The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1902-03-19

panies were in action Of July ID, and
the total casualties were 2l5 of whom
IL were killed and 16S wounded. max
ing 81 per cent. The Federal regi-
ment sustaining the greatest loss in
battle during the entire war was the
Fifth New Hampshire. which lost 295
men. killed or mOrtally wounded in
action. from 1861 to 1865.
The distinction mnst be drawn be-
tween 4 percentage of loss and the
greatest loss in any given battle, de-
pendent upon the nu:rber Of men car
ried into action. The several losses
are not always the largest numerical
ly. Take the Twenty-sixth North
Carolina, Pettigrew's brigade, whose
whose loss at Gettysburg was ST kill
ed and SOP wounded, making total
of 5SS, in addition to 120 reported as
missing, who were lost in Pickett's
charge, nearly all Of whom must have
been killed or wounded, as they fell
into the enamy'S hands and were not
included in the hospital report. The
casulties were 10S out OF $50 who were
present, and this loss occurred mostly
in the first days fight, which is an al
most unexampled record. The per-
centage of loss in the Twenty-Sixth
North Carolina at Gettysburg IL.
which is the third highest percentage
in the Confederate army.
The First Texas in the battle Of
Antietam (Sharpsburg) carried only
226 men into action, and the loss was
IS killed and I41 wounded, which is
S2.3 per cent, the highest percentage
On record. The Twenty-frst Georgia
at the Second Manassas August 1881,
1852. with 242 men in action, lost 3S
killed and 146 wounded, or &c per
cent.
The Palmetto Sharp Shooters at
Frazier's Farm June 80, 1862, with
375 men in action, lost 80 killed and
2l5 wounded, or 67.7 per cent.
The Sixth South Carolina at Seven
Pines (May 81, 1882 with 521 men in
action, lost SS killed and ISL wound
ed, or Sic per cent.
The First South Carolina Rifles
(Orr's regiment) at Gaines Mill, with
537 men in action, lost 81 killed and
225 wounded or 500 per celt.
Anderson's South Carolina brigade
afterwards Jenkins and then Brat
ton'S) in the "Seyen Days Around
Richmond with 1,250 men in action,
lost 1876 killed and 63S wounded, l3
missing or 62.9 per cent. This loss
occurred in the two battles Of Gaines
Mill and Frazier's Farm.
Longstreet'S Division (AnderSon's,
Pryor's, Wilcox's and Featherstone's
brigades) during the Seven Days Bat
ties, lost at Gaines Mill and Frazier's
farm, 766 killed, 3,435 wounded and
237 missing: total 4,43S out of 1881
engaged, or 50.2 per cent. Nor was
this an uncommon loss, as the official
reports often indicate loss Of 20 per
cent. or more. Through the desper-
ate struggle of four years, with it's
scores Of great battles and minor en-
gagementS, the ranks were divided
and Sub-diyided until the end came,
and with it a brigade or division was
merely thing Of shreds and patches.
AS early in the war as Sharpsburg
September II, 1862, regiments were
commanded by captains and compan-
les by sergeants.
Gettysburg was undoubtedly the
greatest battle Of the war: the STRAIT
egic issues involved were the most
important: Washington city was i'm
periled, and the Federals were on the
defensive; and it was the turning
point in the fortunes Of the Confed-
eracy. The contending armies were
not only large, but were at their best
in point Of discipline and experience.
Lee and Meade were battling for the
mastery, and the loss of life exceeded
that of any other field swept by these
two great armies.
Antietam (or Sharpsburg) was the
bloodiest and most furious battle, and
more men were killed that day than
any other one day of the war. At
Gettysburg, Charlottesville and
Spottsylvania, the fighting covered
three days or more: at the Wilderness,
Cold Harbor, Shiloh, Chicamauga and
Atlanta the losses were divided bet
ween two days, but at Antietam the
desperate work began at sunrise and
was practically ended at 4 o'clock in
the afternoon. Lees army consisted
Of $4,000 foot-sore, weary soldiers,
poorly clad, and slimly fed, while Nc
Clellan brought $4,000 men on the
field. with a reserve force of $1,000 in
full view of the contest. One-fourth
Of Lees army, smore than $1,000, lay
dead or wounded on the field, while
McClellan's losses were $500 in
round numbers. 1t was a square,
hand-to-hand fight and the survivors
on both sides slept in the very lines
where they had fought amid the car
mage of the bloody field.
In the seven Days around Rich
mond, Lees army was between $4,000
and 10000, the very flower Of South
ern youth and chiyalry, and he never
led its like again.
Grants army at the Wilderness two
years after numbered 100000 COM
posed of veteran regiments, whose
flags had waved above the smoke ard
din Of numerous battlefeldS. An
other year came, and the remnant Of
Lees matchlesS soldiers furled their
flags in the presence Of Grants stead
lily increasing numbers, for the work
Of military attrition had been accom-
plished.
Will Meet in Charleston.
Major 7. R. Robertson, a member
of the council of Charlotte ard major
Of the 1st North Carolina State troops,
arrived in Charleston Thursday and is