With the 1st South Carolina at Gettysburg

History may record the Battle of Gettysburg as a decisive defeat for the Confederacy, but that wasn't the way some of the soldiers viewed it at the time. "The first day our arms met with complete success; every point which we attacked was carried and the loss of the enemy far exceeded ours," First Lieutenant William Aiken Kelly of the 1st South Carolina explained to his mother on July 10, 1863. "The second and third days we were not so successful, but I will not say we were defeated by the enemy. They were largely reinforced and the position they held was one of the strongest kind. Their artillery occupied high hills, and their infantry were mostly behind stone fences or entrenchments. We were the attacking party every time, consequently they had the advantage and I think their numbers were largely superior to ours."

    During the Gettysburg campaign, the 1st South Carolina served in Colonel Abner Perrin’s First Brigade of General William D. Pender’s Division of A.P. Hill’s Third Corps. Lieutenant Kelly’s letter first appeared in the July 22, 1863, edition of the Charleston Daily Courier.

 

A dug example of a rare Carolina Light Infantry button featuring oak leaves and a cotton boll. The Latin motto of "Nemo Me Impunt Lacesset" loosely translates to "No One Would Hurt Me." The Carolina Light Infantry, a militia unit raised in Charleston, took part in the capture of Castle Pinckney in Charleston harbor on December 27, 1860, a mere week after the adoption of the state's secession ordinance. William Aiken Kelly was serving as a corporal in the Carolina Light Infantry at the time, and later took part in the operations against Fort Sumter before going on to a lengthy and distinguished service in the Army of Northern Virginia. 
(Army of Tennessee Relics) 

On picket near Hagerstown, Maryland

July 10, 1863

Dear mother,

          A mail will be sent off from our brigade (McGowan’s) this afternoon. We have just received the information and have but a few moments to write. Again, I have to return thanks to a merciful God for my preservation. Through His kind protection, I have again passed unharmed through the dangers and perils of a battle. It was one of the severest and hardest fought of the war.

          For three days, July 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, we fought the enemy at and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The first day our arms met with complete success; every point which we attacked was carried and the loss of the enemy far exceeded ours. The second and third days we were not so successful, but I will not say we were defeated by the enemy. They were largely reinforced and the position they held was one of the strongest kind. Their artillery occupied high hills, and their infantry were mostly behind stone fences or entrenchments. We were the attacking party every time, consequently they had the advantage and I think their numbers were largely superior to ours. Our brave boys repeatedly charged up to their breastworks, but they were too strongly posted and in the end, we were compelled to fall back, but not without inflicting severe punishment upon the enemy for they did not attempt to follow us up. Had they left their protection, I think we would have defeated them. As it is, I consider that we were victorious on the first day and that the other two were drawn battles for on the 4th, the time we fell back, it is reported that the enemy did the same.

          Our brigade (McGowan’s) was successful each day. Every point that we attacked we carried and not once were we compelled to fall back before the enemy.  Our position was in the center and we occupied the first line until the night of the 4th of July when we were ordered to fall back with the remainder of the army. Our loss has been severe but a much larger number are wounded. I cannot form any estimate of our loss. I only know that of our regiment (1st S.C.V.) we carried a little over 200 men into the fight and during the three days lost 18 killed and 85 wounded.

Colonel Abner Monroe Perrin of Edgefield led McGowan's all-South Carolina brigade at Gettysburg consisting of the 1st South Carolina (Provisional Army), 1st South Carolina Rifles, with the 12th, 13th and 14th South Carolina regiments. Perrin would be killed in action the following year at Spotsylvania Courthouse. 

Our company, the Carolina Light Infantry, was fortunate in not having a man killed. We had six wounded and one taken prisoner. The wounded are Sgt. N.J. Hasell, bad flesh wound in the right hand; Private George E.L. Duffus, badly in shoulder, J.A. McKethan, badly in shoulder, H.R. Wiecking, a flesh wound, W.A. King, slightly, and H.C. Palmer, slightly. None of the wounded are serious. During the second- and third-day’s fighting, I was detached from my company commanded another in the regiment, Co. F from Horry District commanded by Captain F.P. Alston of Charleston. The captain was acting major and the other officers were killed in the first day’s fight. One man was killed and two wounded while I was in command of them. They are good men and fought bravely and I am still in command of them.

The Yankee cavalry have given us some trouble as far as our wagons are concerned. Whenever they have met ours, though, they have been defeated and driven off. On the 4th and 5th of July, they captured 150 of our corps train, but 100 were afterwards recaptured. Among those lost were some from our brigade, including the officers’ baggage wagon of our regiment. We have all lost everything but what we have on our backs, including bedding, etc. The prisoner we lost was M.H. Willis. He was taken with the wagons. Stuart has also bothered the enemy. He has taken some 200 wagons and 1,200 horses, mules, etc. I think we are rather ahead of them on this score.

I have not time to write more, but will write full particulars at the first opportunity. We are quiet at present, but I hope to be able soon to record a grand victory. I do not want to recross the Potomac without one. God grant that my life may be spared. Love to all.

Ever your affectionate son,

William Aiken Kelly

Captain William Aiken Kelly of Co. L, 1st South Carolina Infantry wears a stylish militia uniform of the Carolina Light Infantry in an early war image. Kelly was working as the confidential clerk for the prominent Charleston cotton brokers Patterson & Stock when the conflict began and took his place in the ranks of the Carolina Light Infantry. The cut and pattern of buttons on his coat lends interest as it was the mark of what was called a "Charleston-style" coat. The Charleston-style coats had "the lower buttons close to each other, then flaring widely over the breast, more widely than anywhere else, before coming together over the top. Often, the sleeve braids mirror each other, the tops curving inward towards each other creating a distinct right and left sleeve braid." The fancy militia uniforms were left far behind by the time Kelly and his comrades marched to Gettysburg. 


In bivouac, ten miles from Culpeper, Virginia

July 24, 1863

To the editor of the Charleston Mercury:

          The following members of the Carolina Light Infantry, Co. L, 1st S.C.V. are missing and supposed to have been taken prisoners during the falling back of the from near Hagerstown, Maryland on the night of the 13th instant and the crossing of the Potomac on the 14th. Privates A.H. Browne, W.F. Jenson, H.J. McCormack, W.A. McDowell, J.T. Ryan, and A.J. Samson. The company was one of those left behind on picket and were not relieved until midnight. The night was very dark and rainy and the road over which they marched was almost impossible with mud.

William Aiken Kelly

Near Orange Courthouse, Virginia

August 6, 1863

          The following members of the Carolina Light Infantry were left in hospital near Gettysburg, Pa., they not being able to travel themselves and the means of transportation not being sufficient to convey them. Corporal Jas. Steedman, sick; Privates George E.L. Duffus, wounded, J.A. McKethan, wounded, and H.R. Wiecking, wounded.

 William Aiken Kelly

Sources:

Letter from First Lieutenant William Aiken Kelly, Co. L, 1st South Carolina Infantry, Charleston Daily Courier (South Carolina), July 22, 1863, pg. 2; also, Charleston Mercury (South Carolina), August 7, 1863, pg. 2; also, August 13, 1863, pg. 2

Jensen, Les. A Catalogue of Uniforms in the Collection of the Museum of the Confederacy. Richmond: Museum of the Confederacy, 2000, pg. 9

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