Official Thread of the Knights of Edisto

Looked back this time to see if he was already mentioned; @luinrina mentioned him in passing. Hence, I feel I should elaborate
I am speaking of Victor J. B. Girardey.
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Odd figure
Born in France, June 26th 1837. Emigrated with family to Georgia in 1842. Orphaned aged 16, completed education in New Orleans and married Clotiilde LeSueur.
When war broke out, joined Louisiana Militia as a Second Lt. then joined 1st Louisiana Battailion. Appointed Aide de camp to BG Albert Blanchard.
June 21st, 1862: Became Captain and A.A.G. for Wright's Georgia Brigade. Recieved commendation for actions at Seven Days, Chancllorsville, and Gettysburg. Temporarily commanded a regiment at Manassas Gap. Transfered to Mahone's Divisional staff.
Distingushed himself organizing Mahone's successful counterrattack at the Crater, and promoted from Captain to Brigadier General August 3rd, commanding Wright's old brigade.
He was killed during the Second Battle of Deep Bottom, August 16th, 1864. He was 27.

Note:
It is interresting to note he fought alongside the Alabama Brigade of the equally youthful J. C. C. Sanders, himself killed on the 21st of August, aged 24.
On top of that, to replace the deceased Girardey, Moxley Sorrel, aged 25, was assigned. The brigade would be known as Sorrel's Brigade for the remainder of the war.
 
I posted a thread last year about Jerome but I guess I will add it here as well.

Jerome Ticknor Furman, my 1st cousin 3 generations back, first served as a Sergeant on Co. B of the 52nd Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry from October 1861 until August 1863, when he was granted his discharge to accept a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the first negro regiment, Co. D of the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, later the 33rd Regiment of United State Colored Troops. 2nd Lt. Jerome Ticknor Furman served in this regiment for the remainder of the war and was murdered , shot in the back by Manson Sherrill "Manse" Jolly, on the front porch or near the steps of the principal hotel of Wall Hollow/Walhalla, South Carolina in August of 1865, four months after the end of the Civil War. He was 25 years old.

As night came on and the evening meal was over, Lieut. Furman stepped out on the front porch when a tall, villainous looking ex-Confederate came up, bade him good-evening, and said: "We are glad to have you come into our town for we are absolutely without any kind of government. The town is full of desperate characters; we are living in constant fear of our lives and the presence of United States troops will no doubt soon restore order and be a blessing to us." His mode of speech and cordial manner threw the officer completely off his guard and he foolishly accepted an invitation to take a walk with his newly made acquaintance. They had only walked a few steps before the villain drew his revolver, shot the officer in the back, and as he fell, put the muzzle of his pistol to the head of the dying man and discharged two more bullets into his brain, and then disappeared into the darkness.

View attachment 291859

I guess he would be impressed if a relative became Knight because of him.
My god.
He counts.
 
Apparently - from https://civilwartalk.com/threads/brigadier-general-micah-jenkins.92555/#post-1912760:
But neither officer @lelliott19 nor @OldReliable1862 have inducted me when I asked for membership - now I know why. :frown:
Oh shoot. Im so sorry Lu. I must've "liked" this when I was at work or somewhere that I couldn't type - and then failed to come back to it. Looks like you solved the D H Hill math problem correctly so I think that automatically makes you the Treasurer. Congratulations! :whistling: Unfortunately, we don't collect dues, so perhaps we will have to gather and sell nutmegs to raise funds for our noble organization?
 
Looks like you solved the D H Hill math problem correctly so I think that automatically makes you the Treasurer. Congratulations! :whistling: Unfortunately, we don't collect dues, so perhaps we will have to gather and sell nutmegs to raise funds for our noble organization?
Thank you! :smile: However, my solution apparently wasn't correct (#89). I don't mind being the Treasurer, though, as long as there are NO nutmegs involved... :tongue:
 
Two Artillerists Killed at Chickamauga

Sorry I've neglected this thread for so long, to make up for it, here's our first double-biography:

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Howard Mather Burnham was born in Longmeadow, Massachusetts on 17 March 1842. With the outbreak of war, Burnham enlisted in the Springfield City Guards, and was soon attached to the 10th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Burnham was then commissioned a Second Lieutenant of the Fifth Artillery in the Regular Army. Burnham impatiently served as a recruiting officer in several Northern cities before being sent to Fort Hamilton on garrison duty. Burnham landed an assignment as an aide to his uncle, Major General Joseph K. Mansfield, commanding the XII Corps. Unfortunately, before he could join his uncle, Mansfield was killed at Antietam. Now forced to wait again, Burnham was promoted to First Lieutenant and given command of Battery H of the US 5th Light Artillery, serving with the Army of the Cumberland. Burnham was then quickly made Chief of Artillery for the 1st division of the XIV Corps, serving on General Absalom Baird's staff.

On the morning of 19 September 1863, Burnham was overseeing his battery near Jay's Mill. As the Confederates made an attack on his battery, Burnham tried to move his guns, but the rebels shot his artillery horses as they came within sight. Left without the option of escape, Burnham decided to stand and fight, ordering his gunners to load their 12-pounder Napoleons with double-shotted canister. Waiting until their friendly skirmishers were clear before firing, forcing the attacking Confederates to cover. The Union infantry directly below his guns could see Burnham's shells flying directly over their heads into the stalled rebels.

However, Battery H lacked sufficient infantry support, and the deadly enemy fire mowed down his gunners. Burnham was shot in the chest, and his second-in-command, Lieutenant Joshua A. Fessenden asked him if he was hurt. "Not much, but save the guns!" Burnham replied. Despite being shot himself in the hip, Fessenden took command, rallying the troops after the battery was overrun. Fessenden followed his commander's order, recapturing the guns and even taking a Confederate gun. Burnham, despite his optimism, lingered for two more hours before dying, as the battle began around him.

Burnham's commander, Brigadier General John King, had this to say:
I take this occasion to speak in the highest terms of the officers of Battery H, 5th Artillery, 1st Lieut. H. M. Burnham and 2d Lieutenants Israel Ludlow and J. A. Fessenden. The officers of this battery, finding it impossible to retire, remained with their pieces, firing, until they were forcibly taken from them by the enemy.

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Rice Evan Graves Jr. was born in Rockbridge, Virginia on 23 June 1838 to wealthy planter Rice Evan Graves Sr. and Amelia Rucker. Graves would grow up in Kentucky, though this was quite by accident. In 1844 his family booked passage on the steamer Star of the West for St. Louis, but the steamer collided with the Hark-Away just below Breckinridge County, Kentucky and sank. The Graves family managed to survive, but lost all their posessions. Deciding to settle in Kentucky, the Graves grew in size and became farmers. Rice was accepted to West Point in 1859, to graduate in 1863.

Graves would never graduate, however, as he resigned to fight for the Confederates, despite the neutral stance of his adopted home state. Initially joining the 2nd Kentucky Infantry, Graves raised a battery of artillery, becoming its commander. The battery and its beloved young commander were captured at Fort Donelson, but after their exchange they served with the famous 1st Kentucky Brigade (the "Orphan Brigade"). John C. Breckinridge held a very high opinion of the young man, and was left in tears on hearing of Graves' death at Chickamauga. As he mentions him in his report:
One member of my staff I cannot thank; Major Rice Graves received a mortal wound on the (Sunday morning)(September) 20th (1863). Although a very young man he gave promise of the highest distinction. A truer friend, a purer patriot, a better soldier, never lived".
 
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William Ransom Pegram, known to many as "Willie," was considered one of, if not the, best gunner in the Army of Northern Virginia. He was born in a house on Richmond's Main Street on 29 June 1841. He was the younger brother of John Pegram, a future Confederate general, and the grandson of John Pegram (not to be confused with the previous Pegram), a major general in the War of 1812.

Pegram was attending the University of Virginia's law school when the war began, but he wasted no time enlisting in the Purcell Artillery of Richmond. Willie cut an odd figure on the battlefield - his extreme nearsightedness required he wear his gold-rimmed spectacles even as he commanded his guns - but Pegram earned a reputation for his fearlessness. Henry Heth recalled that Pegram was "one of the few men who, I believe, was supremely happy when in battle."

