The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-08-19
THE SEVENTEENTH HREGInEN1,.
Col. McaIaster's Address ut the Meeting of
tho Survivors.

Ho A'o"o "Htt NOHftCT contains the
following synopsis Of the address of
Col. F. w. McNIastcr, giving a'esuane
Of the acts of that fighting Regiment:
lilo began with an cloqucnt' allusion
to the reunion after fourteen years of
separation of old comrades. They
met, he said, not to discuss the causes
which enforced the war, but as friends
ard comrades in arms to take q vaDid
ana curSory glance at The part they
took in the war of which their dead
brothers were the justified heroes and
they the survivors. Thc correct histo-
~ or that war was as yet unWrittcn,
and it was their duty to keep in mem
ory the deeds of their comrades, and
furnish and preserve materials for tho
historian. South Carolina had fur
nislicd fifty regiments, besides num-
Der OF baltalions and separate compa-
mes, but their history was SO inter-
woven with that Of larger bodies that
1T was difficult matter TO obtain cor
rect histories Of individual regiments,
particularly y Of infantry, which was
generally food for gunpowdcr.
lie then reviewed rapidly the histo-
ry of the regiment from its formation
in Columbia in November, 1861. 1t
was composed of four companies from
York, two from Chester, two from
Barnwcll, one from Lancaster. and
one from Fairfield, and its staff officers
were John IL. Means, colonel; Il. w.
McMastcr, licutenant-co Julius
Mills, major; w. Wylic, surgeon {;
Isaac A. Means, quartcrmastcr, and
Is. W. Mctts, commiysary. lIc then
spoke Ofits reorganization, of its first
active service in Virginia at Waterloo,
and wildly described its participation
III the second battle Of Manassas on
the 30th of August, when it lost 1855
men killed and wounded, including it's
colonel killed, three captains and a
lieutenant killed, and two captains and
a lieutenant badly wounded. At
Sharpsburg twenty volunteers OF the
18th silcnccd battery which was
shclling the causcway. AT Boonsboro
it did good service. At Sharpsburg
twelve men Of its greatly depleted
ranks were killed, and others captured
and wounded. 1t engaged in the bat
ties of Kingston and Goldsboro, and
for several months did picket duty
about Wilmington. Two hundred Of
its men were for two weeks III Fort
Sumter during the heaviest bombard-
mcnt, and bore themselves wcll. The
regiment was afterwards transferred
to Johnston's army, with which it
helped to fight Grant, participating in
the battle of jackson, and subscqucnt-
ly with Bcaurcgard, on the Goth Of
May, 1861, at Bermuda Hundreds, in
company with the Sth North Carolina
Regiment charged and captured the
cnemy's brcastworks, and held them
against repeated and desperate as
saults. 1t was afterwards ordered to
Petersburg, taking part in tho battles
about uat city, and losing number
Of officers and men.
Col. McMastcr described particulars
ly the part taken by the 18th in the
battlc of the Crater, when that rcgi-
mcnt with the assistance of few men
of the Goth and the cooperation of
Wright's Battery prevented Grant
from entering Petersburg and captur-
ing Bcaurcgard's army. The 2Gth and
18th on that day, 30lh August, 1864,
occupied the left of Elliott's Brigade.
The explosion of the eight hundred.
pounds Of powder overwhelmed the
battery in rear, the whole Of the rcgi-
mcnt on the right of the 18th and part
ofCompany n, of the 18th itself. The
Fcderals lad designed rushing in
through the breach thus created in the
line, and advanced to carry out the
idea, being met, however, by tho fire
of the l7th, u few Of tho 18th who had
cXtricatcd themselves from the cover
ing ofcarth, some Of the Goth and four
guns Of Wrights's battery, which had
escaped, under command OF Mai. Colt.
The evidence of Federal officers proved
that it was this resistance that defeat
cd their plans. Some of the enemy
who reached the line were driven back
with dubbed muskcts and bayoncts,
and few battles could show
more bayonct wounds than
this one. The 18th lost 1856 men. The
regiment was also in the battle of Fort
Stcadman.
Col. McNlastcr closed by reviewing
tho subsequent brief history Of the
regiment down to the time when it
surrendered its entire force Of 81 men,
composing more than half its brigade,
at AppomattoN, many having been
captured when purposcly left in al eX-
posed situation, from Which escape was
impossible, to mask the operations Of
the remainder of the army.
Col. MlcNlaStcr furnished the fol-
lowing figures of the Seventeenth:
Enlisted men. .1,O35
Died from disease. ..ISS
Killed in battle. .2O7
Discharged. $50
SURVIVORS, ......... .4lO
Total. ,O35
The officers of the Seventeenth Rcgi-
mcnt after the organization were j. ii.
Means, colonel; +. w. NIcMastcr,
licutcnant-colonel; r. Starkc Means,
major; ]. II. Means, quartcrmastcr;
II. B. McMaster, commissary; S. II.
FAINT, adiutant. Colonel Means was
killed at Second Manassas, and Colonel
McN1astcr commanded tho Regiment
till the close of the war.
Among the Survivors present at the
Chester meeting were Col. Il. w. Nc
master, Licut.-Col. j. II. Culp, and
Adjutant S. r. FAINT. The companies
represented were from York, Chester,
Lancaster, Fairfield and Darnwcn.
The Chester and Fairfield Survivors
were as follows:
Company A.-Captain Edwards,