Williamsburg County, South Carolina - Chapter 27: Williamsburg, C. S. A., 1861, 1923

Chapter 27: Williamsburg, C. S. A., 1861

On January 1, 1861, at a gathering of the men and women of Williamsburg, the Wee Xee Volunteers were organized into a company for serving the State. It was some privilege to have the opportunity of placing one's name on the list of this company and of answering its first roll call. The men who were accepted were select men from every part of Williamsburg District. Com¬ munities contested for the number of representatives they should furnish and the list, which was finally made, con¬ tained names that were known at Tours, Hastings, Runnymede, Bannockburn, Black Mingo, Camden, Cowpens, and Yorktown.

Here is the first Muster Roll of the Wee Xee Volunteers that left Kingstree for Charleston, January 4, 1861: John G. Pressley, captain ; Samuel W. Maurice, first lieutenant ; R. C. Logan, second lieutenant ; E. C. Keels, third lieu¬ tenant; D. B. McCreight, first sergeant; W. R. Brockinton, second sergeant; S. McBride Scott, third sergeant;

The Wee Nee Volunteers entrained at Kingstree for Charleston on January 4, 1861. That very day the North, by proclamation of President Buchanan, was spending in fasting, humiliation, and prayer "to avert the alarm¬ ing immediate political dangers and the fearful distress and panic in the land." For about two months, to Presi¬ dent Buchanan and the North was Darkness visible. They remembered South Carolina and 1832, and hoped. But Andrew Jackson, a South Carolinian, was then President. Yet sixty more days and another South Carolinian, hardly knowing his own high birthright, came with the Day in the hollow of his hands.

During this sixty days, there was about as much un¬ certainty at the North as there was certainty at the South. The South said : "Cotton is King and the Nations of the Earth will fall down before him. Yankees will not fight. We can wipe up with one cotton handkerchief all the blood spilled; God is with us, for slavery is a divinely appointed institution." staple, streamers ornamented with palmetto trees and stars embroidered in gold. Orators inspired the multi¬ tudes with tales of the heroism of the South Carolina for¬ bears in the War of the Revolution. Ministers proved conclusively to them that African slavery was pleasing to Almighty God and that He would give victory to southern arms.

In the North, fanatical abolitionists who had crusaded for this condition for so many years, gloated over the blood stained fields they saw in the future. These fren¬ zied abolitionists were about the only people, North or South, who were happy. They were frantic for the sight of blood. From afar they glutted their souls on it at Gettysburg.

There were many serious efforts made to avert the War. The North would not consent to the withdrawal of the Southern States. The South would not reunite with any territory opposing African slavery. Finally the North, with the New York Herald, realized, "The discussion of the right and the wrong in the matter, and the constitu¬ tionality of this thing, that thing, or the other, would now be a waste of time." This same paper, at the same time, said : "The longest purse and the largest popula¬ tion, when both races are equally brave, must tell in the end, and give the final victory to the North."

Finally, at four thirty o'clock on the morning of April 12, 1861, General Beauregard, commanding the Confede¬ rate troops at Charleston, fired on Fort Sumter, occupied by Union troops under Major Anderson. Major Ander¬ son and his garrison of sixty-five men returned the fire. This was a beautiful battle. The bombardment lasted thirty-four hours. Once the Confederate flag was shot down from Fort Gregg. Samuel Montgomery and David Duke, of Williamsburg, volunteered and replaced it. The defenders of Fort Sumter saw this act of valor and ceased firing for a moment. When these two Williams- burg men realized their enemy recognized and respected their bravery, they both faced the foe, drew themselves rigidly to attention, and saluted him. Major Anderson capitulated on April 13, 1861, and on Sunday, April 14, 1861, marched his little force from the fort on to a wait¬ ing Union transport, his banners flying and his bands play¬ ing. As the transport made its way out of the harbor, the Confederate forces along the beaches uncovered, honor¬ ing a brave and chivalrous enemy. The War between the Sections had begun. Not a man on either side had been killed in the first battle.

The big guns fired during the Battle of Fort Sumter were distinctly heard in Williamsburg. At first these people along Black River thought the roar of the cannon was nothing more than a summer thunderstorm, but soon was realized the noise of battle. And Williamsburg was there!

When the six months time for which the Wee Nee Volun¬ teers enlisted had expired, the company returned to Kingstree and was reorganized. On September 5, 1861, it joined the Twenty-Fifth South Carolina Regiment at Fort Johnson. The Muster Roll then showed; John G. Pressley, captain; Thomas J. China, first lieutenant, age 32; Calhoun Logan, second lieutenant, 25; Henry Mont¬ gomery, third lieutenant, 29; (Brevet second lieutenant) ; B. P. Brockinton, first sergeant, 36; J. M. Footman, second sergeant, 31; W. D. Duke, third sergeant; J. G. Tisdale, fourth sergeant; D. M. McClary, fifth sergeant; J. R. China, first corporal, 20; S. M. China, second corpo¬ ral; J. L. McClary, third corporal; T. B. Fleming, fourth corporal; L. E. Young, fifth corporal; and J. C. Sanders, sixth corporal.

