The Life And Death of Brigadier General Micah Jenkins C.S.A. (1835 - 1864)

Confederate Brigadier General Micah Jenkins
(December 1, 1835 - May 6, 1864).

 

(This article was re-posted from an earlier date in memory of the 160th anniversary of the death of General Micah Jenkins on May 6, 1864 at the Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia.)

Micah John Jenkins was born on Tuesday, December 1, 1835 the third son (and fourth of five children) of Captain John Jenkins (1794-1854) and his wife Elizabeth Clark Jenkins (1803-1864), on Edisto Island, Charleston County, South Carolina. The Jenkinses belonged to an ancient Welsh family, claiming descent from Prince Llewelyn ap Gruffudd (1223-1282).

Micah Jenkins came from a long and proud line of American military servicemen from the State of South Carolina. His Grandfather, Joseph Jenkins (1762-1828), was a Patriot veteran of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) and served in the 20th Regiment South Carolina Militia during the War of 1812 (1812-1815). His father, Captain John Jenkins, served as an officer in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). His uncle, Joseph Evan Jenkins (1793-1874), also served in the War of 1812 but never saw any combat action and would later be a Signer of the South Carolina Ordinance of Secession in December of 1860. 

At the age of 15, Micah Jenkins entered the South Carolina Military Academy -- later name The Citadel -- near Charleston in 1851, later graduating in 1854 top of his class at the age of 19.

It was at the military academy that Jenkins met his classmate and life-long friend, Asbury Coward from York County, South Carolina. Later Jenkins and Coward would become the co-founders of the Kings Mountain Military Academy in Yorkville (York, South Carolina) in January of 1855.

It was during his time as a cadet at The Citadel in 1853 that Micah Jenkins met his future wife, then 16 year old Caroline "Carrie" Harper Jamison (1837-1902) of Orangeburg, South Carolina. Caroline was the daughter of General David Flavel Jamison (1810-1864), one of the founders of The Citadel and later president of South Carolina's Secession Convention in December of 1860.

Micah and Carrie would marry on Thursday, July 3, 1856 and move to York where they would raise their family. The couple would have five male children: Micah John Jr. (1857-1912), Robert Flavel (1858-1936), William Edward (1860-1930), Whitemarsh LaRoush (1861-1863), and John Murray (1863-1958); all born in York County. 

In 1855 at the age 20, Micah Jenkins was confirmed at the York Episcopal Church. He was a devout Protestant Christian and remained so for his whole life.

Colonel Micah Jenkins just before the war
as Colonel of the 5th South Carolina
Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Shortly before the war, in 1859 following the aftermath of John Brown's failed raid on Harpers Ferry, Micah Jenkins raised a volunteer militia company at Yorkville -- the Jasper Guards or Jasper Rifle Guards -- and was elected company Captain. In 1860 they were to become the Jasper Light Infantry, or Company I of the 5th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry, a regiment raised largely from the upper Piedmont districts of York, Union and Spartanburg Counties. Jenkins was elected the first Colonel of the regiment on Saturday, April 13, 1861 -- the day before the War Between The States began.

Though a strict drill master from his years as founder of the Kings Mountain Military Academy, Jenkins was generally well liked by the men under his command. With his experience and their trust in him, they formed a superb unit.

Not long after they were sent north to Virginia, the 5th South Carolina Infantry saw its first action during the Battle of First Manassas on Sunday, July 21, 1861. They were not engaged on the main field of battle, but rather in a separate action to the east at McLean's Ford.

Serving as a part of Brigadier General David R. Jones' brigade, the 5th South Carolina along with the 17th and 18th Mississippi Infantry Regiments were sent across McLean's Ford at noon during the battle in order to silence an eight-gun Federal artillery battery. The battery was positioned on a hill just across the ford and was supported by four New York regiments. In the advance up the slope, the two Mississippi regiments halted and began to withdraw, leaving Jenkins and his Carolinians unsupported. Despite this, Jenkins managed to drive back the artillerymen and their infantry supports, holding his position for nearly an hour. He then sent three messages back to Jones requesting for further orders but, according to his report, received no reply and, being outnumbered and unsupported, eventually decided to unwillingly withdraw. Jones himself states that he sent Jenkins three orders to withdraw, the 5th South Carolina eventually retiring "well formed and in good order from the field."

The 5th South Carolina suffered 3 killed and 23 wounded during the battle. They had fought well for their first battle. As General Jones later wrote in his official report, "Too much cannot be said in praise of the gallantry displayed by Colonel Jenkins and his regiment of South Carolinians."

Later that fall, the 5th South Carolina was placed in a division under Major General James Longstreet. Longstreet's aide, Major Thomas J. Goree, would write in a letter home that the general thought Jenkins was the best Colonel in the army and that the 5th South Carolina Infantry was "one of the finest, if not the finest, regiments in the army." Colonel Jenkins and the 5th South Carolina Infantry was put in a brigade under General Richard H. Anderson.

In a review of Longstreet's division at Centreville, Virginia, on Thursday, November 28, 1861, General P.G.T. Beauregard presented each regiment with the first patterns of the new Confederate Battle Flag made of silk for the army. 

As reported by the hometown newspaper, the Yorkville (S.C.) Inquirer on Thursday, December 12, 1861, upon receiving his, Jenkins gave a short speech:

"As Colonel of the 5th S.C. Regiment, I accept this as our battle-flag. Our native soil is now oppressed with the footsteps of the fell invader; his beacon fires are lighted upon our headlands. To us a battle flag can only be one under which we must conquer or die. As such, I accept this."

