Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 13.djvu/37

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36 Southern Historical Society Papers.

posite part of the field, the right of Longstreet's corps, other South Carolinians were to be as prominent in the terrible work of that day. the 3Oth, as we had been on the 29th, and to suffer as terribly.

Virginia can justly point with peculiar pride to the famous charge of Pickett's division of Virginians at Gettysburg a charge now almost as famous as that at Balaklava. " The State of North Caro- lina should write immortal on the banner of its Fifth regiment," was the tribute of its heroic adversary at Williamsburg General Han- cock. The lamented Cobb, and his brigade, have indelibly associated the name of Georgia with Marye's heights at Fredericksburg ; and each State can name some battlefield on which its troops especially distinguished themselves, and I think in doing so South Carolina can find none in which her sons more gloriously maintained her fame than in the great battle of which I have been speaking. Lest it should be thought that I have exaggerated the deeds of her soldiers on that day, let me give a few figures as to the losses of this State, which will better illustrate their conduct than any panegyric which might be composed. Colonel Taylor estimated the strength of Jack- son's corps at Manassas at seventeen thousand three hundred and nine, * but Colonel Allan, after a very careful computation, puts the strength of Jackson's infantry at twenty-two thousand five hundred, f The total losses in our corps, including Ewell's fight at Bristol of the 26th, Trimble's capture of Manassas that evening, Archer's affair with the New Jersey brigade on the 2yth, and the battles of the 28th, 2Qth and 3oth, were three thousand six hundred and fifty-one, % about one in every six ; deducting the strength (one thousand five hun- dred) and losses (six hundred and nineteen) of our brigade, will leave the losses of the rest of the corps very nearly one man in every seven, while in our brigade the casualties were two out of every Jive men carried into action ; and these losses it will be borne in mind, with the exception as I have mentioned of about a dozen wounded on Saturday morning, were all incurred in the single day's fight of Friday.

But as I have said it was not left to our brigade alone to maintain the honor of South Carolina on the plains of Manassas. In Long- street's corps the State was represented by Jenkins's and Evans' brig- ade, the Hampton Legion, then in Hood's brigade, and the Fifteenth regiment, and James's battalion in Dray ton's brigade. And well

  • Four Years with General Lee, page 61.

^Southern Historical Papers, volume VIII, pages 178-217.

J Reports Army Northern Virginia, volume I, page 50.