Wilmot Gibbes de Saussure (July 23, 1822 – February 1, 1886) was a brigadier general in the

South Carolina militia The South Carolina National Guard consists of the South Carolina Army National Guard and the South Carolina Air National Guard] American law specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions. In fact, the National Guard i ...

, who served along with the Confederate States Army in South Carolina at various times during the American Civil War. As a colonel, he led his regiment in the occupation of Fort Moultrie and the bombardment of Fort Sumter at the beginning of the war. He was appointed brigadier general as well as adjutant general and

inspector general An inspector general is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is "inspectors general". Australia The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia) (IGIS) is an independent statutory off ...

of South Carolina militia in 1862. He commanded part of the Charleston defenses during the Union siege of the city in 1863. He also led his men in opposition to Major General William T. Sherman's march through the Carolinas. De Saussure served five two-year terms in the

South Carolina General Assembly The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and t ...

in 1848–1849, 1854–1857 and 1860–1863. He also served as South Carolina Secretary of the Treasury from the summer of 1861 to April 11, 1862. After the war, de Saussure was a prominent lawyer and was active in civic affairs. He wrote several works of South Carolina history and was a grand master of

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and president of the Huguenot Society, the Cincinnati Society and other civic organizations.

Early life

Wilmot G. de Saussure was born in

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 ...

, on July 23, 1822.Allardice, Bruce S.'' More Generals in Gray.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1995. (pbk.). p. 76.Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. . p. 207. His parents were Henry A. de Saussure, a lawyer, and Susan (Boone) de Saussure.His mother was the daughter of John Boone and Sarah Gibbes
'Rootsweb, Ancestry.com, Sarah Gibbes'
Retrieved January 31, 2013. De Saussure graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1840 after two years of study. He then studied law and became a prominent lawyer at Charleston in practice with his father. De Saussure served in the South Carolina House of Representatives of the South Carolina General Assembly in 1848–1849, 1854–1857 and 1860–1863. Wilmot Gibbes de Saussure married Martha Gourdin.Salley Jr., A. S., ed. South Carolina Historical Society
'The South Carolina historical magazine, Volumes 5-6'
Volume V. Charleston: The Walker, Evans and Cogswell Company, 1904. . Retrieved September 11, 2012. p. 67. When their eldest son, Henry A. de Sassure, died in 1903, two adult sons and three adult daughters survived their brother.

American Civil War service

Wilmot Gibbes de Saussure began his Civil War service as a colonel in the 1st South Carolina Artillery Regiment of the 4th Brigade of the South Carolina militia at the siege of Fort Sumter. His force occupied Fort Moultrie when the U.S. Army garrison withdrew to Fort Sumter on December 26, 1861. De Saussure was in command of the

Morris Island Morris Island is an 840-acre (3.4 km²) uninhabited island in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, accessible only by boat. The island lies in the outer reaches of the harbor and was thus a strategic location in the American Civil War. The ...

batteries during the bombardment of Fort Sumter on April 12 through April 14, 1861. In August 1861, de Saussure was appointed a brigadier general in the South Carolina militia and was given command of the 4th Brigade for the remainder of the war. On April 11, 1862, de Saussure was elected adjutant general and inspector general of the South Carolina militia. He also was appointed Secretary of the Treasury of South Carolina in the summer of 1861 by South Carolina Governor Francis Pickens. De Saussure commanded a force of militia and Confederate States Army troops during the siege of Charleston in 1863. This force guarded the rear of the city. In late 1864 and early 1865, de Saussure's men were sent to oppose the forces of Union Major General William T. Sherman as they marched through the Carolinas.

Later life

After the war, Wilmot G. de Saussure was a prominent lawyer and was active in civic affairs in Charleston. He wrote several works of South Carolina history. He was president of the Huguenot Society and the

Cincinnati Society The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

(Sons of Cincinnati). He was also president of the

St. Andrew's Society Saint Andrew's Society refers to one of many independent organizations celebrating Scottish heritage which can be found all over the world. Some Saint Andrew's Societies limit membership to people born in Scotland or their descendants. Some sti ...