At the same time, Captain Pressley reorganized the Wee Nee Volunteers in Kingstree in July, 1861, Lieutenant Samuel W. Maurice withdrew and became Captain of the Wee Nee Riflemen, which he organized. The Wee Nee Riflemen became a part of the Third Regiment, Pee Dee Legion, at Camp Harlee, near Georgetown. Follows a list of this company : Samuel W. Maurice, captain ; R. C. Logan, first lieutenant; William McCullough, second lieutenant; S. Isaac Montgomery, third lieutenant; W. M. McCrea, first sergeant; D. M. Duke, second sergeant; S. B. McClary, third sergeant ; S. S. Tisdale, fourth sergeant ;

Col. James F. Pressley

Several companies were organized in Williamsburg in the early summer of 1861 and joined the Tenth South Carolina Regiment under Colonel Manigault.

Company E of the Tenth Regiment South Carolina mustered on July 19, 1861 at White's Bridge : James F. Carraway, captain, 34; F. M. Miller, first lieutenant, 22; F. M. Britton, second lieutenant, 23; J. F. D. Britton, third lieutenant, 45; J. P. Anderson, first sergeant, 23;

Company I, Tenth Regiment, enlisted on August 13, 1861, for a term of twelve months, at White's Bridge. There were about as many men in this company from Williamsburg as from Marion. H. M. Lofton, captain, 21; B. B. McKnight, first lieutenant, 21; S. S. Gasque, second lieutenant, 36; B. Poston, third lieutenant, 34; Jasper Bartell, first sergeant, 40; Andrew Poston, second sergeant, 32; T. J. Bostwick, third sergeant, 26; William

Captain William B. Gordon's Company, for some time stationed as guard at the Northeastern Railway's Santee Bridge, afterwards became Company K, of the Twenty- Fifth Regiment. The Muster Roll of Captain Gordon's Company follows : William B. Gordon, captain ; Francis J. Lesesne, first lieutenant; Samuel McDonald, second lieutenant; Charles Lesesne, first sergeant; Joseph W. Gamble, second sergeant; Edward R. Lesesne, third ser¬ geant; Thomas H. Davis, fourth sergeant; William H. McConnell, first corporal; Javhew P. Cooper, second corporal; James H. Brunson, third corporal.

The Williamsburg Riflemen was organized September 16, 1861, by Captain J. B. Chandler, who resigned Decem¬ ber 1, 1861, and Captain James McCutchen was promoted from First Lieutenant and commanded the Company during its battle service. It became Company G, Fif¬ teenth Regiment, Colonel W. G. DeSaussure. Here fol¬ lows the roll at its organization : J. B. Chandler, captain, 33; James McCutchen, first lieutenant, 31; William M. Haselden, second lieutenant, 21; Benjamin P. Barron, second lieutenant, 21 ; Thomas M. Fulton, first sergeant, 24 ; Martin V. Timmons, second sergeant, 24 ; William J. Wilson, third sergeant, 26 ; Hugh D. Gamble, fourth sergeant, 27; John J. Brown, first corporal, 20; William N. Johnson, second corporal, 20; Thomas J. Burrows, third sergeant, 18; Robert Nesmith, fourth sergeant, 19.

The Williamsburg Light Dragoons was a militia organi¬ zation commanded by Captain J. C. Wilson. When Governor Pickens called for volunteers to serve the State for twelve months, this troop of cavalry volunteered and was sent to Georgetown, where it became a part of the Harlee Legion. Four troops of cavalry were formed into a squadron, one of which was this Williamsburg troop and Captain J. C. Wilson was elected major. He was succeeded by Captain John Watson. At the expira¬ tion of the twelve months, Major Wilson was defeated for re-election as commanding officer of this squadron by

Major W. P. Emanuel. Whereupon, Major Wilson showed his manhood by enlisting in the Williamsburg troop as a private, and serving therein in such capacity until he was mortally wounded at Cold Harbor, and died in the Jackson hospital at Richmond several weeks later.

In this troop from Williamsburg were at least three men who had served as captains in the militia prior to the Confederate War. They were: Captain J. A. Sal¬ ters, Captain J. C. Wilson, and Captain D. E. Gordon. This troop finally became a part of the Fourth Cavalry. This regiment was composed largely of the wealthier young men of the State. When they arrived in Richmond for participation along the battle line, nearly every indivi¬ dual soldier in the regiment had a negro servant attending him. The Confederate Government realized that it was sufficiently difficult to feed the soldiers without their negroes, so that these young men found it necessary to dispense with their servants and care for themselves. The regiment arrived in Virginia on Monday and on Friday it met the enemy at Haws Shop, where a number of men were killed, and on Monday, Tuesday, and Wed¬ nesday, it participated in the battle of Cold Harbor, one of the bloodiest battles of the War, and on Saturday, it met the enemy at Trevillian Station, where a number were killed, wounded, or captured. These were captured at Trevillian : Captain D. E. Gordon, S. R. Mouzon, James A. McCrea, B. P. Barron, John Coker, Robert Cade, and James Knox.

