Culpeper’s Battery

 Culpeper’s Battery was a light artillery unit formed in the summer of 1861 by Captain James F. Culpeper of Darlington, SC.   Most of the men and young boys recruited for the unit were from Sumter and Darlington districts.   Culpeper’s Battery defended Charleston from various positions including Minotts Bluff, James Island along the Stono River and Simmons Landing north of the Edisto River at Wadmalaw Sound.

 
Lt. Joshua L. Moses of Sumter, a Citadel graduate, would often command the Battery in Capt. Culpeper’s absence.   Lt. Moses’ brothers Perry, Horace and David were also members of the unit.   Their parents, Andrew Jackson Moses and Octavia Harby Moses, were Jewish and from the town of Sumter. 

In May of 1863 Capt. Culpeper and his men were reassigned to the Western Theatre.   After boarding a train in Charleston, the men began a long 700 plus mile journey to Jackson, Ms.   General Joseph E. Johnston, Confederate commander of the Western Theatre, had requested Culpeper’s Battery to assist in defending Vicksburg, Ms. against General Ulysses S. Grant’s siege of the city.  Culpeper’s men would remain in the West and would not return to South Carolina until war’s end.

In July of 1863 Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman laid siege to the city of Jackson.   Culpeper’s Battery, attached to Gen. N.G. Evan’s brigade and Gen. French’s division, took position on the western side of the city.   Perry Moses described in a letter to his mother in Sumter his experiences during the siege of Jackson.   He wrote how his men had been under constant Federal bombardment for 8 days.   He had fought a battery of four guns for over an hour giving them gun for gun until the axletree of his gun and both wheels were shot away.   None of his men were killed but some were injured.   Perry also mentioned that the “yankees” had better guns because their cannon had longer range.   Despite the odds, Perry said his men were prepared to mow down the enemy like ripe oats before a sharp scythe.

In September 1863, Culpeper’s Battery, attached to Gen. Evander McNair’s brigade, was sent to northwest Georgia to aid General Braxton Bragg at the Battle of Chickamauga.   The Battery fought with distinction and was instrumental in defeating the Army of the Cumberland commanded by General William S. Rosecrans.   Culpeper’s Battery was strategically located on the battlefield at the very center of the Confederate main assault.   The Confederate division commanded by General James Longstreet sliced through the enemy causing the Federals to retreat in complete disarray.   The battle moved at a fast and furious pace forcing Culpeper’s Battery to become detached from its infantry brigade.   Never the less, Culpeper took out many “yankee” guns before the Confederate infantry ran over enemy positions.  Gen. Longstreet personally instructed Capt. Culpeper in the heat of battle to concentrate his fire at the remaining Union troops along Horseshoe Ridge thereby supporting several brigades including that of General Joseph Kershaw of South Carolina.   After a stubborn fight, the ridge was finally taken and late that afternoon the victory was complete.  

Several days later, President Jefferson Davis visited Bragg’s Army at Lookout Mtn., Tn. to commend his victorious Confederate soldiers for their bravery, courage and devotional service to Country.   Culpeper’s Battery would not hear these grand words of praise, because following the victory they had been ordered to return immediately to Mississippi and face General Sherman’s Army again.  The Confederate victory at Chickamauga was so decisive that virtually all of Bragg’s generals thought the War in the west would be won or at the very least a truce would be obtained from President Lincoln.  Gen. Bragg refused to follow up and capture Gen. Rosecrans’ army in Chattanooga much to the dismay of his officers and men.  Bragg’s reluctance would lead eventually to a Confederate defeat in November 1863 at the Battle of Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga.

In 1864 Culpeper’s Battery was assigned to Mobile Al. to defend the city’s surroundings from the growing threat of Union armies and navies.   The Battery at times became fractured and split as men were assigned different duties in various places around Mobile.  Culpeper for the most part patrolled with the 15^th and 16^th Confederate cavalry and skirmished against Federal troops.   As the Union army exerted pressure on Confederate positions around Mobile, Culpeper’s Battery was sent to Ft. Blakeley, Al. on the northeast side of Mobile Bay.

