Memoirs of the War of Secession

Memoirs of the War of Secession by Johnson Hagood

Memoirs of The War of Secession. By Johnson Hagood, BG, CSA. 496pp. History of the 1st SCV, and "Hagood's" of the 11th, 21st, 25th, 27th Regts. and 7th SC Bn.

Johnson Hagood formed his 1st Regiment during the euphoria of secession and call for troops for state defense. Following the fall of Ft. Sumter, with reorganization of the army for longer service, and need for troops in Virginia the enthusiasm evaporated.

The intense period of reorganization and recruiting that followed cost Hagood his 1st Regiment and propelled him into command of a forming brigade for the defense of Charleston. Raw recruits, poorly trained, equipped, and organized companies were assigned to newly designated regiments.

Hagood served as colonel of the 1st South Carolina, and later led a brigade of South Carolina Troops. The brigade was sent to aid in the defense of Charleston where Hagood's Brigade of South Carolinians figured prominently in many actions along the South Atlantic coast.

There followed a two year period of drill, training, preparation of fortification, and boredom with periods of intensity playing fire brigade in defense of Charleston and the rail connection to Savannah. During the course of what became daily duties these hesitant citizen soldiers, under the practiced eye of Hagood and his officers, became an efficient, reliable fighting force.

When Grant called his Charleston forces north to join in his Overland Campaign of '64 Hagood's Brigade followed quickly to join Lee's army at Cold Harbor.

Weldon Railroad, Drewry's Bluff, and the Petersburg lines came in rapid secession and the once bulging ranks of the brigade were thinned by the furious action. In the course of a few short months Hagood's Brigade had earned the respect of Lee's veterans and were fully engaged in the serious work of defending the capitol and its lifeline.

Sent to Ft. Fisher the brigade joined in the effort to defend Wilmington, fought back through North Carolina and engaged Sherman's forces during the final battles. From Ft. Sumter to the final line of battle Hagood's Brigade made the transition from citizen soldiers to tenacious veterans, performing their duty with courage and honor to the very end of the conflict.

The book includes unit rosters from the 7th S.C. Batallion and the 1st, 11th, 21st, 25th, and 27th S.C. regiments.

Hagood's stirring words give the reader a sense of what it must have been like to follow such a great leader in battle - absolutely keen insight into the pathos that was the War for Southern Independence

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