The story is told that Blackwell McClary, a private in this troop of cavalry, was very much afraid of "haunts," that his nervousness at night when in the vicinity of graveyards was a standing joke in the troop. The first time this regiment was shelled was at Cold Harbor, and this was as severe shelling as occurred during the war. This began unexpectedly and practically all of the men of Butler's Cavalry and their horses immediately under- took to move out of that shell fire, notwithstanding General Butler's orders, "Steady, men, steady." When the shell¬ ing had ceased and General Butler looked around him for his command, he saw about thirty troopers. All the others had departed. One of this thirty was Blackwell McClary. When the Williamsburg Light Dragoons reas¬ sembled, Blackwell McClary appeared before the men and told them in most emphatic language just what his opinion was of men who were afraid of exploding shells. Nobody ever attempted to taunt Mr. McClary about being afraid after this day.

In these three battles, occurring within ten days, Wil¬ liamsburg Light Dragoons had a large number of men who were seriously wounded. They were all taken to the Jackson Hospital in Richmond, where many of them died. When their negro body servants had been left in Rich¬ mond, trooper Samuel R. Mouzon had succeeded in plac¬ ing his negro, Peter, who was about sixty years old and one of the best servants in the countrv, in the Jackson Hospital in Richmond. When these wounded troopers from the Williamsburg organization found Peter there, they must have breathed a prayer of thanksgiving. Peter's master's brother, John P. Mouzon, lost a leg and was there. So was Major J. C. Wilson, who afterwards died, E. P. Montgomery, William Montgomery, E. R. Martin, and T. S. Nelson, and many others whom Peter had known and served in Williamsburg. Probably no other wounded men in the history of the world received more faithful service than did these men whom Peter knew and loved. God may have made men who served others more faithfully and beautifully than did these negro battle attendants their masters, but doubtless He never did. Ten of these old negro body servants of Williamsburg were living in 1923 and receiving pensions from the State of South Carolina : William Bragdon, Caesar Chandler,

The Williamsburg Light Dragoons, Captain John Wat¬ son, joined in July, 1861, the Pee Dee Legion, Colonel R. F. Graham. The Lieutenants were then G. P. Nelson, S. J. Snowden, and W. K. Lane. At the reorganization of the troop in October, G. P. Nelson was elected captain. He commanded the troop for nearly a year when he re¬ signed and S. J. Snowden became the War Captain of this distinguished troop. It was officially known as Troop I, Fourth South Carolina Cavalry, Colonel B. H. Rutledge. Here is its muster roll: S. J. Snowden; W. W. Fluitt, first lieutenant; T. S. Nelson, second lieu¬ tenant; D. E. Gordon, third lieutenant; R. M. Wilson, first sergeant; J. H. Fluitt, R. S. Tisdale, S. L. Lifrage, J. H. McGavy, sergeants; J. D. Thomas, W. J. Hanna, S. W. Crapps, T. B. Fleming, corporals.

Dr. S. D. M. Byrd organized a company during the summer of 1861, and soon thereafter became Major of Byrd's Battalion formed at McClellanville. When Major Byrd took command of the Battalion, Lieutenant C. S. Land was promoted captain of the company. Later this company became Company I, Twenty-Sixth South Caro¬ lina Infantry. Here is a roll of Captain Land's Com¬ pany: C. S. Land, captain, 30; J. C. Graham, first lieu¬ tenant, 28; John A. Godwin, second lieutenant, 26; R. E. Cade, third lieutenant, 45.

Captain Land was promoted Major on December 9, 1864, by President Jefferson Davis "for distinguished valor and skill." Major Land commanded the picket line of Wallace's Brigade and on January 13, 1865, received high praise from the inspector general. In a letter to General Bushrod Johnson, referring to this report, Gen¬ eral Robert E. Lee wrote on January 18, 1863: "I note with pleasure the commendation bestowed upon Major Land, 26th South Carolina Regiment, permanent com¬ mander of the picket line of the Brigade, who appears to be an efficient and capable officer."

There were a great many men from Williamsburg District who served in the Confederate Army in organi¬ zations recruited principally from other districts, and their names may not have appeared so far in the rolls of Williamsburg's Confederate Soldiers.

Bridge in Georgetown and there volunteered for service in the Confederate Army. Dr. Gourdin was found physi¬ cally unfit for military service - too old - and his com¬ pany immediately broke up, the men uniting with other organizations. Many of those men joined Company A, of the Tenth Regiment, Captain Plowden C. J. Weston commanding. Among these were: N. B. Clarkson, James Sloan, E. Blakely, S. G. McClary, J. L. Blakely, W. J. Clarkson, Dr. I. W. Graham, W. G. Gamble, J. P. Gamble, J. E. Holmes, J. S. June, F. L. McCants, D. F. Micliau, J. J. Morris, W. C. Ogburn, L. K. Pipkin, J. N. Row, J. C. Small, I. D. Singletary, W. H. West, John Wilson, and F. W. Wilson.

