State, and was nominated and elected attorney-general of the State, on the ticket headed by General Hampton. During the exciting period of this campaign he was in command of the rifle-clubs which were depended upon for the preservation of order, and his calmness and self-control were of great value to the State. His performance of the duties of attorney-general elicited the warm official commendation of Governor Hampton, and thanks were tendered him by the legislature in the name of the people of the State.

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Brigadier-General Thomas Fenwick Drayton was born in South Carolina about 1807, of an ancestral line distinguished in the history of the State. His grandfather, William Drayton, born in South Carolina in 1733, was educated in law at the Temple, London; was appointed chief justice of the province of East Florida in 1768, and after the revolution was judge of admiralty, associate justice of the supreme court, and first United States district judge. His father, William Drayton, born in 1776, a lawyer, entered the United States service as lieutenant-colonel in 1812; was promoted colonel, and later inspector-general; was associated with Generals Scott and Macomb in the preparation of a system of infantry tactics; resigned in 1815, afterward served in Congress 1825-33, and was a warm friend and supporter of President Jackson. General Drayton was graduated at the United States military academy in 1828, in the class of Jefferson Davis, and was in the service as second lieutenant of Sixth infantry until his resignation in 1836. Subsequently he was occupied as a civil engineer at Charleston, Louisville and Cincinnati for two years, then becoming a planter in St. Luke's parish. He served as captain of South Carolina militia five years, was a member of the board of ordnance of the State, a State senator 1853-61, and president of the Charleston & Savannah railroad 1853-56. September 25, 1861, he was commissioned brigadier-general, provisional army of the Confederate States, and was assigned to the command of the Third military district of the State. He was in command of the Confederate forces during the bombardment and capture of Forts Walker and Beauregard, at Port Royal entrance, in November, 1861, on which occasion his brother, Capt. Percival Drayton, commanded the steamer Pocahontas, one of the Federal vessels under Admiral DuPont. He was in charge of the Fifth military district, under Gen. R. E. Lee, and the Sixth and Fourth districts under Pemberton, in the same region, with headquarters at Hardeeville. During the Second Manassas and Maryland campaigns he commanded a brigade composed of the Fifteenth South Carolina, and two Georgia regiments, which, with Toombs' Georgia brigade, constituted the division of D. R. Jones, Longstreet's corps, and participated in the battles of Thoroughfare Gap and Second Manassas, South Mountain and Sharpsburg. In August, 1863, he was ordered to report to Gen. T. H. Holmes, at Little Rock, Ark., and was there assigned to command of a brigade of Sterling Price's division, consisting of Missouri and Arkansas troops. From the beginning of 1864 he was in command of this division in Arkansas, until Gen. Kirby Smith relieved Holmes, when he was transferred to the command of the West sub-district of Mexico. He was also in command of the Texas cavalry division composed of the brigades of Slaughter and H. E. McCullough. In the spring of 1865 he was a member of the board of inquiry demanded by General Price after his Missouri expedition. After the close of hostilities, General Drayton farmed in Dooly county, Ga., until 1872, afterward was an insurance agent, and in 1878 removed to Charlotte, N. C., as president of the South Carolina immigration society. He died at Florence, February 18, 1891.

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Brigadier-General John Dunovant held the rank of major of infantry in the State army during the initial operations of the war of the Confederacy, and during the bombardment of Fort Sumter was present at Fort Moultrie, doing all that was in his power. Subsequently he became colonel of the First regiment of infantry, and was stationed for some time on Sullivan's island and at Fort Moultrie. Later in 1862 he was given command of the Fifth regiment, South Carolina cavalry, in which capacity he served in the State, until ordered to Virginia in March, 1864. There he and his regiment were under the brigade command of Gen. M. C. Butler, in Wade Hampton's division of Stuart's cavalry. The regiment under his leadership did admirable service, General Ransom reported, at the battle of Drewry's Bluff, May 16th, and subsequently in the encounters with Sheridan's cavalry, he shared the services of Butler's brigade at Cold Harbor, Trevilian's and other important conflicts. On August 2, 1864, President Davis suggested to General Lee, Dunovant's promotion to temporary rank as brigadier-general, and it was soon afterward ordered. In this capacity he had brigade command under General Hampton until, in the fighting north of the James river, following the capture of Fort Harrison, he was killed October 1, 1864. On receipt of news of the death of the gallant soldier, General Lee replied to General Hampton: "I grieve with you at the loss of General Dunovant and Dr. Fontaine, two officers whom it will be difficult to replace."