Upon the expiration of its one-year term of service, the 5th South Carolina regiment was then reorganized in April 1862 from re-enlistees and new recruits. Jenkins retained his command as Colonel of the regiment. Five companies of the 5th South Carolina were detached to form part of Micah Jenkins' newly organized regiment, the Palmetto Sharpshooters, which also consisted of companies from the 4th and 9th South Carolina Infantry Regiments. The Palmetto Sharpshooters would be placed under the command of Colonel John R. R. Giles from Union County.

A man of great Christian faith in God, Jenkins always took his Bible and prayer book with him, and at any quite moments on the battlefield was to be found reading it. By contrast, he was fearlessly brave under fire he was always front and center leading his men into battle, sometimes recklessly so.

At the Battle of Williamsburg (Fort Magurder) on Monday, May 5, 1862, when someone told him he was unnecessarily exposing himself to danger, Jenkins was reported to have (quite prophetically) said, "I feel the (Yankee) bullet has not been molded that is to kill me."

At Williamsburg, General  Anderson was temporarily put in division command while Jenkins, who was still a Colonel, was put in command of his brigade (Jenkins' 5th South Carolina Infantry Regiment, the 6th South Carolina Infantry Regiment, and the Palmetto Sharpshooters), all regiments made up of men from York, Union, Spartanburg, Chester, Fairfield, and Lancaster counties in upstate South Carolina. 

At the Battle of Seven Pines on Saturday, May 31, 1862,  he led Anderson's brigade with distinction in that battle. It was during this action that Colonel Giles of the Palmetto Sharpshooters was unfortunately killed during the battle and would be replaced by Colonel Joseph A. Walker of Spartanburg County, South Carolina.

Captain W. B. Smith, Company G, Palmetto Sharpshooters wrote in his report after Seven Pines:

"After we had driven back four fresh lines of battle General Jenkins drew his lines back a short way and formed a new line, someone said to him 'just look at them coming at the double quick.' Jenkins replied: 'We shall meet them at the double quick.' 'He straightened himself up in his stirrups and gave the command to charge front on twelfth company at the double quick, and I never saw on parade a prettier maneuver, General Jenkins was magic. He could come nearer to making his men work like machinery than any other man I saw. That was the last charge at Seven Pines at which ended the battle. We fought five fresh lines that evening and whipped every one. Jenkins was on his horse all through the battle."

 

In a letter to his sister written not long after the battle, Longstreet's aide, Major Thomas J. Goree, sums up Jenkins' performance rather accurately:

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"Col. Jenkins carried the brigade into action about 3 O'clock P.M., a little further to the left of where Genl. D.H. Hill was engaged. From this time until night he fought unsupported and alone, and advancing all the time. He fought 5 separate & distinct lines of the enemy, whipping each one. He whipped the whole of Genl. Couch's Division, consisting of 12 or 15 regiments, with a little brigade of 1900 men. He passed over several abattis of felled timber, two lines of breastworks, captured three pieces of artillery, 250 prisoners, & several stands of colors.​

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He whipped the fifth lines of the enemy about 8 O'clock P.M. At that time he was near two miles in advance of anyone else. His brigade rested that night in a Massachusetts camp, and had every luxury nearly that you can imagine: a plenty of brandy, lemons, & preserved fruits of all sorts, oil clothes, boots and shoes, opera glasses, etc. etc. etc.​

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The Yankee prisoners were perfectly surprised when they found he had accomplished so much with only one little brigade. They told him that every line he met was composed of fresh troops, and that they thought he was receiving reinforcements all the time.​

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Genl. Longstreet was very much surprised, too, when Col. Jenkins came in at night, and reported where his brigade was. ​

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The battle flag of Colonel Jenkins' Palmetto Sharpshooters.
It was reported that during the battle of Seven Pines,
out of 12 men in the color guard 10 were shot down, the flag
was passed to four men, and was pierced by nine musket balls,
but never once touched the ground during the heavy fighting.
Image courtesy South Carolina Confederate Relic Room,
State Museum, Columbia, SC.

This brigade went into action with 1900 men. It lost 700 killed & wounded, & among this number were more than half of its field officers, and near one third of the line officers. But, it never faltered, nor even stopped. It advanced slowly but steadily for more than two miles, all the time in the face of a galling fire, and nearly all the way over felled timber & the enemy's breastworks....

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A few days previous to the battle, Genl. Longstreet presented to Col. Jenkins' Regt. ("Palmetto Sharpshooters") a battle flag. A noble, manly fellow was the color bearer. In the fight he was shot down; as Col. Jenkins rode by where he was lying he raised himself on his elbow & exclaimed: "For God's sake, Colonel, take care of my flag!" ​

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This flag has 9 bullet holes in it. It had a guard of 12 men, 10 of them were killed & wounded. This flag, at one time, changed hands 4 times in 3 minutes without falling to the ground. It now has inscribed on it "Williamsburg" & "Seven Pines."
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Jenkins, though technically still a Colonel, would maintain command of this brigade during the Peninsula Campaign and Seven Days Battles.

At the Battle of Gaines Mill on Friday, June 27, 1862, Colonel Jenkins led the brigade in a sweep around the Federal flank as dusk fell and engaged in heavy fighting with the 16th Michigan Infantry Regiment capturing their regimental colors along with the regiment's Colonel Thomas B.W. Stockton, another officer and 53 of the Union regiment's enlisted men. For this feat Jenkins was given consent by the Confederate Secretary of War, Judah P. Benjamin, to retain the regimental standard of the 16th Michigan for presentation to the Governor of South Carolina.