There were three cadets from Williamsburg at the Citadel in 1861. They volunteered as a part of Company F, Sixth Cavalry : Anthony W. Dozier, first lieutenant ; Edward C. Dozier, corporal; and S. H. Owens, private. In the Seventh Cavalry from Williamsburg were : S. B. Green, D. Z. Martin, W. R. Godwin, John Ferdon, W. F. Thompson, J. W. Britton, W. H. Britton, W. T. Thomp¬ son, H. L. Crawford, Lieutenant W. D. Fitch, John Green, Richard Green, Thompson Green, J. D. Gordon, S. B. Gor¬ don, Ely Rodgers, J. F. Rodgers, L. P. McCullough, J. F. Brockinton, James Hanna, and Sam Hanna.

These were in the Palmetto Battalion of Light Artil¬ lery : James A. Coward and Rix A. Coward; these in Gregg's Battery, Jacob Atkinson, and John J. Altman. These served in Inglis' Light Artillery : Lieutenant Texas B. Logan, James M. Nelson, E. S. Jones, G. Purvis Nelson, George O. Wheeler, John Shaw Tisdale, James J. Martin, Francis M. Britton, William B. Epps, James N. Fluitt, Richard M. Fulmore, Arthur Hammett, Frank M. Jones, James M. Kirton, S. W. Kirton, Samuel G. McClary, W. S. Camlin, T. J. Strong, William J. Thorn¬ hill, James E. Timmons, J. Y. Tisdale, Robert S. Tisdale, and Samuel Tisdale, and James Sloan; these in Gaillard's Light Artillery: Lieutenant W. R. Cooper, F. W. McCott.ry, J. H. Porter, J. H. Saunders, John W. Witherspoon, D. Barr, John Cooper, Robert Cooper, W. A. Cooper, William D. Fulton, and J. H. Kinder.

Captain W. S. Brand was from Clarendon District, but about half of his Company, K, Sixth Regiment, were men of Williamsburg : Among these were : Lieutenant R. A. Flagler, Lieutenant E. B. Scott, Lieutenant Z. R. Full more, W. J. Ferrell, E. M. Graham, B. F. Scott, W. D. McFadden, J. P. Epps, W. W. Cunningham, J. H. Fullmore, S. W. Cockfield, T. S. Chandler, J. F. Chandler, B. S. Croft, A. W. Flagler, S. M. Flagler, R. M. Footman,

In Captain D. W. Harrington's, these : William W. Cunningham, J. M. Gardner, John A. Graham, William W. Hair, M. E. Hodge, LeGrand N. Joy, Francis E. Joy, J. Harvey Wilson, L. P. McCullough, J. S. McCullough, J. A. McCrea, and N. W. Baggett.

These officers and men from Williamsburg : Captain William J. Tavlor, Tenth Infantry; William J. Matthews, First Infantry; R. D. Rollins, Seventh Infantry; Frank Cox, Eight Infantry; Captain Peter C. Dozier, Chaplin J. E. Dunlap, of the Twenty-First Regimental Staff; Surgeon T. S. Hemingway, Staff, Seventh Cavalry ; Thomas Burrows, Ben Ard, and E. LI. Ard, Twenty-First Infantry; Jesse B. Ellis, Allen Miles, and John C. Scurry, Twenty-First Infantry; Nabor D. Lesesne, Charles Jones, George Weir, Samuel A. Jones, Robert A. Flagler, in Hampton's Legion; R. M. Footman, J. R. Hair, J. M. Gardner, J. G. Green, William Winkles, L. D. Winkles, in the Palmetto Sharpshooters.

These men of Williamsburg served in organizations as follows: R. E. Rodgers, Seventh Battalion; Lieutenant A. M. Snider, Hampton's Legion; Edwin Harper, Troop

After the thrills that came with Secession on Decem¬ ber 20, 1860, and the departure of the Wee Nee Volunteers under Captain John G. Pressley on January 4, 1861, there was comparative quiet in Williamsburg for about three months. The people seemed greatly relieved that South Carolina had withdrawn from the Union and be¬ lieved that things would come out "all right." Williams¬ burg had "much goods" laid up for many years. It felt free. President Buchanan and the cabinet in Washington could worry, but Williamsburg would wait. Williamsburg listened to sermons preached in the old church at Kingstree by Reverend E. O. Frierson; at Indiantown by Reverend J. R. Gilland; in the Methodist Church at Kingstree by Reverend J. M. Little; and in the Black River Churches by the Reverend J. C. Stoll. These "fathers in Israel" told Williamsburg that the Lord was with the South and would see that right triumphed. Sometimes, Mr. Gilland played the fiddle for his younger congregation to dance.

The little "swamp rabbit" mail and passenger trains on the Northeastern Railway passed Kingstree morning and evening as theretofore. The coming of these trains were the events of the day. Everybody went to the sta¬ tion to meet them, hear local gossip, and get the "Mer¬ cury" or the "Courier." The Kingstree Star had sus¬ pended publication when the Wee Nee Volunteers left, for in that company was all its force, editor, printer, and devil. The Courier, January 8, 1861, said "Our esteemed contemporary, the Kingstree Star, is under temporary sus¬ pension - occupation by Mars - editor, foreman, and com¬ positors are all in arms and are now near this City."