, the

St. Cecilia Society The St. Cecilia Society of Charleston, South Carolina, named for the traditional patron saint of music, was formed in 1766 as a private subscription concert organization. Over the next fifty-four years, its annual concert series formed the most ...

and the

Charleston Library Society image:Charleston County Courthouse 2013.jpg, The Library Society's first permanent address, which it occupied from 1792 to 1835, was within what is now the Charleston County Courthouse at 82 Broad St. image:50 Broad St - 2013.jpg, The Library Socie ...

.Cowles, John H
'Supreme Council 33rd Degree Or Mother Council of the World of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Scottish of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, United States of America'
Washington, D.C.: Scottish rite Supreme Council for the Southern jurisdiction, 1931. Reprint: Whitefish, Mont.: Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2003. . Retrieved September 11, 2012. p. 368. He was a Harbor Commissioner for Charleston and a member of the

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...

. De Saussure was a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

.Denslow, William R. and Harry S Truman
'10,000 famous freemasons 1 From A to J'
Originally published in 1957. Whitefish, Mont.: Kessinger, 2004. . Retrieved September 11, 2012. p. 310. He served as a grand master of his lodge from 1873 to 1875. He also was a member of the Odd Fellows. Brother de Saussure served as Grand Sire during the term 1853–1855 – being installed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and presiding in Baltimore, Maryland. Wilmot Gibbes de Saussure died on February 1, 1886, in

Ocala, Florida Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home to ...

, where he had gone with the hope of restoring his deteriorated health. He is buried in Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina.

Notes

References

* Alderman, Edwin Anderson, Joel Chandler Harris and Charles William Kent
'Library of Southern Literature: Biographical dictionary of authors
, Volume 15. Atlanta: The Martin & Hoyt Company, 1907. . Retrieved January 30, 2013. * Allardice, Bruce S. ''More Generals in Gray''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1995. . * Butler, Nicholas Michael
'Votaries of Apollo: The St. Cecilia Society and the Patronage of Concert Music in Charleston, South Carolina, 1766 - 1820'
Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2007. . Retrieved January 30, 2013. * Chesnut, Mary Boykin Miller and Comer Vann Woodward
'Mary Chesnut's Civil War'
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981. . Retrieved January 30, 2013. * Cowles, John H
'Supreme Council 33rd Degree Part 1 Or Mother Council of the World of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, United States of America'
Washington, D.C.: Scottish rite Supreme Council for the Southern jurisdiction, 1931. Reprint: Whitefish, Mont.: Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2003. . Retrieved September 11, 2012. * Denslow, William R. and Harry S Truman
'10,000 famous freemasons 1 From A to J'
Originally published in 1957. Whitefish, Mont.: Kessinger, 2004. . Retrieved September 11, 2012. * Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. . * Herringshaw, Thomas William
'Herringshaw's national library of American biography: contains thirty-five thousand biographies of the acknowledged leaders of life and thought of the United States'
Volume 2. Chicago: American Publishers, 1909. . Retrieved January 30, 2013. * Huguenot Society of London
'Proceedings of the Huguenot Society of London'
Volume 4, 1891–1893. London: Chas. T. King, 1894. . Retrieved January 30, 2013. * Johnson, Michael P. and James L. Roark
'No Chariot Let Down: Charleston's Free People of Color on the Eve of the Civil War'
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1984. . Retrieved January 30, 2013. * Johnson, Rossiter and John Howard Brown, eds
'The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans'
Volume 3. Boston: The Biographical Society, 1904. . Retrieved January 30, 2013. * La Borde, Maximilian
'History of the South Carolina College, From Its Incorporation, Dec. 19, 1801, to Nov. 25, 1857'
Columbia, SC: Peter B. Glass, 1859, . reprint Carlisle, MA: Applewood Books. . Retrieved January 30, 2013. * Pettigrew, James Johnston and Dan Bauer
'The long lost journal of Confederate General James Johnston Pettigrew'
San Jose : Writers Club Press, 2001. . Retrieved January 30, 2013. * Salley Jr., A. S., ed. South Carolina Historical Society
'The South Carolina historical magazine, Volumes 5-6'
Volume V. Charleston: The Walker, Evans and Cogswell Company, 1904. . Retrieved September 11, 2012.

External links