Major Thomas Goree, this time in a letter to his mother, describes the attack of Colonel Micah Jenkins' brigade at the Battle of Frayser's Farm (White Oak Swamp) on Monday, June 30, 1862:

The So. Ca. Brigade under the gallant Col. Jenkins commenced the attack. Kemper was on the right of Jenkins, Wilcox on the left, & Pickett's, Pryor, & Featherston still to the left. One of A.P. Hill's (Branch's Brigade) was ordered as a support to Kemper & Jenkins.​

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Kemper's (which used to be Genl. Longstreet's old brigade) charged & took a battery. The enemy then brought up reinforcements and Branch failing to support Kemper, the battery was retaken and many of the old brigade captured with it. Jenkins in the meantime had taken a battery and still kept forward. His advance at this time was the most desperate I ever knew. A few hundred yards to the left of the battery he took was one that Wilcox was trying to take. Just in Jenkins' front was a very large force of the enemy's infantry which he immediately engaged, when this battery on his left commenced on him with grape and canister. Thus he advanced in the face of a terrible musketry fire at the same time enfiladed by artillery. Notwithstanding, he pushed on, charged the enemy and drove them from their position with terrible slaughter. He then brought up Branch's Brigade to hold the position. But as soon as they reached the place and saw how far in advance it was & the number of the enemy a half mile farther on, they turned & fled. Being left so far in advance unsupported, Jenkins fell back from position & went to the assistance of Wilcox. The enemy did not return to the position he left. Wilcox during this time had been fighting desperately. He had taken a battery, but it had been retaken, but when Jenkins came in, they made another charge and held it. . . .​

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The So. Carolina Brigade (Jenkins') lost more than half & the Ala. Brigade (Wilcox) lost at least one half. The 11th Ala. (Col. Syd Moore's Reg.) out of 10 officers commanding companies lost 8 killed & two wounded. The Palmetto Sharpshooters (Col. Jenkins' Regt.) out of 375 men, lost 44 killed & 210 wounded.​

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His own escape was almost miraculous. His horse was shot twice. A hole was shot through his saddle blanket, his bridle reins cut in two near his hand. An India rubber overcoat tied on behind his saddle had 15 holes through it made by a musket ball & piece of shell. His sword was shot off at the point, & shot half in two near the hilt, & his sword knob was also shot off. Besides all this he was struck on the shoulder with grape shot (which bruised it severely) and was also struck on the breast & leg with fragments of spent shell.​

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I met him just as he was coming out of the fight and he was weeping like a child at the destruction of his brave, noble men. He told me at one time when he saw how fast they were falling around him, he stopped and prayed to God to send a bullet through his heart. He says, too, that at times as he would ride up and down the line, his men would turn and give him a look as much as to say, "We can go no further," when he would wave his hand to them and they would again dash forward.​

His brother-in-law, Lieutenant John Wilson Jamison (1839-1886) who served with Jenkins as his Aide-de-Camp, was hit in the chest and nearly killed at Frayser's Farm where Jenkins was wounded. Jamison had also served as a French language teacher at Jenkins' Kings Mountain Military Academy prior to the war.

In addition to his brother-in-law, other members of Micah Jenkins' immediate family also served with him during the war.

His brother, John Jenkins (1824-1905) served in Company I, 3rd South Carolina Cavalry as a Major. His cousin, John Micah Jenkins (1827-1915) also served in the same company as a 2nd Lieutenant.

His other brother, Dr. Edward Ephraim Jenkins (1831-1904) served in the 5th South Carolina Regiment with Micah as a Staff Surgeon and later as the Brigade's Surgeon.

Another brother-in-law, David Rumph Jamison (1834-1908) served as the regimental quartermaster of the Palmetto Sharpshooters.

All of these men would survive the war and be present at Appomattox during the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia in April 1865.

For his gallant actions throughout the campaign, Micah Jenkins was officially promoted to the rank of Brigadier General on Tuesday, July 22, 1862, becoming one of the youngest generals in the American Civil War at the age of 26.

A month after his promotion, General Jenkins would again lead his brigade on the second day of the Battle of 2nd Manassas (Saturday, August 30, 1862) where he would be severely wounded in the left abdomen and would be out of action for the next two months, missing General Lee's first invasion of the North and the ensuing battles.

The 5th South Carolina's officer corps had been left in poor shape after the battles of 1862. There were even thoughts of disbanding the regiment. That fall, Jenkins offered the command of his old regiment to his old friend, Colonel Asbury Coward, who'd previously served on the staff of Brigadier General D. R. Jones. Coward accepted the offer and was approved by the War Department. Coward would serve as the Colonel of the 5th South Carolina Infantry for the remainder of the war.

General Jenkins was back on duty, this time with his new Divisional commander Major General George E. Pickett during the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 11-15, 1862, but Jenkins' Brigade was not engaged during the battle.

In 1863, Pickett's division participated in General James Longstreet's Siege of Suffolk, Virginia (April 16 - May 3, 1863), but Jenkins' Brigade was retained near Richmond, Virginia, under the command of Major General Daniel Harvey Hill, thus missing General Lee's second invasion of the North and the fateful Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) where Pickett's division was smashed during the final day of the battle.

Jenkins' Brigade went with Major General John B. Hood's Division of General Longstreet's First Corps to the war's Western Theater three months later where they participated in the second day's fighting of the Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia on Sunday, September 20, 1863.

When Hood was promoted to lead a new army Corps, Jenkins was placed in command of his Division, which would result in a bitter rivalry with another South Carolinian, Brigadier General Evander M. Law, who'd been with the Division longer, but lost out because of Jenkins' seniority in rank. The tensions this caused would severely hinder the efficiency of the Division largely because of Law's resentment. Jenkins' Brigade would be put in the temporary charge of Colonel John Bratton of the 6th South Carolina Infantry.