The booming of the big guns at Fort Sumter April 12, 1861, somewhat disturbed Williamsburg. But that was a bloodless battle, and its results were comforting. All the lighting might be just like that at Fort Sumter. And those days were just right for holding patriotic celebrations. Orators had eager auditors for the asking and abundant subjects for expression. Williamsburg dearly loved, and yet loves, fiery orations.

The Fourth of July celebrations that year exceeded in grandeur anything of the kind that had ever been held in Williamsburg. The pomp and circumstance and cere¬ mony of war entered them. Stalwart men in uniform, mounted on spirited chargers, flashed shining sabers in the sunlight. Every woman had her hero. War looses so many feelings that one loves!

The celebration on the Santee on that Fourth of July was just like the others held at Kingstree and Black Mingo. There was a squadron of cavalry drilling and parading during the day, a dinner in the early evening, and a grand ball that night. Here were some of the toasts : 1. The Day Sacred to the Cause of Constitutional Liberty ; 2. The Father of His Country ; 3. The Confede¬ rate States of America, True to the Spirit of '76 ; 4. The President of the Confederate States of America, - a states- man and civilian wise in counsel and successful in arms; 5. Tlie Army - free men who have gone to battle for their rights and the protection and sanctity of their homes; 6. The State of South Carolina, patriotic and brave, the first to throw off the yoke of a corrupt and fanatical government; 7. The Late United States - its government when administered in its integrity challenged our admira¬ tion and respect and had our most devoted loyalty and support : we mourn over its death by Northern fanaticism and misrule; 8. King Cotton - its Empire is the World; 9. The Institution of Slavery, - just, humane, wise, and Christian; one of Earth's greatest blessings to the be¬ nighted African and a cause of the prosperity and welfare of the South; 10. Woman - her sanctuary the home, - her mission, love, peace, and happiness. Many other toasts were given, all impressive of the fact that the people felt they were now really free and were celebrating the anniversary of the Fourth of July, 1776. At the grand ball that night, Williamsburg "had gathered there her beauty and her chivalry, and all went merry as a mar¬ riage bell."

The morning came and with it wild rumors of war. But these were nothing. Wild tongues had so often been loosed that no one seriously regarded them. Even the papers had begun to doubt their own startling stories printed day after day. The Richmond correspondent of the Courier, July 11, 1861, wrote: "There is an old Mokish law that when a man circulates a false report, his forehead shall be branded with a hot iron. With such retributive justice exercised just now, the counte¬ nance of every other individual in the community would be disfigured beyond redemption. Not that there is any intentional perversion of fact or a desire to mislead the public mind, but rather a diseased condition of the cere¬ bellum which magnifies uncertainties a thousand times beyond their proper proportions. We have proofs of this daily. Let the mere skeleton of a rumor arrive in town, no matter from what source, and incidentally men, women, and children put on the seven-leagued boots of imagination and a historical monstrosity is created in half an hour worthy of an Arabian story teller. Before the day has expired, it will have become as contagious as the measles. By night, the telegraph wires will be flashing the epidemic to every hamlet in the South."

Out of all these wild rumors and incident doubting there came to Williamsburg on the afternoon of July 22, 1861, the Mercury and the Courier from Charleston, with headlines like this : "Terrible Battle. Southerners Victorious. Great Slaughter on Both Sides. Enemy in Full Flight and Closely Pursued. Battle Commenced four o'clock on the Morning of July 21, and lasted until seven o'clock in the evening."

A great shout went up at the Kingstree Northeastern Railway station that evening. In a moment, after the tumult of triumph ceased, some one saw following "South¬ erners Victorious" the words "Great Slaughter." And Williamsburg was there ! Some one said, "Don't you know that Nabor Lesesne, and Charlie Jones, and George Weir, and Bob Flagler, and others from here were in Hampton's Legion, and Hampton's Legion was in the thickest of the fight?"

Nabor Lesesne had married Marian Ervin in 1860. Both of them were kin to half of the people of Williams¬ burg. They had Huguenot and Scotch-Irish blood in their veins, the best of Williamsburg. All Williamsburg knew and loved them both.

Later, a message came "Nabor Lesesne is wounded." Then a letter from him to his Marion, telling her he was comfortable in the hospital at Culpepper, and that she must conserve all her strength for the coming of a little life dearer to each of them than their very own. A few days later, a telegram read, "Nabor Lesesne is dead."

All Williamsburg loved Marian Lesesne and the little Nabor Lesesne who came. Fifty years later this Nabor Lesesne was the most loved and respected man in Wil¬ liamsburg County. He himself merited, as well as in¬ herited, the veneration Williamsburg had for him.

After the battle of First Manassas, or Bull Run, Wil¬ liamsburg realized that war had begun, and nearly every possible man in the district volunteered for military service. Many companies were immediately formed and were joined to South Carolina Vollunteer regiments.