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Brigadier-General Stephen Elliott, Jr., was born at Beaufort, S. C., in 1832, son of Stephen Elliott, first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal diocese of Georgia and provisional bishop of Florida; and grandson of Stephen Elliott, a distinguished naturalist. He passed his youth on the plantation, devoted to manly sports. At the beginning of the formation of the Confederate States, he organized and equipped a light battery, known as the Beaufort artillery, of which he was commissioned captain. He was present at the bombardment of Fort Sumter, aiming several shots from the siege guns, and during his subsequent service in the State he became famous for daring and skillful fighting. On guard in 1861 in the vicinity of Port Royal harbor, he put twenty of his boys on the tug Lady Davis, and ran out to sea to find a prize. With indomitable pluck, accompanied by good fortune, he captured a sailing vessel, of 1,200 tons, and brought her in to Beaufort. Subsequently he was ordered to Bay Point, the other side of Port Royal entrance being held by the German volunteers under Captain Wagener. There he fought a Federal fleet for two hours, until his guns were dismounted. After the Federals occupied the coast islands, he engaged in numerous daring raids. During one night he burned fourteen plantation settlements; again he surprised a picket post successfully, and in August, 1862, he commanded an expedition against a Federal force on Pinckney island, which was very successful and gained for him the unstinted commendation of his superiors. His activity also turned to the direction of inventing floating torpedoes, with which he blew up a tender in St. Helena bay. He was promoted to chief of artillery of the Third military district, including Beaufort, near where, in April, 1863, he captured the Federal steamer George Washington. Promotion followed to major and then to lieutenant-colonel. Twice he met the enemy in open field at Pocotaligo, where his guns put the invaders to flight. In command of the Charleston battalion he occupied Fort Sumter, September 5, 1863, and held the ruins of the famous citadel against the enemy until May, 1864. Then as colonel of Holcombe's legion he was ordered to Petersburg, Va., and was soon promoted to brigadier-general and assigned to the command of N. G. Evans' old brigade, which included the legion. He served actively in the defense of Petersburg, his brigade, a part of Bushrod Johnson's division, holding that important part of the line selected by the Federals as the point to be mined, and carried by an assaulting party. Two of his regiments, the Eighteenth and Twenty-second, occupied the works blown up on the morning of July 30th, and the immense displacement of earth which formed the crater maimed and buried many of the command. But, undismayed, General Elliott and his brigade received the onslaught made through the breach of the Confederate intrenchments. In the words of the division commander, "Brigadier-General Elliott, the gallant commander of the brigade which occupied the salient, was making prompt disposition of his forces to assault the enemy and reoccupy the remaining portion of the trenches when he was dangerously wounded." Entirely disabled for further service he returned to his home at Beaufort, and died from the effects of his wound, March 21, 1866.