General Jenkins, now commanding Hood's former Division, led his Confederates at the Battle of Brown's Ferry (Tuesday, October 27, 1863) along the Tennessee River, and again a day later at the Battle of Wauhatchie (October 28-29, 1863).

Sent into combat against superior numbers, General Jenkins was successfully leading the attack when they were attacked in the rear by greatly superior numbers. Even then he succeeded in withdrawing his troops.

Again with Longstreet he went to East Tennessee playing a conspicuous part in the proceedings, commanding the right wing at the Battle of Campbell's Station on November 16, 1863, and finally participated in the Siege of Knoxville (November 19 - December 4, 1863) and all the hardships these battles entailed.

Micah Jenkins went home to York on leave in late 1863 to spend some quality time with his family. While Jenkins had been at Chickamauga months before, his then two-year-old son, Whitemarsh LaRoche Jenkins, had died from a disease while his wife and children were visiting family in Summerville, South Carolina.

So he tried to be involved with his wife, Caroline, and surviving children as much as he could during that time. Right before he departed at the train station, Micah Jenkins looked at his friends and family and declared that he was going to fight his last battle. This would be the last time his wife and children would see him alive.

On Saturday, January 16, 1864, Jenkins led his brigade to victory in the Battle of Dandridge (Kimbrough's Crossroads), Tennessee against Federal cavalry.

When Longstreet's Corps returned to the Eastern Theater and the Army of Northern Virginia in early 1864, the contentious issue of command over Hood's Division command was at last resolved when Brigadier General Charles W. Field, who was senior to both Jenkins and Law, was promoted to Major General and assigned Division command. Jenkins resumed the command of his South Carolina Brigade.

General Jenkins was apparently suffering from ill health and malnutrition by the time the spring campaigning began, but insisted on playing his part in the upcoming second day of the Battle of the Wilderness on Friday, May 6, 1864. He was transported to the battlefield by field ambulance and mounted onto his horse still suffering. According to some accounts early in the morning as the battle began, the sweet notes of the Palmetto Sharpshooters band could be heard playing for their old commanding officer trying to cheer him up.

At around 11 P.M. part of Longstreet's Corps, on the Confederate right, had launched a flank attack from an unused railroad cutting onto Union General Winfield Scott Hancock's Corps. The Federal troops, and their pursuers, proceeded to flee across the front of the remainder of Longstreet's Corps with the resulting disorganization to both sides.

At about 1300 hours having forsaking his ambulance Jenkins was with his Brigade, which had been in reserve until this time, down the Orange Plank Road for it to spearhead the renewed Confederate attack this time upon the Brock Road trenches.

Riding at the head of the column with General Longstreet, and other staff officers, and in discussion with Longstreet when they came opposite the Confederate Brigades which had just made the successful flank attack, specifically that of William Mahone. The 12th Virginia mistook them for Federal troops and opened fire. When they firing stopped there were dead and wounded men and horses in the road.

Among the possible reasons for this friendly fire incident was the fact the Jenkins Brigade were wearing new uniforms of dark gray wool that appeared almost black. Along with the smokey conditions of the battlefield in the dense trees of the Wilderness (some of which was on fire) Mahone's men mistook the oncoming troops as Union soldiers. One of the Brigade was to later say that: "when a staff member, upon Longstreet's order, picked up and unfurled a Union flag that the General spotted on the roadway, approaching Virginians fired upon it."

Among the wounded were Longstreet and Jenkins -- Longstreet would survive the war. Jenkins had been shot in the forehead with the Minne Ball lodged in his brain near his left temple.

Jenkins' best friend, Colonel Asbury Coward, was there when Micah was shot, and desperately trying to comfort him before was sent for Medical attention. While dying, along with delirium as a Minnie Ball lodged in his brain, he was still urging his men onward. Colonel Bratton of the 6th South Carolina Infantry took charge of the Brigade.

Colonel Coward recalls the friendly fire incident at the Wilderness, in which Jenkins was killed and Longstreet wounded in his memoirs:

"After we had marched in line about 100 yards through brush and woods, we came upon a line of men, about two small regiments, lying down or kneeling directly in the path of our march. I had to halt my men and on inquiry found it was General Mahone's Brigade, who had just halted there. Seeing at the time a flag passing along the tunpike, I ran toward it through the intermediate thicket to inquire what troops they were. It was the Second South Carolina, one of the regiments of Jenkins' Brigade. I could not understand why they were marching in columns of fours, while I was marching in line of battle.​

As I turned, I saw that Mahone's men had commenced, on the right, to fire by file. Thinking only of the danger to the Second Regiment, I rushed back to stop the firing by voice and gesture. But not until I reached the line was the firing stopped. At that moment Mahone walked up and inquired why the firing had stopped. I explained why I had stopped it. He then asked me who had started it. I told him the firing had begun in his right company. I went on to say that they might be able to explain how it started there. He went off in the direction of his right company in a very agitated state.​

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The incident had just taken place when Major R. M. Sims came to me and said: "That firing has wounded both General Longstreet and General Jenkins, one in the throat and the other in the temple... and I fear both are fatally wounded." I ran toward the group of trees that he indicated and found men lifting General Longstreet, litter and all, into an ambulance. Jenkins had just been placed on a litter. General Kershaw, who had remounted his horse, was urging haste; for the enemy's cannon was throwing shells at the cluster of trees. Fortunately, the shots were passing high but were nevertheless dangerous.​

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I knelt by the friend of my life since I entered The Citadel, my alter ego. Taking his hand in mine, I said 'Jenkins... Mike, do you know me?' I felt a convulsive pressure of my hand. Then I noticed that his features, in fact his whole body, was convulsed. The haste urged by General Kershaw prevented any further stay at his side. He was lifted into an ambulance and carried to the rear. Dazed, I returned to my regiment."

