Summary
This military history book uses primary sources (letters, diaries, photographs and official records) to document the men and events of the 15th South Carolina Infantry from the beginning to the end of the great American Civil War. The 600+ page book includes a nearly day-by-day account of the Regiment’s activities from 1861 to 1865. In addition, included are personal biographies of the 1,442 men who served in the Regiment during the Civil War, allowing readers a first-hand perspective of life on the front lines as well as the home front.
The 15th South Carolina’s initial trial-by-fire occurred on Hilton Head Island during the Battle of Port Royal Sound on November 7, 1861. Following the Regiment’s service on the coast of South Carolina, they were transferred to Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) in July 1862. As part of Lee’s Army, they served in James Longstreet’s corps in all of the ANV battles from 2nd Manassas onward, including Sharpsburg and South Mountain. In November 1862, the 15th South Carolina joined Brigadier General Joseph B. Kershaw’s famous South Carolina brigade where they remained for the rest of the War. As part of Kershaw’s brigade, they fought in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. After Gettysburg, the 15th South Carolina and Kershaw’s brigade were sent by General Lee, along with two divisions of Longstreet’s corps, to the Western Army where they fought in the battles of Chicamauga, Knoxville and Bean Station. In April 1864, they returned to Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia command where they fought in the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor and the siege of Petersburg. In August of 1864, Lee ordered Kershaw’s brigade to the Shenandoah Valley where they fought in the battles at Charlestown , Hupp’s Hill and Cedar Creek. In January of 1865, General Lee returned Kershaw’s brigade to South Carolina to oppose Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s army during his march through the Carolinas.
Following the evacuation of Charleston where the 15th South Carolina was one of the last Confederate fighting units to leave the city and the battles of Averasboro and Bentonville in North Carolina, the Regiment was surrendered, along with the remaining men of Kershaw’s brigade, to General Sherman as part of General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of Tennessee in Greensboro, NC on April 26, 1865. Kershaw’s brigade and the 15th South Carolina Infantry served as the last Confederate provost guard protecting food and ordinance stores in Greensboro before finally returning to their homes in South Carolina.
About the Author
James B. Clary grew up in Gaffney, South Carolina. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from Clemson University and served as a signal corps officer in the US Army. His interest in the 15th South Carolina Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War stems from a life-long love of history coupled with the fact that the men who served in one of the companies had names familiar to his home area. Discovering that the 15th South Carolina had never been fully documented, Jim began what turned out to be a 12-year research and writing project to locate as much first-hand information as possible upon which to document the events and the men of the 15th South Carolina from 1861 through 1865. The result is this approximately six-hundred-page book with over one hundred fifty maps, photographs and sketches. Included also are brief, personal biographies of each of the approximately one thousand four hundred forty-two men who served in the regiment.
