Heroes of the old Camden District, S. C. 23
hesitation upon the secession of the State, though he had been opposed to such action. Governor Means, on the contrary, had been earnest in its advocacy. He had been elected governor in 1850 on that issue, and he had constantly advocated secession. But when it came he was an elderly man, beyond the age even of reserve duty. With his age, too, his physique had become such as to unfit him for the field. The dignity of his position as an ex governor of the State would seem to have excused him had his age and physical condition fitted him for active service. His family, too, were fully represented in the army. All these considerations might well have persuaded him that the proper sphere of action was at home where, by his counte- nance, he might have encouraged his people in their adversities and by his wisdom have aided them in their necessities. So he might have reasoned, if indeed he had felt himself called upon to reason at all, why he, a man advanced in life, should not go into the field. But so he did not reason. He reasoned, on the contrary, thus: I have been advocating secession all my life ; by my conduct I have done much to bring it about; now it has come, age or not, I will myself go with them and share the dangers to which the boys have been brought by my advice. And go he did, noble man as he was.
In the very commencement of hostilities he hastened to Charleston and tendered his services as an aid to General Beauregard.
In the Seventeenth regiment he went into the field. A correspon- dent, writing to the Mercury of a visit to the regiment while it was on the coast, in April, 1862, thus speaks of his regiment: "I have seen nowhere else an intermingling of discipline with a courtesy and kindness of manner to the men that approaches paternal tenderness. No doubt, the antecedents of the commander, Colonel John H. Means, contributes much to his success. But few men are so gifted in manner, not the spurious coin, but the genuine emanation from kindness and generosity of temper."
Is it any wonder that his men were not only proud of their colonel but loved him as a man? Nor was this feeling confined to his own regiment. It extended to the whole brigade. This is the account of his death written to the Mercury by an officer of another regiment :
"Colonel Means, of the Seventeenth South Carolina volunteers, died this morning (September ist) of a wound received in the battle of Manassas on the 3Oth August.
" He fell in the thickest of the fight leading his regiment in a charge. The wound was severe, and as his gallant men pressed around him he said, 'Push on! my boys, push on!'