With the musket ball where it was little could be done for Micah Jenkins. Only semi-conscious, and not recognizing those around him, he died about six hours later around sunset.

According to one of his surgeons present, at the moment Micah Jenkins breathed his last, "a bright, happy, trusting smile lit up his face. Those around watched, we thought, we felt he was with his God."

Micah Jenkins was just 28 years old when he was killed. His 26 year old devoted widow, Caroline Jenkins, would never remarry as she was left alone to raise their four remaining boys.

The following excerpt from the article in the Charleston Courier (Charleston, SC) recounts his funeral:

"The remains of the lamented General Micah Jenkins were interred in Summerville in the graveyard of the Episcopal Church of that place where his mother was buried. The body arrived at Summerville a quarter past three o’clock under the escort of the cadets of the Arsenal Academy in Columbia. The coffin with a Confederate flag laid upon it was placed upon a carriage, and a procession was formed from all of the inhabitants of the village and the convalescent solders in the hospital that were able to attend.
Before the procession began the ladies of the village brought in beautiful wreaths and numerous bouquets of flowers and strewed them with profusion upon the coffin.The coffin was followed by several members of the deceased’s family, including his widow, his father in law, General D. F. Jamison, Major John Jenkins and Dr. Edward Jenkins[his brothers].

Upon the arrival of the remains at the village and during the passing of the processions,the church bells were tolled and every expression of grief and sympathy was exhibited by the inhabitants of the village. The ladies present at the interment bedecked the grave with flowers and gave vent to their heartfelt sorrow in the tears which were freely shared of over the mortal remains of the departed hero."

The body of Micah Jenkins was brought back to South Carolina, accompanied by Caroline’s brother, Lieutenant John Jamison. His body first laid in state at the Arsenal Military Academy in Columbia and then was removed to the graveyard of the Episcopal Church in Summerville, South Carolina, where he was buried until 1881 when his body was moved to historic Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston. The Citadel Military Academy erected a grave monument in his honor.  The graves of General Jenkins and his wife, Caroline, are buried beneath the 12 foot monument.

Jenkins Hall at The Citadel is named in his honor.

General James Longstreet wrote of him after the war: "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!"

Two of General Micah Jenkins' sons would go on to continue the family tradition of American military service.

His oldest son, Micah John Jenkins Jr. (1857-1912) graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in the Class of 1879 and would serve in the Spanish-American War (1898) where he was enrolled as Captain of Troop K, 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry Regiment "The Rough Riders" under Colonels Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt. Captain Jenkins fought with the Regiment in Cuba and was present during the attack on San Juan Heights near Santiago de Cuba on Friday, July 1, 1898. He was promoted to Major on Thursday, August 11, 1898 and was mustered out of service with the Regiment at Montauck Point, Long Island, New York. He is buried at St. Paul's Episcopal Church Cemetery on Yonges Island, Charleston County, South Carolina.

His youngest son, John Murray Jenkins (1863-1958) also attended West Point and graduated in the Class of 1887. John served as a Colonel of the 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.) in France on the European Western Front during World War I (1917-1918) and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1919. John Jenkins retired a Major General in the United States Army in 1927. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

The grave of Brigadier General Micah Jenkins and his wife
at historic Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina.

Sources for this article include:

The Civil War Letters of Major Thomas J. Goree edited by Thomas W. Cutrer (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1995), pp. 87, 94-95.
The South Carolinians: Colonel Asbury Coward's Memoirs edited by Natalie Jenkins Bond and Osmun Latrobe Coward (New York: Vantage Press, 1968).
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Vol. 1 of 2.
Also a special thanks to the people at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum in Columbia, South Carolina, The South Carolina Division Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the South Carolina Historical Society Archives and Museum.

The Life And Death Of Brigadier General Maxcy Gregg C.S.A. (1814 - 1862)

Brigadier General Maxcy Gregg, C.S.A.
(August 1, 1814 - December 15, 1862)
Image courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives.

 

Maxcy Gregg was born on Monday, August 1, 1814 in Columbia, South Carolina to the city's mayor, James Gregg (1787-1852) and his wife, Cornelia Manning Maxcy Gregg (1792-1862).

His family history tells that his maternal great-grandfather was Commodore Esek Hopkins -- the first commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy (1775-1785) during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). His maternal grandfather was Jonathan Maxcy (1768-1820), the first president of the University of South Carolina (USC). His paternal great-grandfather, John Gregg (1732-1775), was an Ulster-Scots immigrant who settled in South Carolina in 1752 and became one of the American progenitors of the Gregg family. His great-uncle, James Gregg (1752-1802) served as a Patriot captain in the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War under Brigadier General Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion. 

As a young man known to have a keen intellect, Maxcy Gregg attended South Carolina College (later USC) and studied astronomy, botany, ornithology, and languages among other intellectual pursuits. He graduated co-valedictorian of his class in 1836 and would study law and be admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1839. He would practice the law with his father, becoming a very well respected member of Columbia society. The scholarly scientist-lawyer also owned his own small private observatory at his home so well equipped it would have been coveted by many colleges. 

Gregg's first military experience came when he was commissioned a Major in Milledge L. Bonham’s 12th U.S. Infantry Regiment in the American-Mexican War (1846-1848), however, he did not arrive in time to participate in any of the major battles of the war.

He was also a life-long bachelor and never married.

