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Brigadier-General John Dunovant held the rank of major of infantry in the State army during the initial operations of the war of the Confederacy, and during the bombardment of Fort Sumter was present at Fort Moultrie, doing all that was in his power. Subsequently he became colonel of the First regiment of infantry, and was stationed for some time on Sullivan's island and at Fort Moultrie. Later in 1862 he was given command of the Fifth regiment, South Carolina cavalry, in which capacity he served in the State, until ordered to Virginia in March, 1864. There he and his regiment were under the brigade command of Gen. M. C. Butler, in Wade Hampton's division of Stuart's cavalry. The regiment under his leadership did admirable service, General Ransom reported, at the battle of Drewry's Bluff, May 16th, and subsequently in the encounters with Sheridan's cavalry, he shared the services of Butler's brigade at Cold Harbor, Trevilian's and other important conflicts. On August 2, 1864, President Davis suggested to General Lee, Dunovant's promotion to temporary rank as brigadier-general, and it was soon afterward ordered. In this capacity he had brigade command under General Hampton until, in the fighting north of the James river, following the capture of Fort Harrison, he was killed October 1, 1864. On receipt of news of the death of the gallant soldier, General Lee replied to General Hampton: "I grieve with you at the loss of General Dunovant and Dr. Fontaine, two officers whom it will be difficult to replace."
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Brigadier-General Stephen Elliott, Jr., was born at Beaufort, S. C., in 1832, son of Stephen Elliott, first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal diocese of Georgia and provisional bishop of Florida; and grandson of Stephen Elliott, a distinguished naturalist. He passed his youth on the plantation, devoted to manly sports. At the beginning of the formation of the Confederate States, he organized and equipped a light battery, known as the Beaufort artillery, of which he was commissioned captain. He was present at the bombardment of Fort Sumter, aiming several shots from the siege guns, and during his subsequent service in the State he became famous for daring and skillful fighting. On guard in 1861 in the vicinity of Port Royal harbor, he put twenty of his boys on the tug Lady Davis, and ran out to sea to find a prize. With indomitable pluck, accompanied by good fortune, he captured a sailing vessel, of 1,200 tons, and brought her in to Beaufort. Subsequently he was ordered to Bay Point, the other side of Port Royal entrance being held by the German volunteers under Captain Wagener. There he fought a Federal fleet for two hours, until his guns were dismounted. After the Federals occupied the coast islands, he engaged in numerous daring raids. During one night he burned fourteen plantation settlements; again he surprised a picket post successfully, and in August, 1862, he commanded an expedition against a Federal force on Pinckney island, which was very successful and gained for him the unstinted commendation of his superiors. His activity also turned to the direction of inventing floating torpedoes, with which he blew up a tender in St. Helena bay. He was promoted to chief of artillery of the Third military district, including Beaufort, near where, in April, 1863, he captured the Federal steamer George Washington. Promotion followed to major and then to lieutenant-colonel. Twice he met the enemy in open field at Pocotaligo, where his guns put the invaders to flight. In command of the Charleston battalion he occupied Fort Sumter, September 5, 1863, and held the ruins of the famous citadel against the enemy until May, 1864. Then as colonel of Holcombe's legion he was ordered to Petersburg, Va., and was soon promoted to brigadier-general and assigned to the command of N. G. Evans' old brigade, which included the legion. He served actively in the defense of Petersburg, his brigade, a part of Bushrod Johnson's division, holding that important part of the line selected by the Federals as the point to be mined, and carried by an assaulting party. Two of his regiments, the Eighteenth and Twenty-second, occupied the works blown up on the morning of July 30th, and the immense displacement of earth which formed the crater maimed and buried many of the command. But, undismayed, General Elliott and his brigade received the onslaught made through the breach of the Confederate intrenchments. In the words of the division commander, "Brigadier-General Elliott, the gallant commander of the brigade which occupied the salient, was making prompt disposition of his forces to assault the enemy and reoccupy the remaining portion of the trenches when he was dangerously wounded." Entirely disabled for further service he returned to his home at Beaufort, and died from the effects of his wound, March 21, 1866.
