It was while entrenched south of North Anna that our troops heard of the death of our great cavalry leader, General J.E.B. Stuart, who fell mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern, on May the 18th. If the death of Jackson was a blow to the army and the South, the death of Stuart was equally so. He was the Murat of the Southern Army, equally admired and beloved by the infantry as the cavalry. The body of the army always felt safe when the bugle of Stuart could be heard on the flank or front, and universal sadness was thrown around the Army of Northern Virginia, as well as the whole South, by his death. It was conceded [365] by the North, as well as the South, that Stuart was the finest type of cavalry leader in either army, Longstreet badly wounded, Stuart and Jenkins dead, certainly gave the prospects of the campaign just opening anything but an assuring outlook.


TWENTIETH SOUTH CAROLINA REGIMENT.


About this time our brigade was reinforced by the Twentieth South Carolina Regiment, one of the finest bodies of men that South Carolina had furnished during the war. It was between one thousand and one thousand two hundred strong, led by the "silver-tongued orator," Lawrence M. Keitt. It was quite an acceptable acquisition to our brigade, since our ranks had been depleted by near one thousand since the 6th of May. They were as healthy, well clad, and well fed body of troops as anybody would wish to see, and much good-humored badgering was indulged in at their expense by Kershaw's "web feet." From their enormous strength in numbers, in comparison to our "corporal guards" of companies, the old soldiers called them "The Twentieth Army Corps." I here give a short sketch of the regiment prior to its connection with the brigade.

The Twentieth Regiment was organized under the call for twelve thousand additional troops from South Carolina, in 1862, along with the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth, Holcomb Legion, and other regiments. The companies composing the Twentieth assembled at the race course, in Charleston, S.C., in the fall of 1862. The companies had already organized in the respective counties, and elected officers, and after assembling in Charleston and organizing the regiment, elected the following field officers:

Colonel L.M. Keitt.
Lieutenant Colonel O.M. Dansler.
Major S.M. Boykin.
Adjutant John Wilson.
Quartermaster John P. Kinard.
Commissary Brock.
Surgeon Dr. Salley.
Assistant Surgeon Dr. Barton.
Chaplain Rev. W.W. Duncan.

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Company A, Anderson
and Pickens
Captain Partlow.
Company B, Orangeburg Captain McMichael.
Company C, Lexington Captain Leaphart.
Company D, Orangeburg Captain Danley.
Company E, Laurens Captain Cowen.
Company F, Newberry Captain Kinard.
Company G, Sumter Captain Moseley.
Company H, Orangeburg and Lexington Captain Ruff.
Company I, Orangeburg and Lexington Captain Gunter.
Company K, Lexington Captain Harmon.

Captain Jno. P. Kinard, of Company F, was made Quartermaster, and First Lieutenant Jno. M. Kinard was promoted to Captain.