A Brief History of the
FIRST SOUTH CAROLINA
VOLUNTEER INFANTRY & PEE DEE LIGHT ARTILLERY
The
original 1st Regiment South
Carolina
Volunteer Infantry unit mustered in at Columbia, South Carolina, as part of the army of the sovereign state
of South
Carolina.
They were sent to Charleston, and were part of the forces that bombarded Fort Sumter. After formation of the Confederate States
of America, they were transferred to Virginia, the
first
regiment from outside of Virginia
to do so. They became part of the Provisional Army of the Confederate
States as
Maxcy Gregg's Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia. The regiment
was made
up of 11 companies, one too many, so Company D was converted to an
artillery
unit known as McIntosh's Battery, or the Pee Dee Light Artillery. The
Pee Dee
Artillery supported the Gregg's brigade for much of its service. The
First
South Carolina was engaged from the bombardment of Ft. Sumter through Appomattox to include some of the most severe battles
of the war.
As an example of its heroism, the flag of the regiment has the
distinction as
being the first Confederate banner raised over the captured city of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The regiment suffered over 1000 casualties
in many battles and
skirmishes during the War for Southern Independence.
Modern Day "Skirmishing"
The modern 1st Regiment South
Carolina
Volunteer Infantry was mustered into the North-South Skirmish
Association (www.n-ssa.org) in
1970. It has been a member
unit of and competes in the Northwest Territory (www.nwtskirmisher.com).
In the N-SSA
member units compete in live-fire matches with original or authentic
reproduction Civil War period muskets, carbines, breech loading rifles,
revolvers,
mortars and cannons. These competitions are called "skirmishes". At a
skirmish, participating teams shoot at breakable targets in several
timed
events. The teams with the lowest cumulative times win medals or other
awards.
The N-SSA
has almost 4,000 individuals that make up
its 200 member teams. Each team represents an actual Civil War regiment
or unit
and wears the uniform they wore over 140 years ago. It is the largest
Civil War
organization of its kind in the United States.
Over
the years the membership of the 1st
South
Carolina
has grown to 33, with ages ranging from 15 to 83. The
unit considers itself a family organization, with husbands, wives,
sons, and
daughters as equal members. The First has members from every corner of
lower Michigan,
and a few in Virginia, Colorado,
and Canada. The unit is competitive in musket, carbine,
smoothbore musket, mortar, field artillery and dress competition,
taking medals
in all areas in NWT and National competition.
The
1st South Carolina Vols.Inf./ Pee Dee Lt. Artillery has built
or
acquired a 10 pdr Parrott, 12 pdr. Tredegar
Iron Napoleon, 12 pdr. Bronze Napoleon, 24 pdr coehorn, and an
eight
inch siege mortar. The First competes
with and places in the artillery medals consistently.
Members
of the unit were featured in
two
History Channel programs. They
demonstrated the use of a 12 pounder Tredegar iron Napoleon and a 10
pounder
Parrott. The 1st S.C. and
Loomis Battery also helped with producing artillery sounds for
the movie
Master and Commander. The 1st
SC also participates in the Long Range Artillery Matches at Grayling
each year,
and has won rifled (1000 yards) and smoothbore (500 yards) artillery,
and siege
mortar (900 yards) matches.
The
First South Carolina continues to
support
the principles of friendship, good sportsmanship, safety and family
fun, and
welcomes anyone interested in the same goals.
For
more information call Norm Gibson
at (586)
727-7755 or by email: ngibson@firstsouthcarolina.com. Also, please visit the Northwest
Territory's website at www.nwtskirmisher.com
