66 Days of Hell

By John Rigdon and John C. Rigdon

This is an account of Gen. Sherman's destruction of South Carolina in January and February, 1865.

Robertsville, Lawtonville, Lopers Crossroads, Barkers Mill, Salkehatchie River, McPhersonville, Hayward Plantation, Hickory Hill, Whippy Swamp, Ferguson's Branch, McBride's Bridge, Tennant's Branch, DuBoise Landing, Tobys Bluff, Roberts Ford, Broxton's Bridge, River's Bridge, Buford's Bridge, Fiddle Pond, Morris Ford, Springtown, Blackville, Barnwell, White Pond, Orangeburg. Johnson's Crossing, Aiken, Lexington, Cheraw, Columbia, Lynch's Creek

 

"Again at the hospital I see the horrid results of every battle.  Men mutilated in every shape conceivable, groaning, begging for assistance and gasping in death. Many of our wounded will have to lie all night in that horrid swamp, it being impossible to find them and carry them out on the narrow foot bridge that has been made. Many have had their heads  propped up out of the water where they lay to keep them from drowning."

 

Gen. Sherman's march through South Carolina began in late December, 1864.  By March 9, 1865, his troops had passed out of the state into North Carolina - leaving behind a path of total destruction 100 miles wide and extending the entire length of the state.

 

Today many people only remember the "March To The Sea" which was largly unopposed and not nearly as destructive as what happened in South Carolina.

 

"When I go through South Carolina," he promised," it will be one of the most horrible things in the history of the world. The devil himself couldn't restrain my men in that state."

 

During the first part of the march houses were burned as they were found. Whenever a view could be had from high ground black columns of smoke were seen rising here and there within a circuit of twenty or thirty miles. Solid built chimneys were the only relics of plantation houses after the fearful blast had swept by. The destruction of houses, barns, mills, &c., was almost universal. Families who remained at home occasionally kept the roof over their heads. 'Refugeeing,' as the Yankee soldiers termed fleeing from the wrath to come, was taken as evidence that the refugees were rebels, and the property they had left was destroyed. 
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eastern Digital Resources
• Release date: Jul 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393339946

Book preview

66 Days of Hell

Covering those events which occurred in South Carolina in January and February, 1865.

Robertsville, Lawtonville, Lopers Crossroads, Barkers Mill, Salkehatchie River, McPhersonville, Hayward Plantation, Hickory Hill, Whippy Swamp, Ferguson’s Branch, McBride’s Bridge, Tennant’s Branch, DuBoise Landing, Tobys Bluff, Roberts Ford, Broxton’s Bridge, River’s Bridge, Buford’s Bridge, Fiddle Pond, Morris Ford, Springtown, Blackville, Barnwell, White Pond, Orangeburg. Johnson’s Crossing, Aiken, Lexington, Cheraw, Columbia, Lynch’s Creek

By John C. Rigdon

66 Days of Hell

16th Printing – JULY 2020  57/0/20/3/KN

© 2005 Eastern Digital Resources.  All Rights Reserved.  No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the express written consent of the copyright holder.

Published by:

Eastern Digital Resources

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Contents

A Turtle On A Fence Post

Preface

Lieutenant General Joseph Wheeler

Union Officers

TimeLine

Historical Sketch

The Battle for the Salkehatchie

The Death Of An Unsung Confederate Hero

General Joe Loses His Hat

And Old Kill Cavalry Loses His Hat

The Soldier’s Friend

Excerpt from The Siege of Savannah

A Yankee Perspective

Reports of Maj. General Sherman

Firsthand Account

Excerpt from the History of the New York 107th Infantry.

The Horrid Results of Every Battle

Memoir of Sgt. John A. Moore

Letter of Capt. Ephraim Wilson

Memoir of Capt. Benjamin S. Williams

Firsthand Account

Letter of Frances M. Cherry

The Campaign Of The Carolinas

Confederate Casualties

Union Casualties

Casualties in the Battle of Rivers Bridge

Confederate Order Of Battle

Union Order Of Battle

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Again at the hospital I see the horrid results of every battle.  Men mutilated in every shape conceivable, groaning, begging for assistance and gasping in death. Many of our wounded will have to lie all night in that horrid swamp, it being impossible to find them and carry them out on the narrow foot bridge that has been made. Many have had their heads  propped up out of the water where they lay to keep them from drowning.

