The Holcombe Legion of

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

fought in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

as part of the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. It was a true legion, being made up of different types of units, in this case cavalry (four companies) and infantry (initially eight companies, later expanded to ten).

Peter Fayssoux Stevens Peter Fayssoux Stevens (June 22, 1830 – January 9, 1910) was an American soldier, educator and clergyman. He was an officer in the Confederate States Army and a bishop in the Reformed Episcopal Church who also served as 4th superintendent of th ...

, former superintendent of the

South Carolina Military Academy The South Carolina Military Academy was a predecessor, two-campus institution to The Citadel. It was established in 1842 by the South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina had constructed a series of arsenals around the state after the Denmark Vesey ...

(and after the war a bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church), was authorized by South Carolina Governor

Francis Wilkinson Pickens Francis Wilkinson Pickens (1805/1807January 25, 1869) was a political Democrat and Governor of South Carolina when that state became the first to secede from the United States. A cousin of US Senator John C. Calhoun, Pickens was born into the ...

to raise a legion consisting of an infantry regiment, a cavalry battalion and artillery. When asked to name it, Stevens chose to honor the governor's wife, Lucy Holcombe Pickens, in the couple's presence. The unit's motto was "It is for the brave to die, but not to surrender." The artillery component never materialized, but the legion was organized in fall 1861 and assigned to

Evans Evans may refer to: People *Evans (surname) *List of people with surname Evans Places United States *Evans Island, an island of Alaska *Evans, Colorado *Evans, Georgia *Evans County, Georgia *Evans, New York *Evans Mills, New York *Evans City, ...

' Brigade.

William Porcher DuBose William Porcher DuBose (April 11, 1836 – August 18, 1918) was an American priest, author, and theologian in the Episcopal Church in the United States. After service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, in which he becam ...

, later an Episcopal priest and noted theologian, served as its

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

until 1862. The legion helped defend

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, in the summer of 1862. On July 17, Evans was ordered to move his unit to

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. After reaching the city, the legion's infantry and cavalry were separated, never to be reunited, a common fate for Civil War legions. The cavalry was assigned to bolster the city's defense and eventually became part of the 7th South Carolina Cavalry Regiment. The Holcombe Legion fought in the

Second Battle of Bull Run The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederate ...

(or Second Manassas), South Mountain and

Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union ...

(or Sharpsburg), all in August and September 1862. The legion suffered 24 dead and 131 wounded at Second Manassas, and DuBose wrote, "The Holcombe Legion was practically destroyed as a regiment; when we gathered up the remains there were about a hundred men." The legion served as skirmishers for a delaying force at the

Battle of South Mountain The Battle of South Mountain—known in several early Southern accounts as the Battle of Boonsboro Gap—was fought on September 14, 1862, as part of the Maryland campaign of the American Civil War. Three pitched battles were fought for posses ...

.Stone, Dewitt Boyd. ''Wandering to Glory: Confederate Veterans Remember Evans' Brigade''. p. 60 In September 1863, it mustered 276 men. It participated in the 1864

Siege of Petersburg The Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a cla ...

and the 1865 Appomattox Campaign which ended in

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

's surrender to

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

, effectively ending the war.

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Some Civil War accounts of John DeWitt McCollough
a chaplain in the Holcombe Legion, in the library of the University of South Carolina Legions of the American Civil War Units and formations of the Confederate States Army from South Carolina 1861 establishments in South Carolina Military units and formations established in 1861

See also

References

External links