Eleventh Regiment.
Under the Act of the Legislature of South Carolina passed
December, 1860, to provide "an armed military force," the
original companies of this regiment were raised for twelve months
and went into service on the coast, Colonel Wm. C. Heyward[1]
commanding. It was then called the Ninth South Carolina Volunteers,
and its organization was irregular, having more than ten
companies, and one of these a light battery. The regiment transferred
its service during '61 to the Confederate Government under
arrangement made between the Convention of the State and the
Confederate authorities, and was now known as the Eleventh
South Carolina Volunteers. In May, 1862, it re-enlisted for "two
years or the war." A more general bouleversment of officers took
place upon the re-enlistment in this regiment than in any other
South Carolina command at the re-elections through a most mistaken
policy, permitted by the government. The regiment was
seriously and permanently injured.
Its service had been uneventful to this date. Some of its companies
had been engaged at the bombardment of the forts at Port
Royal in 1861, and at the Battle of Pocotaligo, in '62, a portion
of it had won reputation, while the remainder of the regiment
had suffered some loss (its major, Harrison, included), being fired
into upon a railroad train while en route to the scene of action,
when it arrived after the repulse of the enemy. At the siege of
Charleston, the regiment had not borne as prominent a part as
some others, though here as well as in Florida, whither it had
been sent in the latter part of the siege, it had done its duty well
when called upon.
Its present commander, Colonel Gantt, had been a lieutenant
in the original regiment and was, on the reorganization, elected
lieutenant-colonel. He succeeded Ellis on the latter's being compelled
to resign to avoid charges of incompetency. Ellis—a crossroad
politician—had been elected over Heyward without having
served a day in this or any other regiment. Colonel Gantt had
been at the State Military School, and his lieutenant-colonel,
Izard, had held a commission in the United States navy. Colonel
Izard served very little with the regiment after it was brigaded;
he was most of his time on sick leave. Gooding, the senior
captain, who succeeded to the majority, was an incubus upon the
command, without soldierly spirit, and yet with ability enough to
keep clear of such derelictions of duty as would bring him before
a court. Finally, however, in the waning days of the Confederacy,
he overstayed a leave under circumstances almost amounting
to desertion and was dropped from the rolls.
Colonel Gantt was a good drill officer and had his regiment in
fair discipline and presenting a good military appearance when
it reported to the brigade. Its subsequent history will show that
it had much good material in the ranks and among its officers,
many of whom were worthy of their commissions.
This regiment was chiefly raised in Beaufort and Colleton Districts.