Lt. Col. Oscar L. Jackson, 63rd Ohio Infantry,

after the Battle of Rivers Bridge, February 2-3, 1865

Source: These Honored Dead: The Battle of Rivers Bridge

http://www.illinoiscivilwar.org/cw93-hist-ch10a.html

A Turtle On A Fence Post

If You ever see one, you’ll know he didn’t get there by himself.

THIS WORK HAS BEEN compiled from a number of different sources.  I have concentrated on first hand accounts and primary sources when available.  It is my hope that this sketch will help in your research and become the basis of future in depth research into the events which occurred in South Carolina in the Winter of 1864-65,

If you have additional information on the men who fought in these battles, or the regiment’s actions in battle, please drop me a note at [e-mail].  I will incorporate them into future editions.

[Illustration 1] with link to larger version of illustration.

The Battle for the Salkehatchie from Harper’s Review

(Courtesy of the University of Michigan Digital Library Production Service)

Preface

The writer of the following sketch does not attempt, in the space assigned him, to give a complete history of the various commands of Carolinians, who for four years did gallant and noble service in the armies of the Confederacy.

A faithful record of their names alone would fill the pages of a volume, and to write a history of their marches and battles, their wounds and suffering, their willing sacrifices, and their patient endurance, would demand more accurate knowledge, more time, and more ability than the author of this sketch can command.

He trusts that in the brief history which follows he has been able to show that South Carolina did her duty to herself and to the Southern Confederacy, and did it nobly.

Gen. Ellison Capers

Author of Confederate Military History – South Carolina

Confederate Officers

mclaws1n.jpg (14130 bytes)

Major General Lafayette McLaws

Born January 15, 1821 at Augusta, GA

Cousin of CS Lt General Richard Taylor

USMA 48th in 1842

Died July 24, 1897 at Savannah, GA

Buried Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah

PRE-WAR PROFESSION Graduated West Point 1842, Mexican War, resigned March 1861.

War Service 1861 organized 10th Georgia - June 1861 Col., September 1861 Brig. Gen., served under Magruder in the Peninsula campaign, May 1862 Maj. Gen., commanded McLaws’ Division in Longstreet's command, Seven Days, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Knoxville, relieved of his command by Longstreet, transferred to Georgia, defense of Savannah, served under Joseph E. Johnston in Carolinas campaign.

Post War Career Insurance agent, internal revenue collector, postmaster.

A division commander early in the war, Lafayette McLaws proved capable but not brilliant enough to warrant further advancement. A graduate of West Point in 1842, he had been serving as a captain of infantry for almost 10 years when he resigned his commission to join the South on March 23, 1861.

The native Georgian's assignments included: major, Infantry (May 1861); colonel, 10th Georgia (June 17, 1861); brigadier general, CSA (September 25, 1861); commanding 1st brigade, Department of the Peninsula (October 3 - November 10, 1861); commanding 2nd Division, Department of the Peninsula (November 10, 1861 - April 12, 1862); commanding division, Magruder's Command, Department of Northern Virginia (April 12 - July 1862); major general, CSA (May 23, 1862); commanding division, lst Corps, Army of Northern Virginia (July 1862 - September 9, 1863); commanding division, Longstreet's Corps, Army of Tennessee (September 19 - November 5, 1863); commanding division, Department of East Tennessee (November 5 - December 17, 1863); commanding District of Georgia and 3rd Military District of South Carolina, Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida (May 25 - July 1864); and commanding division, same department (July 1864 - April 9, 1865).

Serving on the Peninsula during the first year of his service, he saw action during the Seven Days. In the Maryland Campaign he fought at Harpers Ferry and Antietam and later at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. He did not reach Chickamauga in time to serve with the part of the division which arrived from Virginia but took part in the Knoxville Campaign.  Longstreet became displeased with his cooperation and preparations for the assault at Fort Sanders and at Bean's Station. On December 17, 1863, he was relieved of command, and Longstreet brought charges against him for the Fort Sanders incident. A court found him guilty of some charges on May 4, 1864, but Jefferson Davis disapproved the findings on the 7th and ordered him back to duty with his division in Virginia. It was thought better, however, to assign him other duty, and he was sent to the Southern coast where he was in command of the Infantry forces against Sherman in the Siege of Savannah and the Carolinas’ Campaigns.  Following the surrender he was in insurance, a tax collector, and a postmaster.

