When the students returned in October, they reorganized their military unit as the "third company." The Union attack of the South Carolina coast in November at the Battle of Port Royal led Governor Pickens to agree to their request to be mustered for active duty, but President Longstreet and the faculty steadfastly maintained their opposition to the students leaving for service. However, with the support of the governor the students ignored the protests of the faculty and departed for the Lowcountry. Governor Pickens kept the student company in Charleston to serve as his bodyguard and because the Union forces at Port Royal did not press their advantage, he released the students from military service on December 10.