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Brigadier-General Nathan George Evans was born in Marion county, S. C., February 6, 1824, the third son of Thomas Evans, who married Jane Beverly Daniel, of Virginia. He was graduated at Randolph-Macon college before he was eighteen, and at the United States military academy, which he entered by appointment of John C. Calhoun, in 1848. With a lieutenancy in the Second Dragoons, he was first on duty at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., whence he marched to the Rocky mountains in 1849. In 1850 to 1853 he served in New Mexico, and began a famous career as an Indian fighter, which was continued in Texas and Indian Territory after his promotion to captain in 1856, in various combats with the hostile Comanches. At the battle of Wachita Village, October 1, 1858, his command defeated a large body of the Comanches, and he killed two of their noted chieftains in a hand-to-hand fight. For this he was voted a handsome sword by the legislature of South Carolina. In 1860 he was married to a sister of Gen. M. W. Gary, of Abbeville county. He resigned from the old army in February, 1861, being then stationed in Texas, and taking farewell of his colonel, Robert E. Lee, proceeded to Montgomery, and was commissioned major of cavalry, C. S. A. Being assigned to duty as adjutant-general of the South Carolina army, he was present at the bombardment of Fort Sumter and was soon afterward promoted colonel. Joining the army under General Beauregard at Manassas Junction, Va., he had a command on the field during the first encounter at Blackburn's ford, and again in the great battle of July 21, 1861. At the opening of the latter engagement, his forces, consisting of the Fourth South Carolina regiment, a battalion of Louisiana volunteers, Terry's squadron of cavalry, and a section of Latham's battery, were stationed at the stone bridge, where he held the enemy in check in front, until he perceived in operation the flank movement which was the Federal plan of battle. Instantly without waiting for orders he threw his little command in a new line, facing the enemy, and alone held him in check until reinforced by General Bee. With great intrepidity he and his men held their ground against great odds until the Confederate army could adapt itself to this unexpected attack. As remarked by a Northern historian: "Evans' action was probably one of the best pieces of soldiership on either side during the campaign, but it seems to have received no special commendation from his superiors." General Beauregard commended his "dauntless conduct and imperturbable coolness," but it was not until after the fight at Leesburg that he was promoted. This latter engagement, known also as Ball's Bluff, was fought in October, near the Potomac river, by his brigade, mainly Mississippians, and a splendid victory was gained over largely superior numbers, with great loss to the enemy. His promotion to brigadier-general was made to date from this memorable affair, and South Carolina again, through her general assembly, gave him a vote of thanks and presented him with a gold medal. In 1862 he commanded a brigade consisting of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-second and Twenty-third regiments, and Holcombe's legion, South Carolina troops, and was mentioned by General Longstreet among the officers most prominently distinguished in the battles of Second Manassas and Sharpsburg. In the latter fight he commanded his division. Thereafter his service was mainly rendered in South Carolina. In 1863 he moved to the support of Johnston against Grant. After the fall of Richmond he accompanied President Davis as far as Cokesbury, S. C. A year later he engaged in business at Charleston, but was mainly occupied as a teacher at Midway, Ala., until his death at that place, November 30, 1868. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee has written of him: "'Shanks' Evans, as he was called, was a graduate of the military academy, a native South Carolinian, served in the celebrated old Second Dragoons, and was a good type of the rip-roaring, scorn-all-care element, which so largely abounded in that regiment. Evans had the honor of opening the fight (First Manassas), we might say fired the first gun of the war."

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, with Armstrong's and Ross' brigades, formed the cavalry of the army of Mississippi, under command of Gen. W. H. Jackson, operating on the left wing of Johnston's army. He defeated Wilder's "lightning brigade," and displayed gallantry on every field. When Sherman began his march to Savannah, he harassed the Federal flank until within a few miles of Savannah, when he left his horses on the South Carolina side of the river, after swimming it, and entering Savannah with his men as infantry, covered the rear of Hardee's army at the evacuation. He subsequently operated in southern Georgia until ordered to Danville, Va., but on reaching Greensboro was ordered back, escorting President Davis from Charlotte to Abbeville, and as far as Washington, Ga., where his command was disbanded. He then made his home in Mississippi, and practiced law at Greenville. In 1876 he was made president of the board of Mississippi levee commission for several counties, and in 1883 became a member of the United States river commission. In 1894 he returned to his native city of Charleston, and devoted himself to the profession of civil engineering. In 1898 he offered his services for the war with Spain.

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Brigadier-General Martin Witherspoon Gary was born in 1831 at Cokesbury, Abbeville county, the third son of Dr. Thomas Reeder Gary. He was educated at the South Carolina college and Harvard college, graduating at the latter institution in 1854. Then studying law he was admitted to the bar in 1855, and soon acquired distinction in both law and politics. As a member of the South Carolina legislature in 1860 and 1861, he advocated secession, and when the ordinance was enacted, at once went into the military service as captain of the Watson Guards, which became Company B of the Hampton legion. At First Manassas the command of the legion devolved upon him after Colonel Hampton was wounded, Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson killed and Captain Conner disabled. At the reorganization in 1862 he was elected lieutenant-colonel of the infantry of the legion, a battalion of eight companies, and after it was filled to a regiment, he was promoted colonel. He participated in the battles around Richmond, at Second Manassas, Boonsboro and Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and with Longstreet at Suffolk, Chickamauga, Bean's Station, Campbell's Station and Knoxville. His command was subsequently mounted as cavalry, and served on the north side of the James before Richmond. After the fight at Riddle's Shop, in June, 1864, he was promoted brigadier-general, his cavalry brigade including the Hampton legion, Seventh South Carolina, Seventh Georgia and Twenty-fourth Virginia regiments, and Harkerson's artillery. He led the brigade in all the heavy fighting north of the James during the siege, and was the last to leave Richmond. Capt. Clement Sulivane, left behind to destroy the bridge after Gary had crossed, relates that at daylight April 3d, when the Union troops were in sight advancing, and a mob was ravaging the storehouses, "a long line of cavalry in gray turned into Fourteenth street, and sword in hand galloped straight down to the river; Gary had come. The mob scattered right and left before the armed horsemen, who reined up at the canal. Presently a single company of cavalry appeared in sight, and rode at headlong speed to the bridge. 'My rear guard!' exclaimed Gary. Touching his hat to me, he called out, 'All over, good-bye!' and trotted over the bridge." Joining Lee's rear guard he was one of the heroes of Fitzhugh Lee's command, engaged in incessant fighting until Appomattox Court House was reached. There he did not surrender, but cut his way through the Federal lines, and rode to Greensboro, where he took command of about 200 men of his brigade on their way to Virginia, and escorted the President and his cabinet to Cokesbury, S. C. The cabinet held one of their last meetings in his mother's house at that place. Then resuming the practice of law, he continued in that profession until his death at Edgefield, April 9, 1881. He was a noted figure in the exciting political campaign of 1876, and for four years thereafter held a seat in the State senate.