Source:  (Freeman, Douglas S., Lee's Lieutenants)

Who Was Who In The Civil War by Stewart Sifakis

wheeler1n.jpg (12072 bytes)

Lieutenant General Joseph Wheeler

Born September 10, 1836 at Augusta, GA

USMA 19th in 1859

Wounded 3 times

Died January 25, 1906 at Brooklyn, NY

Buried Arlington National Cemetery

Joseph Wheeler was born in Augusta, GA in 1836.  His birthplace at the intersections of Wheeler Rd. and Rae’s Creek is marked by a large granite marker.  He attended the Academy of Richmond County and entered West Point in 1854 where he graduated in 1859.

When the war came, Wheeler entered as Colonel of the 19th Alabama Infantry.  He distinguished himself at Shiloh and won high praise for his gallantry.  Shortly thereafter he was transferred to the Cavalry and was placed in command under General Braxton Bragg in 1862.  At the battle of Chickamauga, Wheeler was in charge of the Confederate Cavalry, and in Sherman’s Atlanta campaign he so distinguished himself that he was appointed a lieutenant-general.  Throughout the remainder of the war he and his men fought continuously against Sherman’s troops.  At the Battle of Aiken on Feb. 11, 1865, he had his most successful battle against his arch-enemy and West Point classmate, General Kilpatrick.

Following the war, Gen. Wheeler was one of the most outspoken Confederate leaders urging reconciliation and when the war with Spain came in 1895, Fighting Joe offered his services to the Union.  At the age of 49, he led Union troops as a General against the Spaniards in Cuba and it was under his command that Teddy Roosevelt gained his reputation as a soldier of unusual courage and ability.  Certainly Roosevelt’s expertise must be attributed to the leadership of General Joe.

Union Officers

Gen. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick

(1836 - )

GEN. KILPATRICK WAS born in 1836 in New Jersey.  He attended West Point and graduated 17th in his class in 1861.  He was made a captain of volunteers, then a first lieutenant of artillery in the regular army.

At the battle of Big Bethel in June of 1861 Gen Kilpatrick became the first Union officer wounded in battle, being shot in the buttocks.  He was named a Lieutenant-Colonel of a New York Cavalry regiment follow-ing his recuperation.  Following the battle of Second Manassas, he was promoted to Brigadier General.

Gen. Kilpatrick was known for his happy-go-lucky attitude and his careless disregard for the safety of his men.  He earned a well deserved nickname, Old Kill Cavalry and was generally regarded to be more lucky than intelligent.  He was again wounded at the battle of Resaca and out of service for several months.  He rejoined Sherman’s army as it approached Savannah and led the cavalry under Gen. Slocum for the Carolina’s Campaign.

Kilpatrick was quite possibly the worst major cavalry commander of the American Civil War. However his one strong suit was his ability to attract a bevy of women throughout his campaigns. Perhaps one of his appeals to them was the wit he showed in the capture of Barnwell, SC on February 6th 1865. After a couple of his regiments (92nd Illinois Mounted Infantry and 9th Ohio Cavalry) forced a few hundred confederate cavalry from Morris Ford and to abandon the town of Barnwell, Kilpatrick’s men burnt the town to the ground. During the fires, Kilpatrick and his officers held an impromptu ball with local slave women as their dates.

TimeLine

JANUARY

3, 1865. -Skirmish near Hardeeville, S. C.

3-17, 1865. -Transfer of the larger portion of the Army of the Tennessee, under Major-General Howard, from Savannah, Ga., to Beaufort, S. C.

8, 1865. -Major General John A. Logan, U. S. Army, resumes command of the Fifteenth Army Corps, relieving Major General Peter J. Osterhaus.

14, 1865. -Advance of Union forces from Beaufort to Pocotaligo, S. C., and skirmishes.

15, 1865. -Destruction of the U. S. monitor Patapsco, in Charleston Harbor, S. C.

20, 1865. -Reconnaissance from Pocotaligo to the Salkehatchie River, S. C., and skirmish.

