 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(August 2013) |
| 1st (Orr's) South Carolina Rifle Regiment | |
|---|---|
 Flag of South Carolina | |
| Active | July 20, 1861, to April 10, 1865 |
| Country | Confederate States of America |
| Allegiance | CSA  |
| Branch | Infantry |
| Engagements | American Civil War |
Orr's Rifles was a South Carolina infantry regiment that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
On 20 July 1861, James Lawrence Orr organized the First South Carolina Rifle Regiment at Sandy Springs. He was elected Colonel; J. Foster Marshall was elected Lt. Colonel, and Daniel A. Ledbetter, Major. Ten companies were recruited in the following districts (counties were known as districts between 1800 & 1868) [1]
| Company: Nickname | District | Captain |
|---|---|---|
| A: "the Keowee Riflemen" | Pickens | J.W. Livingston |
| B: "McDuffie's Guards" | Abbeville | James Perrin |
| C: "the Mountain Boys" | Pickens | J.J. Norton |
| D: "Orr's Rifles" | Anderson | Frank E. Harrison |
| E: "the Oconee Riflemen" | Pickens | Miles M. Norton |
| F: "the Blue Ridge Rifles" | Pickens | Robert A. Hawthorne |
| G: "the Marshall Riflemen" | Abbeville | G. McDuffie Miller |
| H: "the Pee Dee Guards" | Marion | George M. Fairlee |
| I: not created | ||
| K: "the Marshall Guards" | Anderson | George W. Cox |
| L: "the Calhoun Guards" | Anderson | John B. Moore |
The regiment had seen no action by the time Orr left, but the name "Orr's Rifles" stuck throughout the war.
First posted to Sullivan's Island, SC to defend Charleston Harbor, others called them the "Pound Cake Regiment" in reference to their "light" garrison duty. [2] The 20th SC Infantry was referred to as the "Poundcake Brigade" on account of limited engagements and they were so close to home, their families could bring them poundcake or other treats.
In April 1862, the full-strength 1,000-man unit was transferred to Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia (ANV). In June, it was incorporated into Gregg's Brigade, of A.P. Hill's Light Division, of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson Corps (often termed the "Left Wing" early in the war).
Lee surrendered the ANV, including Orr's Rifles, at Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865. After three years of combat, the regiment comprised 9 officers and 148 enlisted men.
The Battle of Beaver Dam Creek, also known as the Battle of Mechanicsville or Ellerson's Mill, took place on June 26, 1862, in Hanover County, Virginia. It was the first major engagement of the Seven Days Battles during the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the start of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's counter-offensive against the Union Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, which threatened the Confederate capital of Richmond. Lee attempted to turn the Union right flank, north of the Chickahominy River, with troops under Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, but Jackson failed to arrive on time. Instead, Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill threw his division, reinforced by one of Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill's brigades, into a series of futile assaults against Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter's V Corps, which occupied defensive works behind Beaver Dam Creek. Confederate attacks were driven back with heavy casualties. Porter withdrew his corps safely to Gaines Mill, with the exception of Company F of the 8th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment who did not receive the orders to retreat.
James Johnston Pettigrew was an American author, lawyer, and soldier. He served in the army of the Confederate States of America, fighting in the 1862 Peninsula Campaign and played a prominent role in the Battle of Gettysburg. Despite starting the Gettysburg Campaign commanding a brigade, Pettigrew took over command of his division after the division's original commander, Henry Heth, was wounded. In this role, Pettigrew was one of three division commanders in the disastrous assault known as Pickett's Charge on the final day of Gettysburg. He was badly wounded during the assault and was later mortally wounded during a Union attack while the Confederates retreated to Virginia near Falling Waters, West Virginia, dying several days later.
The Stonewall Brigade of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, was a famous combat unit in United States military history. It was trained and first led by General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, a professor from Virginia Military Institute (VMI). His severe training program and ascetic standards of military discipline turned enthusiastic but raw recruits into an effective military organization, which distinguished itself from the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861 to Spotsylvania Court House in 1864. Its legacy lives on in the 116th Infantry Brigade, which bears the unofficial nickname "Stonewall Brigade," and in several living history reenactment groups.