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Brigadier-General States R. Gist was a descendant of that gallant Marylander, Gen. Mordecai Gist, who distinguished himself at the battle of Camden in 1780, and at the Combahee in 1782, and subsequently resided at Charleston, at his death leaving two sons who bore the names of Independent and States. At the organization of the army of South Carolina early in 1861, States R. Gist was assigned to the position of adjutant and inspector general, in which capacity he rendered valuable service in the preparation for the occupation of Charleston harbor and the reduction of Fort Sumter. He went to Virginia as a volunteer aide to General Bee, and at the critical moment in the first battle of Manassas, when Gen. J. E. Johnston rode to the front with the colors of the Fourth Alabama at his side, Beauregard relates that "noticing Col. S. R. Gist, an aide to General Bee, a young man whom I had known as adjutant-general of South Carolina, and whom I greatly esteemed, I presented him as an able and brave commander to the stricken regiment, who cheered their new leader, and maintained under him to the end of the day, their previous gallant behavior." Subsequently he resumed his duties as adjutant-general, organizing South Carolina troops for the war, until in March, 1862, he was commissioned brigadier-general in the Confederate service, and ordered to report to General Pemberton, then in command of the department. He was after this on duty on the South Carolina coast, in command east of James island in June, on that island from July; temporarily in command of the first district, and in December, 1862, in command of the troops ordered to the relief of Wilmington, until May, 1863, when he was ordered to take command of a brigade and go to the assistance of General Pemberton in Mississippi. Reaching Jackson his command formed part of the troops under J. E. Johnston, took part in the engagement of May 14th at Jackson, marched to the Big Black river just before the surrender of Vicksburg, and then returning to Jackson was besieged by Sherman. His brigade comprised the Forty-sixth Georgia, Fourteenth Mississippi and Twenty-fourth South Carolina, the Sixteenth South Carolina soon afterward being substituted for the Mississippi regiment, and was assigned to the division of Gen. W. H. T. Walker. He fought gallantly at Chickamauga, commanding during part of the battle Ector's and Wilson's brigades, his own brigade being led by Colonel Colquitt, and on Sunday commanding Walker's division. At an important stage of the fight Gen. D. H. Hill called for Gist's brigade for dangerous duty, in the performance of which it suffered severely. He continued in conspicuous and valuable service; during the battle of Missionary Ridge commanded Walker's division, and throughout the Atlanta campaign of 1864 was identified with that division. After the fall of General Walker he was transferred to Cheatham's division, which he commanded for some time during the fall campaign of that year. At the terribly destructive battle of Franklin, Tenn., he was one of the noblest of the brave men whose lives were sacrificed. Attended by Capt. H. D. Garden and Lieut. Frank Trenholm, of his staff, he rode down the front, and after ordering the charge and waving his hat to the Twenty-fourth, rode away in the smoke of battle, never more to be seen by the men he had commanded on so many fields. His horse was shot, and he was leading the right of the brigade on foot when he fell, pierced through the heart.

