The Civil War in South Carolina
Elliott, Brig. Gen. Stephen (1832 - 21 MAR 1866)
Brigadier-General Stephen Elliott, Jr., was born at Beaufort, S.C., in 1832, son of Stephen Elliott,
first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal diocese of Georgia and provisional bishop of Florida; and
grandson of Stephen Elliott, a distinguished naturalist. He passed his youth on the plantation,
devoted to manly sports. At the beginning of the formation of the Confederate States, he
organized and equipped a light battery, known as the Beaufort artillery, of which he was
commissioned captain. He was present at the bombardment of Fort Sumter, aiming several
shots from the siege guns, and during his subsequent service in the State he became famous for
daring and skillful fighting. On guard in 1861 in the vicinity of Port Royal harbor, he put twenty of
his boys on the tug Lady Davis, and ran out to sea to find a prize. With indomitable pluck,
accompanied by good fortune, he captured a sailing vessel, of 1,200 tons, and brought her in to
Beaufort. Subsequently he was ordered to Bay Point, the other side of Port Royal entrance being
held by the German volunteers under Captain Wagener. There he fought a Federal fleet for two
hours, until his guns were dismounted. After the Federals occupied the coast islands, he
engaged in numerous daring raids. During one night he burned fourteen plantation settlements;
again he surprised a picket post successfully, and in August, 1862, he commanded
an expedition against a Federal force on Pinckney island, which was very successful and gained
for him the unstinted commendation of his superiors. His activity also turned to the direction of
inventing floating torpedoes, with which he blew up a tender in St. Helena bay. He was promoted
to chief of artillery of the Third military district, including Beaufort, near where, in April, 1863, he
captured the Federal steamer George Washington. Promotion followed to major and then to
lieutenant-colonel. Twice he met the enemy in open field at Pocotaligo, where his guns put the
invaders to flight. In command of the Charleston battalion he occupied Fort Sumter, September
5, 1863, and held the ruins of the famous citadel against the enemy until May, 1864. Then as
colonel of Holcombe's legion he was ordered to Petersburg, Va., and was soon promoted to
brigadier-general and assigned to the command of N.G. Evans' old brigade, which included the
legion. He served actively in the defense of Petersburg, his brigade, a part of Bushrod Johnson's
division, holding that important part of the line selected by the Federals as the point to be mined,
and carried by an assaulting party. Two of his regiments, the Eighteenth and Twenty-second,
occupied the works blown up on the morning of July 30th, and the immense displacement of
earth which formed the crater maimed and buried many of the command. But, undismayed,
General Elliott and his brigade received the onslaught made through the breach of the
Confederate intrenchments. In the words of the division commander, "Brigadier-General Elliott,
the gallant commander of the brigade which occupied the salient, was making prompt disposition
of his forces to assault the enemy and reoccupy the remaining portion of the trenches when he
was dangerously wounded." Entirely disabled for further service he returned to his home at
Beaufort, and died from the effects of his wound, March 21, 1866.
REF: Confederate Military History Vol. 5, pg. 390
Evans, Brig. Gen. Nathan George
Brigadier-General Nathan George Evans was born in Marion county, S.C., February 6, 1824, the
third son of Thomas Evans, who married Jane Beverly Daniel, of Virginia. He was graduated at
Randolph-Macon college before he was eighteen, and at the United States military academy,
which he entered by appointment of John C. Calhoun, in 1848. With a lieutenancy in the Second
Dragoons, he was first on duty at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., whence he marched to the Rocky
mountains in 1849. In 1850 to 1853 he served in New Mexico, and began a famous career as an
Indian fighter, which was continued in Texas and Indian Territory after his promotion to captain in
1856, in various combats with the hostile Comanches. At the battle of Wachita Village, October
1, 1858, his command defeated a large body of the Comanches, and he killed two of their noted
chieftains in a hand-to-hand fight. For this he was voted a handsome sword by the legislature of
South Carolina. In 1860 he was married to a sister of Gen. M. W. Gary, of Abbeville county. He
resigned from the old army in February, 1861, being then stationed in Texas, and taking farewell
of his colonel, Robert E. Lee, proceeded to Montgomery, and was commissioned major of
cavalry, C. S. A. Being assigned to duty as adjutant-general of the South Carolina army, he was
present at the bombardment of Fort Sumter and was soon afterward promoted colonel. Joining
the army under General Beauregard at Manassas Junction, Va., he had a command on the field
during the first encounter at Blackburn's ford, and again in the great battle of July 21, 1861. At
the opening of the latter engagement, his forces, consisting of the Fourth South Carolina
regiment, a battalion of Louisiana volunteers, Terry's squadron of cavalry, and a section of
Latham's battery, were stationed at the stone bridge, where he held the enemy in check in front,
until he perceived in operation the flank movement which was the Federal plan of battle.
Instantly without waiting for orders he threw his little command in a new line, facing
the enemy, and alone held him in check until reinforced by General Bee. With great intrepidity
he and his men held their ground against great odds until the Confederate army could adapt
itself to this unexpected attack. As remarked by a Northern historian: "Evans' action was
probably one of the best pieces of soldiership on either side during the campaign, but it seems to
have received no special commendation from his superiors." General Beauregard commended
his "dauntless conduct and imperturbable coolness," but it was not until after the fight at
Leesburg that he was promoted. This latter engagement, known also as Bali's Bluff, was fought
in October, near the Potomac river, by his brigade, mainly Mississippians, and a splendid victory
was gained over largely superior numbers, with great loss to the enemy. His promotion to
brigadier-general was made to date from this memorable affair, and South Carolina again,
through her general assembly, gave him a vote of thanks and presented him with a gold medal.
In 1862 he commanded a brigade consisting of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-sec-ond
and Twenty-third regiments, and Holcombe's legion, South Carolina troops, and was mentioned
by General Longstreet among the officers most prominently distinguished in the battles of
Second Manassas and Sharpsburg. In the latter fight he commanded his division. Thereafter his
service was mainly rendered in South Carolina. In 1863 he moved to the support of Johnston
against Grant. After the fall of Richmond he accompanied President Davis as far as Cokesbury,
S.C. A year later he engaged in business at Charleston, but was mainly occupied as a teacher at
Midway, Ala., until his death at that place, November 30, 1868. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee has written of
him: "'Shanks' Evans, as he was called, was a graduate of the military academy, a native South
Carolinian, served in the celebrated old Second Dragoons, and was a good type of the rip-
roaring, scorn all-care element, which so largely abounded in that regiment. Evans
had the honor of opening the fight (First Manassas), we might say fired the first gun of the war."
REF: Confederate Military History Vol. 5, pg. 392
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