Morale makes the soldier. There may be a hundred elements making morale, but certain fundamentals are essential. A soldier must be reasonably well fed, clothed, and equipped for fighting. He must be sustained by an unfaltering faith that his family at home has a fairly comfortable existence. When the "Conscript Fathers" of Williamsburg joined in decreeing the War between the Sections and called on the younger men of the district to offer themselves for service along the battle line, the young men volunteered. Many of these volunteers left wives and young children without capacity to support themselves. The old men of Williamsburg promised and fulfilled their sacred trust in supporting and sustaining these dependents of volunteer soldiers.

August 5, 1861, at the very beginning of the war, in accordance with previous notice, a convention of the citizens of Williamsburg was held in the Court House. Samuel E. Graham was called to the chair and Captain that the object of the meeting was for the discussion of ways and means and for the adoption of measures neces¬ sary for the proper support and maintenance of the families of such volunteers then in the service from this district as might need it.

"Whereas : Many of our citizens have volunteered for service for the defense of our country, and, in a good many instances, have left families in indigent circum¬ stances; and, whereas, the war now being waged against us has for its object the subversion of our institutions and the destruction of our liberties, it becomes the impera¬ tive duty of those of us who are not bearing the heat and burden of the day to sustain those that are; and that it is not a charity but a positive duty, which we owe to these brave men, to see that the families of those who need peculiar aid do not suffer.

"Therefore, resolved that an assessment upon the taxes of citizens, except the volunteers, is a just and equal way of raising sufficient funds."

On motion of John B. Pressley, Esq., Colonel David Wrilson and Messrs. L. E. Graham and W. L. Lee were appointed a committee to investigate and to report the amount necessary for the immediate needs of the families of volunteers then in service. This committee reported that there were then two hundred and twenty persons needing help and suggested that $3,300.00 be made im¬ mediately available for distribution among them. The committee recommended that an assessment of 20 per centum on the taxes of citizens of Williamsburg be collected for the purpose of raising this amount.

for Black Mingo, J. A. Hemingway and John B. Pres¬ sley; for Andersons, S. E. Graham, John Lequex, Sr., and J. S. Singleton; for Kingstree, David Epps, W. R. Brockinton, S. J. Montgomery, and Thomas China; for Indiantown, Thomas M. McCutchen and W. C. Barr; for Lynch's Lake, N. M. Graham, W. J. Nettles, and J. L. Jones.

S. E. Graham was made permanent chairman of the association and Captain J. C. Wilson, secretary. Dr. John F. Brockinton was unanimously chosen as treasurer. This organization functioned all during the Confederate War. There is nothing more beautiful in all Confede¬ rate war historv than the service which this association rendered.

It is possible that the idea in this association might have orginated elsewhere than in Williamsburg, but it is certain that nowhere else was it more splendidly materalized. This act of the citizenship of Williamsburg in voluntarily assessing, for the relief of the families of volunteer soldiers, the property of the District 20 per centum on its normal rate of taxation, seems a con¬ tribution to the progress of the world.

The women of Wiliamsburg were no less faithful in doing all they could for the families of volunteers about them than they were for sending relief to the soldiers in the field. There are no records of the thousands of things which those who were able contributed during this

On the 8tli of August, 1861, the Cedar Swamp Soldiers' Aid Society was organized. The following is a list of the officers and members : President, Mrs A. M. Cunning¬ ham; vice-president, Mrs. M. G. McCrea; secretary, Miss Eugenia P. Scott; treasurer, Miss Mary J. Cunning¬ ham; members, Mrs. Mary Scott, Mrs Ellen McCottry, Mrs. Martha Chandler, Mrs. C. R. Flagler, Miss Rosa Flagler, Mrs Martha McCullough, Mrs. M. Gardner, Miss Sarah McCullough, Miss Addie Flagler, Miss Julia Scott, Mrs. Jane Sturgis, Mrs. Sarah A. McGill, Mrs. M. E. Chandler, Mrs. Sarah Brown, Miss Adeline Mitchum, Miss Elizabeth Mitchum, Mrs. Elizabeth Tisdale. Miss Mary Grayson, and Mrs. J. C. Williams. The committee to solicit aid was composed of the following : Mrs. Mary M. Scott, Mrs. Ellen McCottry, Mrs. Mary J. McCullough, Mrs. C. R. Flagler, and Miss Rosa Flagler. This commit¬ tee reported at the meeting later in the same month $91.00 in cash and enough clothing to fill two large boxes.

At this meeting, the president of the society thanked the merchants of the district for liberal donations of cloth and other material for making supplies for the soldiers. She also urged the women of other districts to form other societies like this one at Cedar Swamp.

Immediately after the formation of the Cedar Swamp Society, the Lower Bridge Soldiers' Aid Society was or¬ ganized. The following were officers : Mrs J. A. Salters, president; Mrs. H. D. Shaw, Mrs. John Watson, Mrs. J. A. Gordon, and Mrs. A. C. McKnight, vice-presidents; Mrs. J. B. McCollough, secretary; and Mrs. M. A. Brad¬ ford, treasurer.