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Brigadier-General Maxcy Gregg was born in Columbia, S. C, the son of Col. James Gregg, a distinguished lawyer of that city, and was educated at the South Carolina college, where he graduated with the first honors of his class. He then entered upon the practice of law as a partner of his father. In 1846 he had his first military experience as major of a regiment of the second levy of volunteers sent to Mexico, but did not arrive at the scene of conflict in time to share in any of the famous battles. He was a member of the convention of 1860 which determined upon the secession of the State, and then became colonel of the First North Carolina regiment, enlisted for six months' service, with which he was on duty on Sullivan's and Morris islands during the reduction of Fort Sumter, and afterward in Virginia. Previous to the battle of Manassas he was stationed at Centreville, and then near Fairfax Court House, and commanded the infantry in the action at Vienna. At the expiration of the term of enlistment he reorganized his regiment in South Carolina, and returning to Virginia was stationed at Suffolk. In December, 1861, he was promoted to brigadier-general and ordered to South Carolina, where he took command of a brigade composed of the First, Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth regiments. With this brigade he was attached to the famous light division of A. P. Hill for the Seven Days' campaign before Richmond. He led the advance of the division at Cold Harbor, crossing the creek under fire made what Hill pronounced "the handsomest charge in line I have seen during the war," and during the remainder of the battle displayed undaunted bravery. At Frayser's Farm he charged and captured a Federal battery. At the battle of August 29th, on the plains of Manassas, he with his comrades of the division, fought "with a heroic courage and obstinacy almost beyond parallel," repelling six determined assaults of the enemy, who sought to overwhelm Jackson's corps before Longstreet could arrive. Hill reported: "The reply of the gallant Gregg to a message of mine is worthy of note: 'Tell General Hill that my ammunition is exhausted, but that I will hold my position with the bayonet.'" In the battle of the 30th and at Ox Hill on September 1st, he was again distinguished. He participated in the capture of Harper's Ferry, at Sharpsburg shared with distinguished gallantry in the heroic work of the Light division, which reached the field in time to save the Confederate right, and was wounded in the fight; and at Shepherdstown, after the crossing of the Potomac by the army, commanded the line of three brigades which drove back and terribly punished the enemy's forces, which had the temerity to pursue the lion-hearted veterans of Lee's army. His part in the battle of Fredericksburg we may best describe in the words of the immortal Lee. After describing the momentary success of the Federals on the right, he wrote: "In the meantime a large force had penetrated the wood so far as Hill's reserve, and encountered Gregg's brigade. The attack was so sudden and unexpected that Orr's Rifles, mistaking the enemy for our own troops retiring, were thrown into confusion. While in the act of rallying them, that brave soldier and true patriot, Brig.-Gen. Maxcy Gregg, fell mortally wounded." Again, "In Brigadier-Generals Gregg and Cobb the Confederacy has lost two of its noblest citizens and the army two of its bravest and most distinguished officers. The country consents to the loss of such as these, and the gallant soldiers who fell with them, only to secure the inestimable blessing they died to obtain."

