The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1919-02-04
HOW LAWRENCE M. kEiTT DIED
Heroism of a Famous South Caro-
Inian Recalled by Veteran of
the confederacy.
(By O. G. T.l

(By o. G. I'd
The notice of the death of Miss
Anna Keitt recalls the tragedy Of
Cold Harbor and the glorious bearing
and fall of Colonel Keitt The writer
had reached home at the time. having
been furloughed on account of severe
wounds received at Spottsylvania
Court House on the Sth of May.
! I spent the summer at home, but
recall very distinctly the principal
events of the campaign from the
Rapidan to the James. Grant crossed
the Rapidan the night of the 4th' of
May, 1854, with $4,000 men. Lee, not
waiting for his antagonist to get into
the open country with his vastly SUI
perior forces, threw his columns into
the Wilderness and in two days of
awful conflict, beat the army of the
Potomac.
Then followed the ten days strug-
gle at Spottsylvania Court House, be-
ginning the morning of the 9Th Of
May. Baf1ed and beaten by the su-
perior leadership and fighting Of the
Confederates, again Grant and Meade
withdrew from Lees front and sought
to pass by his right toward Richmond.
Again Lee showed to great advantage
over his adversary by drawing him
into a position at the North Anna
River, where he could not give battle
and escape the certainty of defeat.
Once more, resorting to his fanking
tactics, Grant marched his forces to
Cold Harbor, there to find Lee again
across his track 1t was here that,
two years before, the right Of Nc
Clellan's great army was beaten and
broken up. This field now became the
scene of one of the bloodiest tragedies
of the great war between the two
great sections of the American Union.
The fighting was heavy on the 1st and
End, but it was in the early morning
of the 3rd day of June that Grant as
saulted with an immense force, in
which he lost 12,500 in 80 minutes,
from a force of about 100000. 1t is
doubtful if the annals of war show a
greater proportionate loss in such a
brief length Of time.
So crushing had been the repulse
and so CHASTITY the tragedy that when
orders were given by the Union COM
mander to renew the attack, the
troops fatty refused to move and
merely opened fire where they lay
Hancock, Smith and others of divi-
sion and corps commanders refused to
repeat that order to their troops.
A section of the line was known as
the "Kershaw Salient" Kershaw was
then commanding a division. The old
brigade. originally composed Of the
Second, Third, Seventh and Eighth
Regiments, until the autumn of 1862,
following the battles of Sharpsburg
and South Mountain, when the Fiji
teenth Regiment and Third Battalion
were attached to the brigade and dur
ing this campaign was, think, COM
manded by Gen. John Kennedy and
others. 1t was on this field that the
Twentieth South Carolina Regiment,
led by Col. Lawrence NJ. Keitt, joined
the old brigade.
This regiment was fresh from the
coast of South Carolina, had seen lit
tie of active service and with full
ranks had perhaps something like a
thousand men. The boys called it
Keitt's Corps.
I think it was on the 3rd that Colo
mel Keitt, on horseback, I think, led
the brigade in a desperate charge and
was killed under circumstances of
great gallantry. He had been greatly