It was these qualities that would make him A. P. Hill's favorite artillery officer, and Pegram was soon in command of the sixty guns that constituted the artillery of the Third Corps. There was even something of an effort to make him a general, with both Heth and Richard H. Anderson separately recommending, with A. P. Hill's endorsement, that he be promoted and given an infantry brigade. Yet Robert E. Lee, who seemed to be hesitant to promote men so young, such as Pegram and John C. C. Sanders, did not approve of the promotion. "He is too young—how old is Colonel Pegram?," Lee asked. Heth replied: "I do not know, but I suppose about 25." To this Lee answered: "I think a man of 25 is as good as he ever will be; what he acquires after that age is from experience; but I can't understand, when an officer is doing excellent service where he is, why he should want to change."

In February 1865, Willie's older brother John, who he had loved dearly, was killed at Hatcher's Run. The loss devastated the young man. Pegram had said at one point: Men, whenever the enemy takes a gun from my battery, look for my dead body in front of it." At Five Forks, those gunners would see the image realized. A gun was captured, and Willie Pegram lay mortally wounded next to it. He lingered until 8 o' clock the next morning, 2 April 1865.
 
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Been a while since anyone posted in this thread, but feel I have to add in to here.
Colonel John Edward Murray, 5th/13th Arkansas (March 1843-July 23rd 1864). Born in Virginia, Murray was moved with his family to Pine Bluff Arkansas when he was 6 years old. In 1860, he received appointment as a cadet for West Point. However, he would never graduate, as he joined the Confederacy in 1861. He served as a training officer under William J. Hardee, eventually joining the 5th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, being commissioned as a Lieutenant. Later in 1861, at just age 18, he was made Lt. Colonel of the regiment. He'd lead the 5th Arkansas in battle at Murfreesboro and Chickamauga; at the latter engagement, he superseded his deceased Colonel to command the now consolidated 5th/13th Arkansas. He was soon promoted to Colonel of the regiment, and took part in the siege of Chattanooga. His regiment was placed at the entrance of Ringgold Gap, along with the Napoleon guns of Goldwaithe's Battery, and played a conspicuous part in Cleburne's victory. Afterwards, he would put his signature to Cleburne's Dalton Proposal to arm and emancipate slaves for the war effort. According to Ecelbarger, he apparently commanded Govan's brigade in brief intervals during the winter.
Murray would take further part in the Atlanta Campaign, including the fighting at Pickett's Mill. At Bald Hill, July 22nd, 1864, Colonel Murray, in command of Govan's 3 right wing regiments (5th/13th, 6th/7th, and 8th/19th Arkansas) led a charge against the earthworks of the 15th Iowa, personally carrying his regiment's colors into the works. This cost him dearly, as he received a mortal wound. He would die the following day (Ecelbarger p.127).
Murray was one of the brightest stars of Cleburne's Division, and his loss was mourned by his brigade. In his report of the battle, Brigadier Dan Govan wrote of the 21 year old Colonel: "...there was no more gallant and promising young officer. He had just attained his majority, and was brave and chivalrous, of a high order of intelligence, and of fine capacity for command. Had he been spared he would doubtless soon have attested his very superior military qualifications in a higher field of usefulness. His loss is irreparable and has cast a gloom over the whole command, where he is universally beloved" (O.R. V38, Pt. 3, pg. 739).

Sources:
Ecelbarger, Gary. The Day Dixie Died, The Battle of Atlanta
Official Records, Volume 38, Part 3, page 739.

I also wish to make note of the man who succeded him to command the 5th/13th Arkansas: Colonel Peter V. Green (1837-March 1869). Green was promoted to Colonel after Murray's death, and would rise to command Govan's Brigade at Jonesborough (due to Govan and most of the command being captured), at Nashville, and at Bentonville, showing surprising skill at the former battle. He would survive the war, but would be killed by a gang of freedmen in March of 1869.
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/green-peter-v.170480/

Neither of these men have any photos available of them. Given how significant these men were in these semi-obscure yet important battles, I wonder if they're photos are actually out there in some private collections, or in the possession of relatives. If anyone knows if there are images of these men available, I and likely many others would love to know.
 
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