THE WHIPPY SWAMP GUARDS
INTRODUCTION:
To begin with you must understand what the words
During the impending war the men of the South were eagerly forming and organizing groups of militia troops. They were preparing for the upcoming conflict of states and were already in training. Most of the men were dressed in their hunting clothes carrying the muskets they used in hunting and ones they used to protect their homes. Some men were better equipped than others.
Family members of the area formed this troop called the Whippy Swamp Guards. The troops drilled at the old Pocataligo Depot, where most men of the area signed on with the civil war and was deployed from in this area of Prince Williams Parrish. The troop held its reviews for the Governor of the State at Old Slow Hill at Coosawhatchee. They were well known in the upper part of Prince Williams Parrish.
The troops were formed by the best landmark citizenship, descendants
of Revolutionary ancestry. Some of the names on the old muster roles were:
Gooding, Terry, Lightsey, Wyman,
At the time of war in January 1861, the whole South was flying
to arms. The rising and leading young men of the area rushed to the
front and demonstrated loyalty to the
Not to be forgotten, the exploits and resumes of their service in the great cause of the Confederacy, is respectively ordered to the Beaufort County Historical Society.
The following pages come partly from an article written about the Whippy Swamp Guards, that was printed in the Hampton County Guardian in 1909. An article appeared in the Beaufort Gazette some five years ago repeating the heroic and braveness of the troop called the Whippy Swamp Guards.
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In writing about the Whippy Swamp Guards, in the Hampton County Guardian in 1909, the Rev. Hamilton Dowling had the following to say about the Guards...
In the upper part of the Prince Williams Parrish, the company was known as the "Whippy Swamp Guards" around which cluster pleasant, sacred, melancholy and proud memories of that now long ago.
This company was the embodiment of the finest of the youth of this time honored section. Hales of childhood memories still linger with bright constellations around the reminiscences of the muster days at Whippy Swamp crossroads, now known as Crocketville, where the fife and drum, tingling our childhood nerves with national airs, rang through the large surging crowd of our noble fathers and the clarion voices of the orderly sergeants formed into line, the old Whippy Swamp Co. It, afterward, helped to make Confederate history lustrous and its story is a bright star in the history of our times............
Of the Captains of this proud Company, my first remembrance is of Captain Billy Williams, afterward Senator of the Parish, whose home was at Broxton's Bridge. Then followed Frank Davis of Willow Swamp Section and after him came John Frampton who afterwards was the delegate to the convention of DE. 1860 which passed the Ordinance of Secession ushering in the great Confederate War. Then followed B. H. Ellis, afterwards Major, Colonel and Brigadier General of the militia: Colonel of the 11th SC Regiment and during the war period after the battle of Pocotaligo was State Senator.
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Then succeeding him was John A. Lightsey.
The last of the Captains before the Confederate War was P. E. Terry, who
was afterwards a Lieutenant in Kirk's Calvary Squadron and who was wounded
in the Pocotaligo Fight. He survived the war and died an honored deacon at
the
The muster days at Whippy Swamp Crossroads were not the only remembered occasions of those antebellum days. The political meetings, Fourth of July celebrations, readings of the Declaration of Independence, tournaments, and great religious meetings of G. W. M. Williams, whose pulpits powers swayed the multitudes and who was afterwards Colonel of the 47th Georgia Regiment of which his son, Ben S. Williams was the brave and gallant Adjutant and the other meetings by the sainted J. M. Hoover at Sandy Run and W. F. Hogarth at Prince Williams and the eloquent J. T. Sweate at Sand Hill are all among the sacred relics and pleasant memories of the now long ago.
In 1861 the great war had begun and the Whippy Swamp Militia was a resource for the organization of several state service companies.
