Unit History – 3rd South Carolina Infantry

Organized at Columbus, South Carolina, in April, 1861, contained men recruited in the ounties of Laurens, Colleton, Pickens, Spartanburg, and Newberry. Ordered to Virginia, it saw action at Fist Manassas in Bonham’s Brigade. Later the 3rd was placed in General Kershaw’s, Kennedy’s, and Conner’s Brigade. It participated in the campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia from the Seven Days’ Battles to Gettysburg, then moved to Georgia with Longstreet. After fighting at Chickamauga and Knoxville, it returned to Virginia and continued conflict at The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. Later it was involved in Early’s Shenandoah Valley operations and the North Carolina Campaign. In April, 1862, this regiment totalled 550 effectives. It reported 23 killed, 108 wounded, and 4 missing at Savage’s Station, had 14 killed and 35 wounded of 371 at Maryland Heights, and lost 11 killed, 71 wounded, and 2 missing of the 266 at Sharpsburg. The unit lost 163 at Fredericksburg, 12 at Chancellorsville, and twenty-one percent of the 406 at Gettysburg. Its last battle was at Bentonville where 1 was killed and 15 were wounded, and on March 23, 1865, there were 191 present for duty. It surrendered on April 26. The field officers were Colonels James D. Nance, William D. Rutherford, and James H. Williams; Lieutenant Colonels James M. Baxter, B. B. Foster, Benjamin C. Garlington, and Robert C. Maffett; and Major R. P. Todd.

From Joseph H. Crute, Jr., Units of the Confederate States Army, p. 252