On April 9, 1865 Ft. Blakeley was attacked by 16,000 Federal troops running over a smaller Confederate force of less than 4,000.   Lt. Joshua L. Moses, who was commanding Culpeper’s Battery, was mortally wounded in front of the fort.   The Confederate troops had surrendered but Union soldiers continued firing as white flags of surrender were flown.   Lt. Moses was dying but he uttered these last words: “For God’s sake spare my men, they have surrendered”.   The Battle of Ft. Blakeley was the last major conflict of the war.   Ironically the battle had occurred only a few hours following General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to General Grant at Appomattox.

Culpeper’s soldiers were captured and sent by cattle boats to a prisoner of war camp on Ship Island, Ms.   While at Ship Island the Confederate prisoners suffered severe indignities at the hands of Union guards.  From Ship Island, some of Culpeper’s men were sent to New Orleans and later discharged from the war in May 1865 at Vicksburg. The journey back home to South Carolina was a long and difficult one.

Many tributes were offered after the war for sacrifices made by Confederate soldiers, but maybe known so eloquently stated as J.W. Brunson of the Pee Dee Light Artillery.   Brunson spoke at the passing of Capt. Culpeper with these words: “his well-handled Napoleons won for himself and his brave command a high reputation for courage and efficiency.  I was never with him on the firing line but am told his courage rose with the tide of battle and at its climax his spirit swelled in that supreme exaltation of soul which cheers only the brave when missiles come thickest.  After the close of the war he became a successful physician, a profession most congenial to his kind and sympathetic nature. …… the death of our comrade, James Culpeper, marks the passing of a brave confederate soldier, a patriotic useful citizen, and Christian gentleman and adds another knightly name to the long and shining roll of South Carolina’s departed chivalry”.

Written 6-15-2004 by Ben Hudson, Gaffney, SC- Descendant of George W. & John W. Hudson and Richard Jennings, all members of Culpeper’s Battery.

Email abhudson@bellsouth.net

Culpeper’s Battery

 SC 3^rd Palmetto Battalion Light Artillery Company “C”

   Memory Roll Roster of Sumter District’s Soldiers

 

Moses, Joshua L.                 (1^st Lieutenant) KIA Ft. Blakeley

Moses, Perry                       (2^nd Lieutenant) wounded Ft. Blakeley

Lide, David F.                      (Sergeant)

Kirby, Nelson S.                  (Corporal) KIA Ft. Blakeley

Nichols, James W.              (Corporal) wounded Chickamauga

McRoy, Wm. H.                   (Corporal)

Davis, Wm. A.H.                  (Artificer)

David, Manly J.                   (Guidon)

 

Privates:

Ard, James P.          

Ardis, Abraham P.

Ardis, James L.

Ardis, John W.

Ardis, Robert                       Discharged for Disability

Ardis, Thomas                      DOD hospital

Ardis, Wm. J.

Ardis, Wm. S.

Avin, James R.

Bass, Charles S.

Cole, Charles G.

David, Henry                         Wounded at Ft. Blakeley

David, Isaac M.

Esdra, Arthur

Geddings, James S.

Geddings, Job M.

Geddings, Peter J.                DOD hospital / on way home

Geddings, Samson J.             DOD hospital

Geddings, Thomas G.W.

Harrington, Joseph L.

Hodge, Elijah

Hodge, John G.W.

Hudson, George W.  (no memory/military records) died 1908 Orangeburg, SC     

Hudson, John W.     (received pension 1919) died 1924 Camden, SC

Jennings, Richard    (received pension 1901) died 1907 Orangeburg, SC 

Johnson, James J.

Kirby, Wm. M.

Kolb, Benjamin T.                   Wounded at Chickamauga

Lackey, Wm. R.

Lawrence, James J.P.

Lawrence, John A.

Lee, Wm.                                Wounded Jackson and Chickamauga

Lowry, Henry J.

McLeod, Richard T.

McRoy, Linley M.

Moses, David L.

Moses, Horace H.

Nesbit, Stuart E.

Newman, John W.

Norton, Wm. B.

Opry, Erwin G.

Osteen, John M.                       KIA Ft. Blakeley

Phillips, Wm. H.

Scurry, John J.

Thornhill, James W.

Turner, Erasmus

Turner, John

Turner, Thomas A.

Weeks, Augustus S.

White, James G.

White, Joseph B.                      Discharged for disability.
 

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Names were extracted from Memory Roll S.C. State Archives

Prepared 6-15-2004 by Ben Hudson, Gaffney, SC.
  Descendant of George W. & John W. Hudson and Richard Jennings all of Sumter County, SC

Email abhudson@bellsouth.net

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