A History of the 15th South Carolina Infantry 1861-1865
By James B. Clary
(February/March 2009 Civil War News)

Illustrated, maps, notes, bibliography, appendices, index, roster, 603 pp., 2007. South Carolina Department of Archives and History, c/o James B. Clary, 232 Beachers Brook Lane, Cary, NC 27511, $39.95 softcover, $49.95 hardback collectors’ edition, plus shipping.

Reviewer: Michael A. Cavanaugh
Michael A. Cavanaugh is the former editor and publisher of the Civil War Book Exchange, now Civil War News. He has authored and co-authored five books on the war and is writing a biography on Maj. Gen. William Mahone, CSA.

Review:
There seems to be a trend today that I like to call the “Super Regimental.” These works are massive 600-page-plus volumes that cover almost every facet of a regiment’s history during the Civil War. A History of the 15th South Carolina Infantry 1861-1865 by James B. Clary certainly fits this criterion and then some.

The 15th South Carolina Infantry was formed from eight districts in Cherokee County, South Carolina. They mustered in September 1861 and became part of John Kershaw’s Brigade. They fought their first battle on Hilton Head Island where they took more than 20 casualties.

The regiment went on to fight with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia from Second Manassas to the battle of Gettysburg. After Gettysburg, they were sent with Gen. James Longstreet’s Corps to northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee where they fought in the battles of Chickamauga and Knoxville.

Following the winter of 1863-1864, the 15th rejoined Lee’s army just in time to fight in U. S. Grant’s 1864 Overland Campaign. In August 1864, they went into the Shenandoah Valley with Jubal Early’s army and fought in the battle of Cedar Creek.

In January 1865, Lee returned the 15th to their home state to face Sherman’s army in hopes they could help blunt his March to the Sea. They went on to fight in some of the last battles of the war in North Carolina.

The regiment took some of its heaviest casualties at Fox’s Gap, Gettysburg and Chickamauga, but was well represented in the casualty reports in killed, wounded and missing in their other engagements.

The comradeship of the officers and men of the 15th South Carolina Infantry was best illustrated at the end of the war by Lt. Moses Wood who wrote in his diary, “At the Surrender, I was given transportation home but the members of my Company could not get transportation and I walked home with them, there being no other officer with them.”

The narrative in A History of the 15th South Carolina Infantry 1861-1865 covers 298 pages and is well written and very well researched. Clary skillfully weaves soldiers’ letters, diary accounts and the like into the narrative.

An epilogue contains short biographies of the major personnel in Kershaw’s Brigade and the 15th South Carolina, relating what happened to them after the war.

The book contains six appendices that cover such topics as “Hospitals in which Men of the 15th South Carolina were Patients 1861-1865” and “Cemeteries where Men of the 15th South Carolina are Known to be Buried.” These entries are extensive and fully footnoted. This information will be welcomed by researchers of family histories and genealogists.

The roster sets a new standard for research. It is 188 pages long containing bios on 1,442 men. Many entries are good-sized paragraphs with a wide range of personal and military information. Clary used more than 60 reference sources to compile information in the roster.

The 15th South Carolina’s bibliography contains a host of books, articles, dissertations and primary source material covering three full pages, including 28 newspapers. There are over 150 maps and illustrations that are mostly well reproduced.

It is amazing that nothing of substance had been published over the years on this veteran Confederate regiment. A History of the 15th South Carolina Infantry 1861-1865, is a must, of course, for those with ancestors in the unit, and also for students of Confederate history and especially South Carolina in the Civil War.