25, 1865. -Reconnaissance from Pocotaligo to the Salkehatchie River, S. C.

26, 1865. -Skirmish near Pocotaligo, S. C.

27, 1865. -Skirmish at Ennis' Cross-Roads, S. C.

28, 1865. -Skirmish at Combahee River, S. C.

29, 1865. -Skirmish at Robertsville, S. C.

30, 1865. -Skirmish near Lawtonville, S. C.

31, 1865. -The Department of North Carolina constituted, to consist of the State of North Carolina, and Major General John M. Schofield, U. S. Army, assigned to its command.

FEBRUARY

1, 1865. -Skirmish at Hickory Hill, S. C.

Skirmish at Whippy Swamp Creek, S. C.

2, 1865. -Skirmish at Lawtonville, S. C.

Skirmish at Barker's Mill, Whippy Swamp, S. C.

Skirmish at Duck Branch, near Loper's Cross-Roads, S. C.

Skirmishes at Rivers' and Broxton's Bridges, Salkehatchie River, S. C.

3, 1865. -Action at Rivers' Bridge, Salkehatchie River, S. C.

Skirmish at Dillingham's Cross-Roads or Duck Branch, S. C.

4, 1865. -Skirmish at Angley's Post-Office, S. C.

Skirmish at Buford's Bridge, S. C.

5, 1865. -Skirmish at Duncanville, S. C.

Skirmish at Combahee Ferry, S. C.

6, 1865. -Action at Fishburn's Plantation, near Lane's Bridge, Little Salkehatchie River, S. C.

Skirmish at Cowpen Ford, Little Salkehatchie River, S. C.

Skirmish near Barnwell, S. C.

February 7, 1865. -Skirmish at Blackville, S. C.

Skirmish at the Edisto Railroad Bridge, S. C.

Reconnaissance to Cannon's Bridge, South Edisto River, S. C.

8, 1865. -Skirmish at Williston, S. C.

Skirmish near White Pond, S. C.

Skirmish at Walker's or Valley Bridge, Edisto River, S. C.

Skirmish at Cannon's Bridge, South Edisto River, S. C.

9, 1865. -Major General Quincy A. Gillmore, U. S. Army, assumes command of the Department of the South, vice Major General John G. Foster.

Major General John M. Schofield, U. S. Army, assumes command of the Department of North Carolina.

The advance of the Twenty-third Army Corps arrives at Fort Fisher, N. C.

Skirmish at Binnaker's Bridge, South Edisto River, S. C.

Skirmish at Holman's Bridge, South Edisto River, S. C.

10, 1865. -Skirmish at James Island, S. C.

Skirmish at Johnson's Station, S. C.

11, 1865. -Action at Aiken, S. C.

Action at Johnson's Station, S. C.

Attack on Battery Simkins, S. C.

Action near Sugar Loaf, N. C.

11-12, 1865. -Skirmishes about Orangeburg, S. C.

12-13, 1865. -Skirmishes at the North Edisto River, S. C.

14, 1865. -Skirmish at Wolf's Plantation, S. C.

Skirmish at Gunter's Bridge, North Edisto River, S. C.

15, 1865. -Skirmish at Congaree Creek, S. C.

Skirmish at Savannah Creek, S. C.

Skirmish at Bates' Ferry, Congaree River, S. C.

Skirmish at Red Bank Creek, S. C.

Skirmish at Two League Cross-Roads, near Lexington, S. C.

16-17, 1865. -Skirmishes about Columbia, S. C.

17, 1865. -Union forces occupy Columbia, S. C.

Historical Sketch

Gen. Sherman's march through South Carolina began in late December, 1864.  By March 9, 1865, his troops had passed out of the state into North Carolina - leaving behind a path of total destruction 100 miles wide and extending the entire length of the state.

The campaign began in late November 1864 even before the surrender of Savannah, but due to the strong resistance by Gen. Wheeler's Cavalry, Sherman's first troops did not cross the river into South Carolina until January 15, 1865.  He had reported to his superiors that he expected the Carolina march to last 4 to 5 weeks, but in fact it was late March before his troops passed out of South Carolina into North Carolina.  He later reported that his march had not begun until the end of January.

When they left Savannah, Federal troop strength was 60,000 consisting of the 14th,