Second Battle of Pocotaligo
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The Second Battle of Pocotaligo, or Battle of Pocotaligo Bridge, or Battle of Yemassee, often referred to as simply the Battle of Pocotaligo, was a battle in the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
on October 22, 1862 near Yemassee,
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 = ...
. The Union objective was to sever the
Charleston and Savannah Railroad The Charleston and Savannah Railway was a 19th-century American railroad serving the coastal states of South Carolina and Georgia and running through part of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Its name varied slightly over time: * Charleston and Sava ...
and thus isolate
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 ...
.


Order of battle


Confederate

''Commanding'': Colonel William Stephen Walker Initial force: * Company E, 11th South Carolina Infantry - Cpt. John H. Mickler * 1st South Carolina Sharpshooters (Companies B, C, D) - Cpt. Joseph B. Allston * 1st South Carolina Cavalry Battalion * Rutledge Mounted Rifles * Kirk's Partisan Rangers - Cpt. Manning J. Kirk * Charleston Light Dragoons * Beaufort Volunteer Artillery - Cpt.
Stephen Elliott, Jr. Stephen Elliott, Jr. (October 26, 1830 – February 21, 1866) was a Confederate States Army brigadier general during the American Civil War. He was a planter, state legislator in South Carolina and militia officer before the Civil War ...
* Hanover Artillery - Cpt. George W. Nelson * LaFayette Artillery - Lt. L. F. LeBleux Reinforcements from Charleston * 7th South Carolina Infantry Battalion - Lt. Col. Patrick H. Nelson * 11th South Carolina Infantry (Companies C, D, K) - Maj. John J. Harrison (k) * 14th South Carolina Cavalry Battalion - Maj. Joseph H. Morgan Reinforcements from Grahamville * 3rd South Carolina Cavalry - Lt. Col. Thomas H. Johnson * 1st South Carolina Sharpshooters (Two Companies)


Union

''Commanding'': Brig. Gen. John M. Brannan 1st Brigade: Col.
John Lyman Chatfield John Lyman Chatfield was a Union Army colonel in the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded while assaulting Fort Wagner, South Carolina on July 18, 1863, and died on August 9, 1863. Early life Chatfield was born September 13, 1826, at Oxfor ...
(w) * 6th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry * 3rd New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry *
4th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry The 4th New Hampshire Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 4th New Hampshire Infantry was organized in Manchester, New Hampshire, and mustered in for a three-year enli ...
*
48th New York Volunteer Infantry The 48th New York Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 48th New York Infantry was organized at Brooklyn, New York and mustered in for three years service on September 10, 18 ...
- Col. William B. Barton * 76th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry - Col. Dewitt Strawbridge 2nd Brigade: Brig. Gen.
Alfred Terry Alfred Howe Terry (November 10, 1827 – December 16, 1890) was a Union general in the American Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory from 1866 to 1869, and again from 1872 to 1886. In 1865, Terry led Union troops to v ...
* 3rd Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry * 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry - Col. Tilghman H. Good * 55th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry * 7th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry Engineers *
1st New York Engineers The 1st New York Engineer Regiment was an engineer regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was also known as Serrell's Engineers, New York Volunteer Corps of Engineers, or Engineer's and Artizans. The regiment ser ...
(Two Companies) - Col. Edward W. Serrell Cavalry *
1st Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry The 1st Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 1st Massachusetts Cavalry was organized at Camp Brigham in Readville, Massachusetts beginning S ...
Artillery * Battery B, 1st US Artillery * Batteries C,E,K,L,M
3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery 3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery Regiment was a heavy artillery regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. History The 3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery Regiment was initially organized in Providence, Rhode Island ...


Battle

On October 21, 1862, a 4200-man Union force, under the command of
Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...
John M. Brannan, embarked on troop transport ships and left from
Hilton Head, South Carolina Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southwest of Charleston. The island is n ...
. Brannan's orders were "to destroy the railroad and railroad bridges on the Charleston and Savannah line." Under protection of a Naval Squadron, they steamed up the Broad River, and disembarked the next morning at Mackey Point (between the Pocotaligo and Coosawhatchie Rivers), less than ten miles from the railroad. The 47th and 55th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiments, under Colonel Tilghman H. Good's command, began the march toward Pocotaligo. A smaller detachment of 300 men – two companies of engineers and the 48th New York regiment was ordered up the Coosawhatchie River to destroy the bridge at Coosawhatchie and then tear up the rails as they advanced on Pocotaligo. Colonel William S. Walker, the Confederate commander responsible for defending the railroad, called for reinforcement from Savannah and Charleston. He deployed his available forces to counter the two Union advances, sending 200 of his men to guard the bridges, and dispatching the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery (CS), along with two companies of cavalry and some sharpshooters in support, to meet the main Union advance on the Mackey Point road. The Confederates encountered Brannan's Division near the abandoned Caston's Plantation and the artillery opened fire with their two howitzers. The Confederates retreated when the Union artillery responded. With Brannan in pursuit, Walker's men slowly withdrew, falling back to their defensive fieldworks at Pocotaligo. The Union troops encountered the Confederates on the opposite side of a muddy marsh, and their advance stalled. Brigadier General
Alfred Terry Alfred Howe Terry (November 10, 1827 – December 16, 1890) was a Union general in the American Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory from 1866 to 1869, and again from 1872 to 1886. In 1865, Terry led Union troops to v ...
, in command of the Second Brigade, ordered the nearly 100 Sharps rifleman of the 7th Connecticut Infantry forward to the edge of the woods where the Union forces had taken cover. The rapid fire of the repeating rifles quickly suppressed the fire from the Confederate battery and associated infantry across the marsh, and they were soon ordered to cease firing to preserve ammunition. The opposing forces blazed away with cannon and musket fire at intervals for more than two hours, until Confederate reinforcements arrived. By then it was late in the day, and the Union troops were running low on ammunition.


Aftermath

As dusk descended, Brannan realized that the railroad bridge could not be reached, and ordered a retreat up the Mackay's Point road to the safety of the flotilla. The Confederate Rutledge Mounted Rifles and Kirk's Partisan Rangers pursued, but the
47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment The 47th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Formed by adults and teenagers from small towns and larger metropolitan areas of Pennsylvania, this regiment ...
Union rearguard held them off.Emerson, 2005, p. 47 Brannan's troops reembarked at Mackay's Point the next morning and returned to Hilton Head.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pocotaligo, Battle of Battles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War 1862 in the American Civil War Battles of the American Civil War in South Carolina 1862 in South Carolina Battles of the Lower Seaboard Theater and Gulf Approach of the American Civil War Confederate victories of the American Civil War Jasper County, South Carolina History of Charleston, South Carolina October 1862 events 19th-century in Charleston, South Carolina