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The 14th South Carolina Infantry Regiment, of the Gregg-McGowan Brigade

by Robert K. Krick, Broadfoot Publishing

The 14th South Carolina Infantry consisted of men from the Abbeville, Barnwell, Darlington, Edgefield, Laurens and Saluda districts, enrolled in companies such as the Enoree Mosquitoes, the Carolina Bees and the Meeting Street Saludas. After drilling at Fort Butler near Aiken, the 14th saw its first action on New Year’s Day 1862 near Port Royal, where a shell from a Union gunboat killed nine members and wounded 15 others. That pattern of carnage would be repeated over the next three years.

As part of the Gregg-McGowan Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia, the regiment saw action in most of that army’s fights, from the Seven Days’ Campaign through the surrender at Appomattox. At both Gaines’ Mill and Gettysburg, it suffered more than 40 percent casualties. When the 18 officers and 211 men of the 14th South Carolina surrendered on April 9, 1865, 224 men had died in combat and another 326 from disease, with 940 wounded.

Robert K. Krick recounts the regiment’s history clearly and concisely over 28 pages in The 14th South Carolina Infantry Regiment, of the Gregg McGowan Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. While that might not seem like much for the $35 price tag, consider that the book actually extends to 311 pages, most of which offer biographical sketches of members. These draw primarily upon the Compiled Service Records, but also upon pension records, census data, printed sources and manuscripts.

Krick’s book is the first in Broadfoot Publishing’s planned 50-volume series, The South Carolina Regimental-Roster Set. Also in print are volumes on Lee’s Reliables (3rd S.C. Infantry), the James Battalion, the Hampton Legion Infantry, and the 11th, 13th and 15th Volunteer Infantry regiments.

The layout of the books in the set is similar to the H.E. Howard Virginia Regimental Histories Series. Like that set and Broadfoot’s ongoing series on North Carolina Troops, this is sure to become an essential resource for war and genealogy researchers alike.

 

Originally published in the February 2010 issue of Civil War Times. To subscribe, click here