For two decades -- with only his duty in the Mexican War as an interruption -- Maxcy Gregg was extensively involved in State and regional politics. Gregg was a strong advocate of States' rights his entire life, one of the original Fire-Eaters, and a major supporter of Robert Barnwell Rhett (1800-1876), the "father of secession". He was a member of the Southern Rights Convention of 1852.

Gregg was a major proponent of secession prior to the commencement of the Civil War. In 1858, he issued the secessionists' manifesto in a pamphlet entitled, "An Appeal to the State Rights Party of South Carolina." In it, Gregg argued that Carolinians had looked unfavorably upon and rejected incorporation into the Democratic Party since the tariff controversy.

He served a delegate from the Richland District (Richland County) to the 1860 Secession Convention, voting to leave the Union on Thursday, December 20, 1860 and assisted in writing the Ordinance of Secession.

Gregg helped organize the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, and served as the regiment's first colonel. This regiment was authorized for six months by the State of South Carolina and the volunteers participated in the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on Friday, April 12, 1861. Part of this unit was under fire during the bombardment, but took no casualties.

When the State of Virginia seceded, the regiment moved north, where they spent the spring months drilling and picketing. When their term expired on July 9th of that year, many members of the regiment returned to their homes, missing the First Battle of Manassas  on Sunday, July 21, 1861.

Gregg and other officers recruited another 1st South Carolina Infantry Regiment (also known as "Gregg's First South Carolina") that August. With the newly formed 1st South Carolina, he was ordered to the Suffolk, Virginia, area in autumn 1861. On Saturday, December 14, 1861 he received his commission promoting him to the rank of Brigadier General.

The battle flag of the 1st Regiment South Carolina Volunteers
(also known as Gregg's 1st South Carolina).
Image courtesy of the SC Confederate Relic Room & Military
Museum, Columbia, South Carolina.

In May of 1862, General Gregg's brigade was assigned to a division of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) under the command of Major General Ambrose P. Hill.  Gregg's brigade consisted of five South Carolina regiments: his own 1st South Carolina Infantry, the 12th, 13th and 14th South Carolina Infantry Regiments, and the 1st South Carolina Regiment of Rifles (also better known as "Orr's Regiment of Rifles").

During the Seven Days' Battles around Richmond, General Gregg's South Carolinians played a prominent role in General Hill's assault on the Union lines at the Battle of Gaines Mill (Friday, June 27, 1862). The advance of Gregg's five South Carolina regiments was, according to General Hill, "the handsomest charge in line I have seen during the War."

The South Carolina brigade would suffer 939 casualties -- more than any other brigade in A.P. Hill's Light Division during the Seven Days Battles.

The 1st South Carolina lost lost 20 killed and 133 wounded -- including their lieutenant colonel who was killed. Orr's Rifles lost 81 killed and 234 wounded. The 12th South Carolina lost 17 men killed and 121 wounded -- including their colonel. The 14th South Carolina lost nearly half of the 500 men engaged in the battle, including a major and two captains who were wounded. Most of these casualties took place at Gaines Mill.

Gregg’s brigade, along with the rest of Hill's Light Division, served in Lieutenant General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson’s Corps at the Second Battle of Manassas (August 29-30, 1862).

During the first day of the battle on Friday, August 29th, Gregg walked along the brigade's line, fearlessly exposing himself to enemy fire and encouraging his men to hold their ground near an abandoned railroad cut. The brunt of the Federal attack fell on Gregg's brigade, which had defended against six Union assaults over an eight hour period that day. During one of these attacks, Gregg sent a message saying: "Tell General Hill that my ammunition is exhausted, but that I will hold my position with the bayonet!"

The brigade was nearly out of ammunition in addition to having lost most of its officers, many of the South Carolinians resorting to throwing stones from the railroad cut at the advancing Federals. As they fell back onto the edge of a hillside to regroup, Gregg lopped some wildflowers with his great-uncle's old Revolutionary War scimitar and remarked, "Let us die here my men, let us die here."

In their defense of the railroad cut, Gregg's Brigade suffered among the highest casualties -- about 613 men killed and wounded.

The 1st South Carolina Infantry lost 53 percent of the 233 men engaged. Orr's Rifles lost 116 men -- including its command officer and second in command killed. The 12th South Carolina lost 146 men out of 270 with three of its major officers wounded. The 13th South Carolina lost 26 killed and 118 wounded with its colonel wounded. The 14th South Carolina lost 8 killed and 57 wounded (among the wounded both their colonel and lieutenant colonel).

The South Carolina brigade also fought at the Battle Of Ox Hill (Monday, September 1, 1862) in pursuit of the retreating Union forces following the Confederate victory at Second Manassas. The Light Division drove back a Union assault during a driving rain.

In General Robert E. Lee's Maryland campaign, Gregg’s brigade participated in the capture of Harper’s Ferry (September 15, 1862) and then made a forced march to Sharpsburg, Maryland, arriving in the middle of that battle to take a place in the right center of the line, where it joined the fighting that afternoon and, along with the rest of Hill's Light Division, checked the final assault of the Union forces and saved the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia from total defeat.

It was at the Battle of Sharpsburg (Antietam Creek) on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 17, 1862 where General Gregg was slightly wounded in the thigh by the same Union volley that killed North Carolina born Brigadier General Lawrence O'Bryan Branch. Gregg would miraculously discover the spent minieball in his handkerchief the next morning at breakfast. His brigade arrived in time to save the Confederate flank and would be the last Confederate brigade to recross the Potomac River following the end of the Maryland Campaign.

After two months of recuperation at camp near Winchester, Virginia, the brigade participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg on Saturday, December 13, 1862 on Stonewall Jackson's position on the right of the Army of Northern Virginia. Gregg's Brigade held a reserve position behind the rest of the Light Division.

