- Joined
- Jan 16, 2015
The 15th South Carolina was the largest regiment in Brig. Gen. J. B. Kershaw's brigade at Gettysburg, with an estimated 36 officers and 412 men engaged, yet little hard information is available on this unit's activities in the battle, because it became separated from the rest of the brigade and fought independently, and because not one truly informative account by any of its members has ever come to light, so far as I am aware.
Kershaw's Official Report provides the best clues. The 15th was separated from the brigade at the outset, being sent to the right to protect artillery batteries off that flank when the brigade settled into its jump-off position on Seminary Ridge. Out of sight, out of mind. When the rest of the brigade advanced, the 15th may have been the last to receive word. In any case, by the time it did advance, Semmes' Georgia brigade had cut it off. I believe it reasonable to deduce that the 15th then attached itself to the right regiment (53rd Georgia) of Semmes' brigade, and conformed itself to that brigade's movements.
The mortal wounding of Semmes and the subsequent confusion of its regiments would have thus affected the 15th as well. An analysis of 26 individual casualties incurred in Semmes' brigade indicates that about half were due to artillery fire. One might expect the 15th South Carolina to have suffered a similar fate, but in fact, of their 15 identified casualties, only one was inflicted by artillery; the rest were gunshot wounds. Now again, so far as I can tell, the only Federal command directly fought by the 15th was that of Brooke's brigade of Caldwell's division in the Second Corps. From the above I surmise that the 15th remained behind the wall (or fence?) southeast of the Rose dwellings for some time, alongside the 53rd Georgia, but when it finally did advance into the field in front, it was caught out in the open by the sudden appearance of Brooke's brigade coming over the rise ahead, at a very short range. In that scenario, the well-known photographs in that vicinity showing rows of dead Confederates could well belong (in large part) to the 15th South Carolina.
The 15th lost 30 killed, 96 wounded, and 18 missing in the battle, roughly average for Kershaw's brigade, and I do think most of their losses can be directly attributed to the encounter with Brooke's brigade, as described. Supporting this conclusion is the fact that a considerable number of the 15th South Carolina's dead were identified and recovered after the war, lending credence to their dead being grouped fairly close together. In addition, the mentioned field of dead lay just in rear of the Confederate lines from the night of July 2, into July 3, which would have afforded their comrades an opportunity to collect bodies and mark graves, unlike so many other dead that lay in the Wheatfield beyond, which was a "no man's land" between the opposing skirmishers on July 3.
Kershaw's Official Report provides the best clues. The 15th was separated from the brigade at the outset, being sent to the right to protect artillery batteries off that flank when the brigade settled into its jump-off position on Seminary Ridge. Out of sight, out of mind. When the rest of the brigade advanced, the 15th may have been the last to receive word. In any case, by the time it did advance, Semmes' Georgia brigade had cut it off. I believe it reasonable to deduce that the 15th then attached itself to the right regiment (53rd Georgia) of Semmes' brigade, and conformed itself to that brigade's movements.
The mortal wounding of Semmes and the subsequent confusion of its regiments would have thus affected the 15th as well. An analysis of 26 individual casualties incurred in Semmes' brigade indicates that about half were due to artillery fire. One might expect the 15th South Carolina to have suffered a similar fate, but in fact, of their 15 identified casualties, only one was inflicted by artillery; the rest were gunshot wounds. Now again, so far as I can tell, the only Federal command directly fought by the 15th was that of Brooke's brigade of Caldwell's division in the Second Corps. From the above I surmise that the 15th remained behind the wall (or fence?) southeast of the Rose dwellings for some time, alongside the 53rd Georgia, but when it finally did advance into the field in front, it was caught out in the open by the sudden appearance of Brooke's brigade coming over the rise ahead, at a very short range. In that scenario, the well-known photographs in that vicinity showing rows of dead Confederates could well belong (in large part) to the 15th South Carolina.
The 15th lost 30 killed, 96 wounded, and 18 missing in the battle, roughly average for Kershaw's brigade, and I do think most of their losses can be directly attributed to the encounter with Brooke's brigade, as described. Supporting this conclusion is the fact that a considerable number of the 15th South Carolina's dead were identified and recovered after the war, lending credence to their dead being grouped fairly close together. In addition, the mentioned field of dead lay just in rear of the Confederate lines from the night of July 2, into July 3, which would have afforded their comrades an opportunity to collect bodies and mark graves, unlike so many other dead that lay in the Wheatfield beyond, which was a "no man's land" between the opposing skirmishers on July 3.