The first, commanded by the Capt. J. J. Harrison, retained the
name "Whippy Swamp Guards" but at the reorganization for Confederate Service
and the formation of the 11th SC Regiment,
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Captain Gooding was an ideal young man of his community and had been
a member of the State Legislature and was extremely popular. Later in the
War he resigned his Captaincy when transferred to another regiment, but was
quickly elected a lieutenant in the "Whippy Swamp Guards" and was wounded
in the Battle of Swift Creek near
The old Whippy Swamp Guards contributed brave and noble soldiers
to the Beaufort District Troop of the Hampton Legion. The Elliott Company
commanded by B. F. Wyman, Kirk's Squadron and especially Capt. A. B. Mulligan,
Company of Butler's Brigade had many troops supplied to them from the old
Whippy Swamp Guards. During the years of 1861, 62, and 63, the Whippy Swamp
Guards was an element of various commands which were stationed on lines of
defense along the
The Beaufort District Troop during the said period shared in all of
the heroic deeds of
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In 1864, the Beaufort District Troop was returned to S. C. and while
on
The Whippy Swamp Guards had been transferred to
Lt. Thomas Hamilton was in command of the regimental pickets
and was killed while inspecting posts shortly before the battle. The Nick
Langford Party of the Old Whippy Swamp Guard militia first enlisted with
St. Peters Guard under the gallant H. P. Smart. They trained at Silver Hill
near Varnville and on
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In Feb. 1862, this party mustered into Confederate service under A. B. Mulligan as Capt. Nick Langford and Lieutenants A. J. Harrison, W.M. Miley, D. C. Simmons, A. R. Richardson, W. H. Dowling and E. L. Dowling. The total number of Whippy Swamp Guards were about 25. Capt. Mulligan himself was a native of Crocketville and his ancestral cemetery is near Mulligans causeway. Capt. Mulligan was seriously wounded in the Battle of Burgess Hill and acted wisely and bravely in every battle.
One of the engagements in which the Whippy Swamp Guards participated
was on the night of the 7th of June 1864, Sheridan the great Yankee cavalier,
with 20,000 men planned to slip out from the rear of Grant's army marching
to Trevilian Station, move about 90 miles, tear
up our railroad and burn up supplies. At daylight on the 11th, Wade Hampton,
with 10,000 men had him headed off and with great surprise struck him severely
and stopped his wild career. The battle which was dismounted raged for three
hours but as Fitz Hugh Lee's Division was 4 miles
behind, Custer came in between and flanked the guard
but Rosser of Virginia, charged with
stampede power and held him at bay. Thus the battle raged on for 11
hours. That night
Sunday June 12th.
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Sergeants acting like Captains were put in command with Lieutenants
as Majors. Sgt. A. R. Richardson and Mulligan had two of these companies
and Lt. Robert Aldrich was in command. In a short time,
On the 30th day of July on the same day of the great crater blow-up at Petersburg, the Yankee General Gregg started to surround the Guards with 20,000 men and reach Weldon, NC and cut off supplies from Lee, but the dismounted company and 6 other companies met them at Lee's Mill and fighting like the Spartan Band at Thermopylae, they held them off till Butler arived and saved the day. Jeff Warren of Brunson was by Mulligan's side and fought with him at the time of the greatest crisis.
The next great cavalry fight in which the
Regiment and The Whippy Swamp Guards distinguished
themselves and lost severely was at Burgess Hill
(
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Sherman was in Savannah, GA. prowling with his 113,000
men to march through S. C. and N. C., burn, destroy, and devastate
everything in his way; join Schoolfield who had
40,000 men at Newburn, NC and the move and attack
Lee's rear. General Hardee and Joseph E. Johnson only had about 25,000 men.
On the night of the 12th of Feb. Sgt. S. C. Richardson,
A. J. Tuten, and Dowling were sent out as scouts
at Conqueror's Creek and were fired upon at
On the 17th, Dowling heard their magazines explode and saw
On the 19th E. L. Dowling was out scouting and being cut off, we got back to the regiment on the 21st. Col. Davis met us and put me in command of the rear guard of 50 men. The enemy were still around us. Houses were burning on all sides and the brigade had forced about face which threw me in front. Col. Hugh Aiken and Gen. U. R. Brooks dashed up and said, "Sgt. order your gentlemen to draw sabers and charge.", and because I gave the order as so, the two laughed and later years would recall with a great deal of amusement of my order. Reflecting upon the same and remembering how tattered and ragged my men were, it is easy to see why the appellation of Gentlemen sounded so ludicrous under the circumstances. Nevertheless, we led the charge and cleared the lane and were able to re-establish our position securely.