James Dearing was a Confederate States Army officer during the American Civil War who served in the artillery and cavalry. Dearing entered West Point in 1858 and resigned on April 22, 1861, when Virginia seceded from the Union. Dearing was mortally wounded at the Battle of High Bridge during the Appomattox Campaign of 1865, making him one of the last officers to die in the war. Despite serving as a commander of a cavalry brigade and using the grade of brigadier general after he was nominated to that grade by Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Dearing did not officially achieve the grade of brigadier general because the Confederate Senate did not approve his nomination. His actual permanent grade was colonel.
Hampton's Legion was an American Civil War military unit of the Confederate States of America, organized and partially financed by wealthy South Carolina planter Wade Hampton III. Initially composed of infantry, cavalry, and artillery battalions, elements of Hampton's Legion participated in virtually every major campaign in the Eastern Theater, from the first to the last battle.
A. P. Hill's Light Division was an infantry division in General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War. Originally including six brigades, the division's first commander starting May 27, 1862 was then Major General A. P. Hill. Major Generals William Dorsey Pender and Cadmus M. Wilcox commanded a reorganized Light Division in the Army of Northern Virginia after Hill's promotion to corps command and Pender's death at the Battle of Gettysburg, respectively.
The 15th South Carolina Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
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The 17th Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia.
The 28th Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia. The 28th Virginia completed its organization at Lynchburg, Virginia, in June, 1861. Its members were raised in the counties of Botetourt, Craig, Bedford, Campbell, and Roanoke.
The 25th Arkansas Infantry was an infantry regiment of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The unit was originally organized as Turnbull's 11th Arkansas Infantry Battalion. Upon being increased by the required number of companies the battalion was organized as the 30th Arkansas Infantry Regiment but was later redesignated as the 25th Arkansas Infantry. There were two regiments officially designated as the 30th Arkansas Infantry. The other "30th Arkansas" served west of the Mississippi River, in the Department of the Trans-Mississippi and was also known as 5th Trans-Mississippi Regiment or the 39th Arkansas or Rogan's Arkansas Cavalry during Price's 1864 Missouri Expedition.
The 9th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was a regiment of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It served in the Western Theater, seeing action in the Vicksburg, Tennessee and Georgia campaigns. Due to attrition; the 9th Arkansas was consolidated several times with other Arkansas regiments, finally merging in 1865 into the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Mounted Rifles.
The 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles (1861–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment that served during the American Civil War. Raised in 1861, the regiment consisted of nine companies, which were drawn from various counties in Arkansas. Throughout the course of the war, the 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles fought in a number of battles, including those at Wilson's Creek and Pea Ridge, and participated in a number of campaigns such as Tullahoma, Atlanta and the Carolinas. The regiment's final battle came at Bentonville in March 1865 after which its remaining personnel were consolidated into the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Mounted Rifles.
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The following list is a bibliography of American Civil War Confederate military unit histories and are generally available through inter-library loan. More details on each book are available at WorldCat. For an overall national view, see Bibliography of the American Civil War. For histories of the Union, see Bibliography of American Civil War Union military unit histories. For a guide to web sources see: Carter, Alice E.; Jensen, Richard. The Civil War on the Web: A Guide to the Very Best Sites—Completely Revised and Updated (2003).
The 53rd Alabama Cavalry Regiment, also known as the 53rd Alabama Partisan Rangers, was a cavalry regiment that served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.
The 24th South Carolina Infantry Regiment was a Confederate infantry regiment in the American Civil War.
The 2nd South Carolina Infantry Regiment, also known as 2nd Palmetto Regiment, was a Confederate States Army regiment in the American Civil War.
Joseph Allen Walker was a Confederate colonel who commanded the 5th South Carolina Infantry Regiment and the main colonel of Jenkins' Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War.
This article incorporates public domain material from Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. National Park Service.