Unknown to General Gregg and his men, the Light Division's defenses in the thickly wooded position had a dangerous gap that was exploited by Union forces under Union Major General George G. Meade.

Gregg's Brigade was taking cover from the Union artillery and most of them still had their arms stacked when the Federals appeared. Because of the confusion and the foggy conditions in the thick underbrush, Gregg misidentified the advancing Union soldiers as retreating Confederate pickets and ordered his South Carolinians atop a ridge to hold their fire. This would be a fatal mistake as the Yankees open fire.

General Gregg attempted to rally his surprised men and try to lead them in a counterattack to close the gap in the line. Riding toward the front, Gregg was struck by a rifle ball that entered his right side from the back and severed his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Brigadier General Maxcy Gregg succumbed to his agonizing injury two days later on Monday, December 15, 1862, reportedly saying on his deathbed: "I yield my life cheerfully, fighting for the independence of South Carolina."

He was 48 years old at the time of his death.

Gregg's loss weighed especially heavy on his commanding officer, General A.P. Hill, who stated: "A more chivalrous gentleman and gallant soldier never adorned the service which he so loved." According to the Wednesday, December 17, 1862, issue of the Richmond Daily Dispatch, his remains received a hero's welcome in the Confederate capital.

Prior to General Stonewall Jackson’s death in May of 1863, he said of Gregg: "General Gregg was a brave and accomplished officer, full of heroic sentiment and chivalrous honor.  He had rendered valuable service in this great struggle for our freedom, and the country has much reason to deplore the loss sustained by his premature death."

 

Regarding the untimely death of Maxcy Gregg, Robert E. Lee wrote to Governor Pickens as follows:

CAMP NEAR FREDERICKSBURG, December 18, 1862.
His Excellency FRANCIS W. PICKENS,

Governor of South Carolina:

SIR: While South Carolina is mourning the loss of the gallant and distinguished son, General Maxcy Gregg, permit me to join in your sorrow for his death. From my first acquaintance, when you sent, him with his gallant regiment to the defense of our frontier in Virginia, I have admired his disinterested patriotism and his unselfish devotion. He has always been at the post of duty and of danger, and his services in this army have been of inestimable value, and his loss is deeply lamented. In its greatest triumphs and its bloodiest battles he has borne a distinguished part. On the Chickahominy, on the plains of Manassas, at Harper's Ferry, Sharpsburg, and Shepherdstown he led his brigade with distinguished skill and dauntless valor. On the wooded heights of Fredericksburg he fell, in front of his brigade, in close conflict with the advancing foe. The death of such a man is a costly sacrifice, for it is to men of his high integrity and commanding intellect that the country must look to give character to her councils, that she may be respected and honored by all nations. Among those of his State who will proudly read the history of his deeds, may many be found to imitate his noble example.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant,
R. E. LEE,
General.

Brigadier General Maxcy Gregg is buried at historic Elmwood Cemetery in downtown Columbia, South Carolina.

The grave of Brigadier General Maxcy Gregg at historic Elmwood Cemetery
in downtown Columbia, South Carolina.
Photo taken by the author of this blog in May, 2022.

Sources for the historical information for this article:

Caldwell, J. F. J. The History of a Brigade of South Carolinians Known first as “Gregg’s” and Subsequently as “McGowan’s Brigade.” Philadelphia: King & Baird, 1866.
Freeman, Douglas Southall. Lee’s Lieutenants: A Study in Command. 3 vols. New York: Scribner’s, 1942–1944.
And most of all to the good folks at the South Carolina Department of Archives, the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum, & the University of South Carolina (USC) in Columbia.

The Life And Death Of Brigadier General States Rights Gist C.S.A. (1831 - 1864)

Brigadier General States Rights Gist.
(September 3, 1831 - November 30, 1864)

 

States Rights Gist was born on Saturday, September 3, 1831 at the family home, Wyoming Plantation, near the town of Jonesville in Union County, South Carolina, the sixth of seven children to Mr. Nathaniel Gist (1776-1861) and Elizabeth Lewis McDaniel Gist (1796-1859).

He was distantly related to Mordecai Gist (1743-1792), a Maryland-born Brigadier General in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). States was the great-grandson of William Gist Sr. (1711-1794), Mordecai Gist's uncle. 

Known to his parents and siblings as "States" his name was based on the Southern states’ rights political doctrine of nullification politics of his father. Nathaniel Gist, a lawyer and noted disciple of United States Senator and Vice President of the United States, John Caldwell Calhoun, chose his son's unique name to reflect his own political sentiments.

Schooled at Mount Zion Institute in Winnsboro, South Carolina, States was admitted to South Carolina College, now the University of South Carolina, as a sophomore in 1847, graduating in 1850. He returned home and began to read law. The following year in 1851, he attended Harvard Law School (HLS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts although he didn't formally graduate. After leaving Harvard, States moved home to Union, read the law with a local established firm and passed the South Carolina Bar in 1853. He set up a law practice becoming a local attorney.

Soon after his return to South Carolina in 1853, Gist served in the South Carolina State Militia as captain of a local volunteer company the Johnson Rifles. He became aide-de-camp with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel to South Carolina Governor James Hopkins Adams from 1854 to 1856 when he was then appointed a Brigadier General commanding the SC State Militia at age 24. One of his many roles was to train fellow militia members for war.

Later in 1863, States Rights Gist would marry Governor Adams' daughter, Jane Margaret "Janie" Adams (1841-1911). Sadly, the couple would only be married a year and have no children before States would be killed during the War Between The States (American Civil War 1861-1865).