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Brigadier-General Johnson Hagood was born in Barnwell county, February 21, 1829. His ancestors were of English extraction, and the family in America was first established in Virginia, removing thence to South Carolina before the revolution. He was graduated at the Citadel military academy in 1847, and then studying law was admitted to the bar in 1850. Throughout his subsequent career he maintained an association with the State military forces, holding the rank of brigadier-general when South Carolina seceded. He was then elected colonel of the First regiment, and after participating in the reduction of Fort Sumter was ordered to Virginia, where he was present at the first battle of Manassas. Returning to South Carolina with his regiment he was engaged in the operations about Charleston and the battle of Secessionville, June, 1862, after which he was promoted brigadier-general. Until May, 1864, he served on the coast of the State, in defense of Charleston during Gillmore's siege, and was distinguished for gallantry in the defense of Fort Wagner and the operations on James island. On May 6, 1864, part of his brigade arrived at Petersburg and immediately went into battle at Walthall Junction with the advancing forces of Butler, and a few hours later General Hagood arrived with reinforcements. With three regiments, the Twenty-first, Twenty-fifth and Twenty-seventh South Carolina, he repulsed Butler's advance, "at least two brigades," on the 7th; and on the 9th, the remainder of his brigade having come up, the Eleventh regiment and Seventh battalion, he was again engaged. As General Beauregard has written: "General Hagood and his command became the heroes of the day, and were justly looked upon as the saviors of Petersburg on that occasion." At the battle of Drewry's Bluff, May 16th, Hagood, with great vigor and dash, drove the enemy from the outer lines in his front, capturing a number of prisoners and three 20-pound Parrotts and two fine Napoleons. These Parrott guns were afterward used in shelling Butler's transports, causing him to set about the famous Dutch Gap canal. In June Hagood and his gallant men fought at Cold Harbor, and soon afterward were sent to meet Grant before Petersburg, the brigade being the first of Hoke's division to reach the field, June 16th, at the critical moment and save Petersburg for the second time. During the siege which followed his brigade served in the trenches at one period sixty-seven days without relief, and was reduced in numbers from 2,300 to 700 present for duty. In August, 1864, during the fighting on the Weldon railroad, 200 of his men, he accompanying them, charged into the enemy's works at a re-entering angle, and found themselves under a severe cross-fire, and about to be surrounded. A Federal officer rode up, seized the colors of the Eleventh and called upon them to surrender, when General Hagood, on foot, his horse having been killed, demanded the return of the colors, and ordered the officer back to his lines. This being refused, he shot the Federal officer from his horse, the colors were regained by Orderly Stoney, and the intrepid general mounted his antagonist's horse and brought off his men. General Beauregard warmly commended this act of gallantry of a "brave and meritorious officer," and recommended him for promotion. When Wilmington was threatened in December, Hagood was sent to the relief of Fort Fisher. Subsequently he participated in the North Carolina campaign, including the battles of Kinston and Bentonville, and was surrendered with Johnston's army, the brigade then containing less than 500 officers and men. During the exciting period of reconstruction he took a conspicuous part in the movement which finally brought about the election of General Hampton in 1876, and he was elected on the same ticket as comptroller-general, having previously rendered services of great value in investigating the financial condition of the State and the State bank. He and Gen. James Conner were the advisers and executive officers of General Hampton during the perilous period preceding the recognition by President Hayes of the Hampton government. In 1878 he was re-elected comptroller, and in 1880 he was honored with the highest office in the gift of the commonwealth. His admirable reorganization of the finances of the State was fitly complemented by his honest, business-like and common-sense administration as governor. By his marriage to Eloise, daughter of Senator A. P. Butler, he had one son, Butler Hagood. The death of General Hagood occurred at Barnwell, January 4, 1898.

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Major-General Benjamin Huger was born at Charleston in 1806, son of Francis Kinlock Huger, whose wife was a daughter of Gen. Thomas Pinckney. His father, who was aide-de-camp to General Wilkinson in 1800, and adjutant-general in the war of 1812, suffered imprisonment in Austria for assisting in the liberation of Lafayette from the fortress of Olmutz; his grandfather, Benjamin Huger, was a famous revolutionary patriot, killed before Charleston during the British occupation; and his great-great-grandfather was Daniel Huger, who fled from France before the revocation of the edict of Nantes and died in South Carolina in 1711. General Huger was graduated at West Point in 1825, with a lieutenancy in the Third artillery. He served on topographical duty until 1828, then visited Europe on leave of absence; after being on ordnance duty a year was promoted captain of ordnance in 1832, a department of the service in which he had a distinguished career. He was in command of Fortress Monroe arsenal twelve years, was member of the ordnance board seven years, and one year was on official duty in Europe. He went into the war with Mexico as chief of ordnance on the staff of General Scott, and received in quick succession the brevets of major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel, for gallant and meritorious conduct at Vera Cruz, Molino del Rey and Chapultepec. In 1852 he was presented a sword by South Carolina in recognition of the honor his career had cast upon his native State. After this war he was a member of the board which prepared a system of artillery instruction for the army, and was in command of the armories at Harper's Ferry, Charleston and Pikesville, Md., with promotion to major of ordnance, until his resignation from the old army to follow his State in her effort for independence. He was commissioned colonel of artillery in the regular army of the Confederate States, in June, brigadier-general in the provisional service, and in October, 1861, major-general. In May, 1861, he was assigned to command of the department of Southern Virginia and North Carolina, with headquarters at Norfolk, and after the evacuation of Norfolk and Portsmouth in the spring of 1862, he commanded a division of the army under General Johnston and General Lee, during the campaigns which included the battles of Seven Pines and the series of important actions ending at Malvern hill. Subsequently he was assigned as inspector of artillery and ordnance in the armies of the Confederate States, and in 1863 was appointed chief of ordnance of the Trans-Mississippi department. After the conclusion of hostilities he was engaged for several years in farming in Fauquier county, Va. His death occurred at his native city of Charleston, December 7, 1877. His son, Frank Huger, a graduate of the United States military academy, 1860, entered the Confederate service as captain of the Norfolk light artillery and had a conspicuous career with the army of Northern Virginia, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and the command of a battalion of artillery of the First corps.