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Brigadier-General Nathan George Evans was born in Marion county, S. C., February 6, 1824, the third son of Thomas Evans, who married Jane Beverly Daniel, of Virginia. He was graduated at Randolph-Macon college before he was eighteen, and at the United States military academy, which he entered by appointment of John C. Calhoun, in 1848. With a lieutenancy in the Second Dragoons, he was first on duty at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., whence he marched to the Rocky mountains in 1849. In 1850 to 1853 he served in New Mexico, and began a famous career as an Indian fighter, which was continued in Texas and Indian Territory after his promotion to captain in 1856, in various combats with the hostile Comanches. At the battle of Wachita Village, October 1, 1858, his command defeated a large body of the Comanches, and he killed two of their noted chieftains in a hand-to-hand fight. For this he was voted a handsome sword by the legislature of South Carolina. In 1860 he was married to a sister of Gen. M. W. Gary, of Abbeville county. He resigned from the old army in February, 1861, being then stationed in Texas, and taking farewell of his colonel, Robert E. Lee, proceeded to Montgomery, and was commissioned major of cavalry, C. S. A. Being assigned to duty as adjutant-general of the South Carolina army, he was present at the bombardment of Fort Sumter and was soon afterward promoted colonel. Joining the army under General Beauregard at Manassas Junction, Va., he had a command on the field during the first encounter at Blackburn's ford, and again in the great battle of July 21, 1861. At the opening of the latter engagement, his forces, consisting of the Fourth South Carolina regiment, a battalion of Louisiana volunteers, Terry's squadron of cavalry, and a section of Latham's battery, were stationed at the stone bridge, where he held the enemy in check in front, until he perceived in operation the flank movement which was the Federal plan of battle. Instantly without waiting for orders he threw his little command in a new line, facing the enemy, and alone held him in check until reinforced by General Bee. With great intrepidity he and his men held their ground against great odds until the Confederate army could adapt itself to this unexpected attack. As remarked by a Northern historian: "Evans' action was probably one of the best pieces of soldiership on either side during the campaign, but it seems to have received no special commendation from his superiors." General Beauregard commended his "dauntless conduct and imperturbable coolness," but it was not until after the fight at Leesburg that he was promoted. This latter engagement, known also as Ball's Bluff, was fought in October, near the Potomac river, by his brigade, mainly Mississippians, and a splendid victory was gained over largely superior numbers, with great loss to the enemy. His promotion to brigadier-general was made to date from this memorable affair, and South Carolina again, through her general assembly, gave him a vote of thanks and presented him with a gold medal. In 1862 he commanded a brigade consisting of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-second and Twenty-third regiments, and Holcombe's legion, South Carolina troops, and was mentioned by General Longstreet among the officers most prominently distinguished in the battles of Second Manassas and Sharpsburg. In the latter fight he commanded his division. Thereafter his service was mainly rendered in South Carolina. In 1863 he moved to the support of Johnston against Grant. After the fall of Richmond he accompanied President Davis as far as Cokesbury, S. C. A year later he engaged in business at Charleston, but was mainly occupied as a teacher at Midway, Ala., until his death at that place, November 30, 1868. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee has written of him: "'Shanks' Evans, as he was called, was a graduate of the military academy, a native South Carolinian, served in the celebrated old Second Dragoons, and was a good type of the rip-roaring, scorn-all-care element, which so largely abounded in that regiment. Evans had the honor of opening the fight (First Manassas), we might say fired the first gun of the war."
Brig.-Gen. John Dunovant. Brig.-Gen. James Chestnut.
Brig.-Gen. Barnard E. Bee. Maj.-Gen. M. C. Butler. Brig.-Gen. John Bratton.
Brig.-Gen. M. L. Bonham. Brig.-Gen. N. G. Evans. Brig.-Gen. Stephen Elliott, Jr.
Maj.-Gen. M. W. Gary. Brig.-Gen. Thos. F. Drayton.