In April of 1860, Gist was appointed aide-de-camp and military advisor to Governor William Henry Gist (1807-1874) -- his older cousin. Knowing that war was on the horizon, he prepared South Carolina for war. In October of 1860, Governor Gist sent States to six other governors of Southern states to seek their support for possible secession due to the likely election of Abraham Lincoln as the next President of the United States.

States Gist was then appointed State Adjutant and Inspector General by Governor Francis Pickens after South Carolina seceded from the United States on Thursday, December 20, 1860. In that role he acquired military arms for the newly independent State of South Carolina and later, along with Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard, oversaw the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on Friday, April 12, 1861, which formally began the War.

Gist went to Virginia and served as a volunteer aide on the staff of Brigadier General Bernard Elliott Bee.

At the Battle of First Manassas (Bull Run Creek) on Sunday, July 21, 1861, Bee was mortally wounded and Gist was given temporary command of the remnants of Bee's Brigade defending Henry House Hill. He too was wounded in the battle, but only lightly. Gist recovered and soon returned to South Carolina to resume his duties as Adjutant and Inspector General to prepare state forces to defend Port Royal in the fall of 1861 and to be absorbed into the Confederate Army in the early months of 1862.

States Rights Gist received his formal appointment as a Confederate Brigadier General on Thursday, March 20, 1862 at the age of 30. He was assigned to the Charleston area and was sent to oversee state coastal defenses commanded at the time by Major General John C. Pemberton.

With the exception of a brief assignment in North Carolina, General Gist served in the defense of the city commanding the James Island military district and a brigade in the coastal defenses between May of 1862 through May of 1863.

During that time he took part in the Battle of Secessionville (First Battle of James Island) on Monday, June 16, 1862 and commanded Confederate troops sent to successfully oppose a landing by raiding Union forces at Pocotaligo, South Carolina in October of 1862. General Gist led a small division of reinforcements in North Carolina between December of 1862 and January of 1863, and was also present during the major Union naval attack on the city of Charleston on Tuesday, April 7, 1863.

In May 1863, Gist was transferred to the western theater and given command of an infantry brigade along with Brigadier General William H. T. Walker also leading a brigade to reinforce Confederate forces under General Joseph E. Johnston. They were trying to relieve Confederate forces under attack at Vicksburg by Union Army forces commanded by Major General Ulysses S. Grant in a push to take the fortress city to gain control of the Mississippi River. Walker was promoted to major general and Gist's brigade was placed in Walker's division.
 

Just before leaving for Mississippi, States married Janie Adams (as previously mentioned) and he spent just two days with his new wife before heading west.

General Gist saw limited action in the Vicksburg campaign, notibly at the Battle of Jackson, Mississippi on Thursday, May 14, 1863 before the surrender of Vicksburg's defenses on Saturday, July 4, 1863. 

In August 1863 Walker's division was sent to Chattanooga, Tennessee to reinforce General Braxton Bragg's Confederate Army of Tennessee in northern Georgia. Gist's brigade was first stationed at Rome, Georgia, but on Thursday, September 17, 1863, Gist was ordered to return with his brigade to Walker's division and took part in the second day of the Battle of Chickamauga on Sunday, September 20, 1863.

During the battle, Gist had to take command of Walker's division because Walker was put in temporary command of a corps. Gist's brigade alone lost 170 men in 45 minutes as they tried to plug a hole in the line of Major General John C. Breckinridge.

Gist would again command Walker's division during the disastrous  Chattanooga Campaign in November of 1863. The division served as the rear guard for the retreat of Breckinridge's corps from Missionary Ridge on Wednesday, November 25, 1863.

At the battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga, and throughout the subsequent Atlanta Campaign, despite having no formal military training prior to the war, Gist proved a reliably competent and respected commander.

During the Battle of Atlanta on Wednesday, July 22, 1864, General Walker was killed and Gist was wounded in a hand. On Friday, July 24, 1864, Walker's division was broken up and Gist's brigade was assigned to the division of Major General Benjamin F. Cheatham. Gist returned to duty a month later after going home on leave and recuperating from his wound.

Following the evacuation and fall of Atlanta on Friday, September 2, 1864, the Army of Tennessee, now under the command of Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, advanced north into Tennessee in November of 1864 to being the ill-fated Franklin and Nashville Campaign.

He commanded a brigade in Major General John C. Brown's division during the terrible Battle of Franklin on Wednesday, November 30, 1864 where the Confederate assault of six infantry divisions containing eighteen brigades with 100 regiments numbering almost 20,000 men (sometimes called the "Pickett's Charge of the West") resulted in devastating losses to the men and the leadership of the Army of Tennessee with 55 regimental commanders made casualties along with fourteen Confederate generals -- five killed during the battle, one mortally wounded who would die a week later, seven wounded, and one captured.

Brigadier General States Rights Gist was killed while leading his brigade in the charge against the Union center. He was shot twice: once in the thigh and then in the chest near his heart. He was carried off the battlefield and died in a field hospital sometime after 8 PM CST. He was 33 years old.

The body of General Gist was returned to South Carolina by his personal servant, a free man of color named Willie Howard, and was originally buried in a family cemetery. In 1866, his coffin was interred and reburied permanently in the historic Trinity Episcopal Cathedral cemetery in downtown Columbia, South Carolina across from the South Carolina State Capitol Building.

The grave of Brigadier General States Rights Gist at the historic
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Cemetery in downtown Columbia, SC.

 

Sources for this article include:

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States Rights Gist: A South Carolina General of the Civil War by Walter Brian Cisco. Ragged Edge Press; 1st edition (1991) ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0942597288.
The South Carolina Department of Archives and History. 
The members of the States Rights Gist Camp #1451 (Union County, South Carolina) Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV).  

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