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Brigadier-General Micah Jenkins was born on Edisto island in 1839. After his graduation at the South Carolina military academy, at the head of his class, he with the co-operation of his classmate, Asbury Coward, founded the King's Mountain military school in 1855. His military genius was valuable in the first organization of troops in 1861, and he was elected colonel of the Fifth regiment, with which he went to Virginia, in the brigade of Gen. D. R. Jones. In the latter part of 1861 he was in command of that brigade, and had grown greatly in favor with his division commander, General Longstreet. Longstreet proposed to begin the reorganization, a matter approached with much misgiving, in this brigade, and he declared that he hoped to hold every man in it if Jenkins could be promoted brigadier-general. "Besides being much liked by his men, Colonel Jenkins is one of the finest officers of this army," Longstreet wrote. Beauregard also added his approval to this recommendation. Still in the rank of colonel, Palmetto sharpshooters, he commanded R. H. Anderson's brigade in the battles of Williamsburg and Seven Pines, and was warmly commended by Longstreet and D. H. Hill and by J. E. B. Stuart, whom he supported at Fort Magruder. He was again distinguished at Gaines' Mill, and at Frayser's Farm, having been ordered to silence a battery, Longstreet supposing he would use his sharpshooters alone, he threw forward his brigade and captured the guns, bringing on the battle. July 22, 1862, he was promoted brigadier-general, and continuing in command of the same brigade, participated in the battles of August 29th and 30th, Second Manassas, and was severely wounded. He was on duty again at the battle of Fredericksburg and during the Suffolk campaign, his division now being commanded by General Pickett, and was on the Blackwater under Gen. D. H. Hill, during the Gettysburg campaign. When Longstreet was sent to the assistance of Bragg at Chattanooga, Jenkins' brigade was transferred to Hood's division, and reached the field of Chickamauga after the battle. During the investment of Chattanooga he commanded the attack upon the Federal reinforcements arriving under Hooker, and then accompanied Longstreet in the Knoxville campaign, commanding Hood's division. He took a conspicuous part in the operations in east Tennessee, and then, early in 1864, returned to Northern Virginia. Field was now in charge of the division, and Jenkins led his famous old brigade to battle on May 6th, the second day of the Wilderness fighting, when the splendid veterans of the First corps arrived in time to check the current of threatened disaster. As he rode by the side of Longstreet, he said to his chief, "I am happy. I have felt despair for the cause for some months, but now I am relieved, and feel assured that we will put the enemy across the Rapidan before night." Immediately afterward, by the mistaken fire of another body of Confederates, he and Longstreet were both wounded, Jenkins mortally. General Longstreet has written of him: "He was one of the most estimable characters of the army. His taste and talent were for military service. He was intelligent, quick, untiring, attentive, zealous in discharge of duty, truly faithful to official obligations, abreast with the foremost in battle, and withal a humble, noble Christian. In a moment of highest earthly hope, he was transported to serenest heavenly joy; to that life beyond that knows no bugle call, beat of drum or clash of steel. May his beautiful spirit, through the mercy of God, rest in peace! Amen!"