These societies were then organized in all sections of Williamsburg. The boxes ladies societies from Williams¬ burg sent to these soldiers in the field contained almost every conceivable thing useful. Among these, may be mentioned : shirts, socks, mitts, scarfs, sheets, pillows, pillow cases, spreads, towels, blankets, wines, liquors, syrup, preserves, pickels, arrowroot, gelatin, tea, sugar, buttons, needles, tape, spool cotton, flax thread, hanks of yarn, Bibles, Prayer Books, pamphlets, Port wine, Madei¬ ra wine, blackberry wine, brandy, cordial, whiskey, honey, catsup, cocoa, chocolate, isinglass, nutmegs, cloves, all¬ spice, pepper, sage, candles, soap, plates, tin pans, tin cups, spoons, knives, forks, tea pots, coffee pots, mugs, pitchers, and candle sticks.

In the old files of the Mercury and the Courier, pub¬ lished during the war in Charleston, may be found from time to time lists of contributions in money and in kind by individuals from Williamsburg. One of the items in these old lists runs as follows : "A coop of twenty-two chickens, eight from little Mary Brockinton and fourteen from the servants of Dr. John P. Brockinton.

While Williamsburg had full storehouses on January 1, 1861, it was almost exclusively an agricultural and stock raising community, and some things that had been by custom imported soon became scarce. Salt, coffee, dye¬ stuffs, and the clothing that the "elect" wore could not be purchased for many months after Union gunboats blockaded Southern ports. The following quotations are taken from The Macon Telegraph of September 25, 1861 :

"The only trouble is salt, and to think that salt should be scarce with the Atlantic brine tub on our borders is a reflection on the intelligence and enterprise of the Con¬ federate States. If a planter living beside a lake of cane juice should lament over the scarcity of sugar and syrup in his family, there would be but one response, 'you in¬ fernal fool, go get a kettle and boil down some of that

"To cheapen coffee, do not use the stuff. There is not one cook in five hundred who ever did anything else but abuse it. Some of the papers are recommending substi¬ tutes, parched beans, peas, rye, bread crusts, acorns, etc. Swamp mud with black water is just as effectual, but neither of them will make coffee anv more than chalk will make cheese. If you must have a warm drink, take boil¬ ing water and put a little milk and sugar in it. Compared with what is called coffee, in nine cases out of ten, it is nectar of the gods to lager beer and does you no harm, while coffee fills your stomach with mud banks and shoals against which the bark of human life is often wrecked. The greatest humbug in the world as commonly under¬ stood and practiced is coffee. The practice should be suppressed by the Board of Health if there were no war to do it."

The scarcity of salt reached considerable proportions early in the summer of 1861. It was not very long before Williamsburg planters learned that they could evaporate the water of the Atlantic and secure the salt just as easily as they could boil out the cane juice into syrup and sugar. Soon the McClellanville coast was lined with squads of salt making slaves from the plantations of Williamsburg.

Williamsburg slaves wore, as a general rule, clothing made by themselves from the cotton and wool grown on their own plantations. These homespun goods had to be colored. Before the War, dyestuffs had been imported. When thev could not be secured from the outside, the District had to filter from its own vegetation all the color¬ ing matter used. About this time, the newspapers were full of recipes for making dyes. On July 23, 1861, the correspondent of the Courier from Graham's Turnout in Williamsburg submitted the following: "When a small boy, I recollect to have gathered bushels of the sumac berry on the mountains in tbis state for the purpose of baying wool died black for tbe woof of our borne made gears. There can be almost any quantity gathered in tbis section almost without any charge. Anyone wish¬ ing to try dyeing wool will find it one of the hand¬ somest black dyes known to me."

The supply of imported fabrics that Southern gentle¬ women wore began to fail after the blockade was made ef¬ fective. All plantations kept making and were well sup¬ plied with homespun, a substantial clean looking service¬ able kind of cloth. This had been the clothing of slaves. Early in 1861, two belles of Portsmouth, Virginia, ap¬ peared at a high social affair, clad in homespun dresses. Everybody said they were beautiful. Southern news¬ papers commented on their winsomeness in such simple raiment. Southern girls began to wear homespun dresses and glory in them. About that time, Miss Carrie Belle Sinclair, of Savannah, Georgia, composed a song which was sung all over the South. Soldiers went into battle with its words in their mouths and its spirit in their souls. Every young woman in Williamsburg knew it and hummed it as she stitched and knitted and prayed for her gray clad soldier in the field.