On the night of the 20th Col. Aiken with 83 men from the Whippy
Swamp Guards was in the Darlington District and met a similar squad of Yankees,
which hearing us, formed a "V" into which we rode into in the dark. A terrible
fight followed. Col. Aiken and Sgt. A. R. Richardson of my company were instantly
killed and Middleton, Simmons and Lt. Brooks were wounded. Col. Zimmerman
Davis' horse was shot from under him but we dismantled and the enemy flew.
Myself and E. L. Dowling and Sgt. Ackerman brought
Richardson and Aiken's bodies and laid them in
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Next day a Mr. Huggins buried them and after the surrender, Aiken was
removed and interred at Winnsboro and
After the batle through S.C. Sherman
turned his march toward
Then came the Battle of Fayetteville
in NC. The Yankees had captured our pickets and a
force of 300 were riding into the city.
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The next day we fought at Smith's Field. I warned B. R. Lewis, who
was acting too bravely and saved him from sharpshooters. Next day we
felt the enemy down the Neuse River and on the 25th Hampton with Hart's
battery, protected by our Fifth Regiment struck
Schoolfields advance guards, who were moving up
to join Sherman's men in front of Goldsboro, NC, but just then an ambush
of Negro Troops fired into us killing Lt. Richards of Co. K. After this fighting,
both sides ceased and there was practically an armistice till April 5th when
the cavalry, by the consent of Hampton and Butler, did not surrender
but slipped out at night and in one day we reached old Beaufort District
amid scenes of vandalistic devastations. But as the cavalry had no paroles,
the Negro troops compelled us to get them. I and Dowling, Nix, J.A. Long,
Tom Trowell, and Bill Ayers all had to walk to
My Uncle E. L. Dowling was on picket at
***These were diary record that reflected the life of a member of the Whippy Swamp Guards.
The muster role of the Whippy Swamp Guards has never been found in writing, Hamilton Dowling in later years recalled the following members of the old troop: S. G. Richardson, A. R. Richardson, E. B. Richardson, E.L. Dowling, C. H. Freeman, John Harriott, H. P. Moore, W. H. Dowling, A. J. Harrison, Irving Roberts, Van Simmons, Buwell Simmons, Wiley J. Thomas, Nick Langford, Frank J. Mulligan, Dempsey Stanley, George Stanley, Isam Tuten, J. C. Tuten, J. W. Tuten,Jr. , R. Peeples, R. G. Roof, J. J. Youmans, Adrean Stone, Walsh Youmans, A. J. Tuten, Jerome Sharp.
There are many more names out there that should be recognized, but
without a list, we cannot recognize their honor and their bravery for our
dear
As to date there has been no occasion for any writer of American history to record the exploits of the Whippy Swamp Guards, for they, like others of the community troops, who went to make up the whole of the Confederate Army, found themselves assigned from time to time to the everyday soldiering and drudgery that is known to all soldiers. However, so that these exploits not to be completely lost, the resume of their service in the Whippy Swamp Guards, and the cause of the Confederacy, is respectfully ordered to the Beaufort County Historical Society.
Words of most of the story by the late: Rev. Hamilton Dowling in his writings of 1909 to the Hampton County Guardian. A small sample was written by his grandson G. C. Dowling.
Compiled by: Yvonne Carrol DeLoach
Note: Dempsey Stanley is one of my ancestors of the Cook Family
Copyright ©2005 Yvonne Deloach, all rights reserved.
Please Email any additions, errors, corrections, or suggestions to the webmeister.
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