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Major-General David Rump Jones was born in Orangeburg county, S. C., in 1825. His family removed to Georgia in his childhood, and from that State he was appointed to the United States military academy, where he was graduated in 1846 in the class with Stonewall Jackson, McClellan and other famous commanders. As a lieutenant of the Second infantry he served in the war with Mexico, participating in the siege of Vera Cruz, the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and the capture of the city of Mexico, particularly being distinguished and earning promotion on the fields of Contreras and Churubusco. He subsequently served as adjutant of his regiment, made the voyage to California in 1848-49, and with promotion to first lieutenant was on duty there until the fall of 1851, after which he acted as instructor in infantry tactics at West Point. With the brevet rank of captain of staff he served from the spring of 1853, successively as adjutant-general of the Western department and the Pacific department, as acting judge-advocate of the Pacific department, and as assistant adjutant-general of the department of the West, until his resignation, February 15, 1861. He was commissioned major in the Confederate States army, and assigned to duty as chief-of-staff of General Beauregard, in which capacity he visited Fort Sumter on April 13th and offered the terms of surrender, which were accepted. On June 17, 1861, he was promoted brigadier-general. With the army under Beauregard at Manassas, Va., he had command of a brigade composed of Jenkins' Fifth South Carolina and Burt's Eighteenth and Featherston's Seventeenth Mississippi. In the original Confederate plan of battle, July 21st, he was to have taken a prominent part in the fight, but the actual events of the day confined him to demonstrations against the Federal flank. Soon afterward his brigade was composed of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Ninth South Carolina regiments, until February, 1862, when he was assigned to command of Gen. Sam Jones' Georgia brigade. He was in charge of General Magruder's first division, including the Georgia brigade of Robert Toombs and his own under George T. Anderson, during the retreat from Yorktown, and the battles of Gaines' Mill, Savage Station and Malvern Hill, and other engagements of the Seven Days before Richmond. In the Second Manassas campaign he commanded a division of Longstreet's corps, Drayton's brigade having been added to the two previously mentioned. He drove the enemy through Thoroughfare Gap, held the extreme right next day, confronting Fitz John Porter, and in the battle of the 30th actively engaged the Federal left. In the Maryland campaign his division, increased by the addition of Kemper's and Garnett's Virginia brigades and Jenkins' South Carolina brigade, had a conspicuous part, winning renown first by the heroic defense of the passes of South mountain, and at Sharpsburg fighting desperately against the advance of Burnside across the Antietam on the Confederate right. After this battle he was promoted major-general. His coolness and excellent judgment as a commanding officer would have doubtless brought still higher honors, but at this time an affection of the heart to which he had long been subject was greatly aggravated, and after a lingering illness he died at Richmond, January 19, 1863.

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Brigadier-General John D. Kennedy was born at Camden, January 5, 1840, son of a native of Scotland, who settled in Kershaw county about 1830, and married a granddaughter of Abraham Belton, a pioneer of Camden and a soldier of the revolution. He was a student at the South Carolina college, read law, and was admitted to practice in January, 1861, but at once gave himself to the military service of his State. In April, 1861, he became captain of Company E, Second South Carolina infantry, under Col. J. B. Kershaw. With this command he was in the first battle of Manassas, and was struck by a Federal ball. Upon the promotion of Kershaw to brigadier-general he became colonel of the Second regiment, and in that rank participated in the skirmish on the Nine-mile road near Richmond, in June, 1862, and the battle of Savage Station, after which he was disabled for some time by fever. During the investment of Harper's Ferry he was with Kershaw's brigade in the capture of Maryland heights, and at Sharpsburg his regiment was the first of the brigade to come to the relief of Jackson. He drove the enemy from his front, but fell painfully wounded in the first charge. At Fredericksburg he was sent with his own and the Eighth regiment to the support of General Cobb at Marye's hill, the focus of the hottest fighting of that memorable battle, and aided materially in the defeat of the Federal attacks; and at Chancellorsville he was identified with the gallant action of his brigade. During 1864 when not disabled he was either in command of his regiment or of Kershaw's old brigade, in the Richmond and Shenandoah Valley campaigns, and in December he was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier-general. With his brigade in McLaws' division of Hardee's corps he took part in the final campaign in North Carolina against Sherman, including the battle of Bentonville, and surrendered with the army at Greensboro. He was six times wounded during his service, and was hit fifteen times by spent balls. After the close of hostilities he was mainly engaged in planting until 1877, when he resumed the profession of law. He was elected to Congress in 1865, but declined to take the "ironclad" oath demanded and did not take his seat. In 1878-79 he represented his county in the legislature, was elected in 1880 and served as lieutenant-governor of the State to 1882, and in the latter year was a prominent candidate for the nomination of governor. In 1884 he was presidential elector-at-large on the Democratic ticket, and in 1886 was appointed consul-general at Shanghai, China, by President Cleveland. Returning from that post in 1889, he continued the practice of law at Camden until his death in April, 1896.

Maj.-Gen. J. B. KERSHAW.

Brig.-Gen. ROSWELL S. RIPLEY.

Maj.-Gen. BENJAMIN HUGER.

Brig.-Gen. A. M. MANIGAULT.

Brig.-Gen. ABNER PERRIN.

Brig.-Gen. ELLISON CAPERS.

Brig.-Gen. C. H. STEVENS.

Brig.-Gen. J. B. VILLEPIGUE.

Brig.-Gen. W. H. WALLACE.

Brig.-Gen. SAMUEL MCGOWAN.]