Somebody said "Give me to write the songs of a nation and I care not who makes its laws." But who writes the songs of a nation must be of that nation. It is interest¬ ing to note in connection with the authorship of this song that James Sinclair settled on the Santee in Wil¬ liamsburg in 1725. It may be that something else shows more of the soul of the Southern girl of the sixties than "The Homespun Dress," but it is improbable. Here are the words to

The Homespun Dress

About this time, the sale and exportation of cotton was one of the most important questions before the Confed¬ eracy. The newspapers were filled with arguments on both sides of the question. The factors of Charleston said to the planters of this and other states and printed it in capital letters that they should "send none of their cotton to America until the blockade is expressly removed from all the ports of the Southern States." According to in¬ formation, one bank in Charleston had more than a mil¬ lion dollars balance in the Bank of England, and many other banks in Charleston and other cities in the South had large balances in banks in England and France. They said the South could finance the War without selling a bale of cotton. Cotton men believed they could compel the nations of the earth to recognize the Southern Confed¬ eracy and thus prove their statement that "Cotton is King." "When the hum of the spinning wheel mingles with the roar of the cannon, we will have two armies work¬ ing out a complete and eternal independence of the South." "If cotton compels a recognition of the Southern Confederacy, cotton will indeed be king."

One of the saddest things of all this time was the fear¬ ful preaching of nearly all Southern ministers. They held up constantly and continuously before the soldiers and their mothers dreadful pictures of Death and Hell and pleaded with them to prepare to meet an awful God in a Day of Wrath. Not only did these probably well intentioned divines preach these orgiastic frenzies, but they also revelled in distributing among the young im¬ pressionable heroic men in the Southern Armies all man¬ ner of so called tracts wherein fanatical apostles of gloom had written their worst. The subjects of some of these tracts were: How Long Have You Been Sick; The Muf¬ fled Drum; The Crimean Hero; A Soldier's Legacy; The Soldier's Victory; How Do You Bear Your Troubles; Prepare to Meet Thy God.

These preachers evidently meant well. But the mental agony they induced on the field and about the firesides in the land no poet's pen can ever picture and no orator's tongue can ever tell. When one now reads in the soldiers' diaries and mothers' memoirs the fearful religious at¬ mosphere pervading camp ground and castle in all this beautiful land, he wonders how Southern men ever mus¬ tered sufficient morale to move into battle. It is the most wonderful thing in all this war that valiant men came out of such impenetrable gloom. God may have forgiven these deadening "white vested Colonels of the Cross:" He may not.

The parents of many Williamsburg sons who went to war made the captains of the companies in which their sons enlisted promise that they would stay with these companies until the war ended. It was no little thing in a mother to turn over her favorite nor a father his first born to the god of war. These parents had confi¬ dence in these captains and these captains fulfilled their mission. So when the Tenth South Carolina Regiment in 1861 found it necessary to elect a major, all of the captains of the regiment declined the promotion, choosing to remain with their companies, and recommended that Lieutenant A. J. Shaw be made major, which was done.

There were more of Williamsburg's men in the Tenth Regiment of Infantry than in any other Confederate organization. There were three Williamsburg companies in it, and many Williamsburg men in other companies. Colonel A. M. Manigault, of Charleston, commanded the Regiment at the beginning, but these officers of the field and staff were from Wiliamsburg: Lieutenant Colonel James F, Pressley, Major A. J. Shaw, quartermaster, and Captain T. N. Britton, commissary.

The Tenth Infantry from July 23, 1861, to the end of the year, was stationed at Camp Marion, just below White's Bridge, two miles west of Georgetown. Here General

Marion liad a camp during the War of the Revolution, and on this ground Colonel Horry whipped the Tories and the brave young Marion, the General's nephew, fell. While here, the Tenth was drilled and disciplined for war. Besides the officers, Lieutenants W. B. McKee, L. B. Stark, M. S. Elliott, J. L. Taylor, J. C. Neill, and A. Doty, of the Citadel, assisted as drill masters and helped instruct the men in the art of war. Surgeon T. S. Heming¬ way, of Wiliamsburg, a recent graduate of the Citadel, was instructor in the management of big guns and heavy field artillery.

A newspaper correspondent thus wrote from the camp : "The Tenth Regiment is fortunate in having Colonel Manigault to command it. Firm and resolute, he is at the same time kind and gentle. On the field his voice rings like a trumpet. He is a most courteous gentleman and genial companion. He bore himself with distinguished gallantry through the Mexican campaign and is the very man to lead the brave boys of the Tenth to victory.

"Lieutenant Colonel Pressley and Major Shaw are ac¬ complished officers, Pressley a graduate of our Citadel and Shaw a soldier bv constitutional inclination. Commissary, Captain Britton, has a difficult position which he fills most acceptably. The soldiers attend religious services, seeming to esteem it a pleasure and not a task to worship God. In the evenings, the encampment rings with sacred songs.'7

No military event occurred in Virginia in 1861 after the battle of Manassas in which South Carolina troops were engaged. About November 1, 1861, the Union forces took Port Royal from the Confederates. Williamsburg was there in Company G, Fifteenth Infantry, Captain J. B. Chandler. In the battle at Hilton Head, Andrew J. Eaddy, H. IL. Kinder, and Henry Bowden, of Williams¬ burg, were seriously wounded and incapacitated for fur¬ ther military service.

From this time, the Union forces began closing in on the coast of South Carolina and keeping up continuous warfare. The defeat of the Confederate forces at Port Royal brought great grief to South Carolina and the blockade of the entire coast made war very real to all the people of the State. Williamsburg spent a serious Christmas 1861.